Back to "normal'?

Now things are finally relaxing and restrictions have been lifted, is it time to look back or is this the time to look ahead? When looking back I have mixed feelings. Have I made the most of this quarantine time? I see pictures on Social Media of people who have turned their back yard into a resort, swimming pool included, who have baked a fresh sourdough bread every day, who have knitted and crocheted, families that made crafts to remind them of this time with handprints and footprints and I feel I have done nothing of the above. I did not learn a new language nor did I write a book, I did not learn to play a new instrument. I didn’t even come around to binge watching Netflix…

Is this a bad thing? It is easy to feel this “regret” and to feel two months have been “wasted”. Instead I choose to not do that and think of all the things we did manage:

- The children have been doing their fair share of learning, not only through the things given by the International School, but we also managed to catch up with some of their Dutch lessons.

- I have developed a admiration for our school that so quickly went from a normal school to a virtual learning system and then back to school with a lot of government restrictions and in the meantime continuing the virtual school for those parents who didn’t feel ready to send their children back to school yet.

- I have been more connected and involved with my children’s schoolwork than ever before, which has been a true learning experience for all of us, with all the struggles that come with it.

- We decluttered every single room, cabinet and closet in this house.

- We managed to get a good routine every day with time for learning, reading, exercising and fresh air. It didn’t work every day, but overall we did a good job.

- We introduced new traditions in our house, like Saturday Take-out night and Sunday movie-night.

- We finished a 1000 pieces and a 2000 pieces puzzle and this was a true family achievement.

- We spent an incredible amount of time as a family together in one house and there were no kids wanting to move out (Okay…maybe only once..) or divorce being filed for.

- I have been working on my certification to become a Positive Discipline Parent Educator. A very interesting method, with a lot of overlap on the “How to talk to kids” method, but also offering some very interesting new insides and techniques. More about this is coming soon.

School has started again and it is nice to have a few last almost “normal” weeks until the school year ends. In a way I feel almost sad that this time in our life has come to an end, but at the same time I am happy we get to go back to our normal lives again. We can’t control this virus completely and we can’t control the situation it creates, but we can control the way we handle the things that come our way and I think we, as a family, have done a pretty great job.

Stay healthy and safe everyone!