This week, our third in quarantine, I thought so much about the concept of boredom. I have had many discussions with friends about it, sent lists of suggestions to fight it, read endless articles on the art of accepting it. But it isn't really a concept that I relate to in my daily life. In general, I am not bored. There are endless things to read, activities to design, rooms and closets and nooks and crannies to clean, walks to enjoy, habits to break and habits to establish. I am ok to sit. To think. To just be. I don't have a compulsive need to fill every minute, not for myself or for my kids. And right now, I am really grateful for that.
We carried on with homeschool this week: we completed assignments, we showed up for our Zoom classes, we baked cookies for Foodie Friday, we rolled out our yoga mats with fellow kindergartners, we made a butterfly with moving wings. We spelled words and wrote sentences. Practiced site words and began learning to tell time in an analog way. We sang songs and joined wacky dances and workouts sent by our P.E. teacher. All of this to say, we thought about things. We worked on things. We learned.
The weather was nice all week, and we know how lucky that is. We walked and rode bikes and played with chalk and sand and swings and the basketballs and dolls. We watched movies and read books. Played Roblox (a lot) and joined Adventure Academy. Dad cooked every meal but one, and we devoured them all (he enjoyed a break Saturday night when we ordered pizza - it was delicious, too.). We delighted in almost nightly "happy hours" with a friend at our school who is also a DJ. He spins tunes live on instagram, and we pour a glass of wine and dance in the kitchen while our friends all across the city do the same. It is a gift.
Today is Palm Sunday. We watched mass via livestream and it was beautiful. I missed holding an actual palm in my hand, fumbling around trying to tie it into one of those crosses that I'm never quite able to craft. It is strange to enter holy week this way. And yet, it is also beautiful and quite fitting in a way. Today's readings and homily worked around the important (and so timely) question: "Oh God, why have you abandoned me?" And I was blessed to leave the experience knowing in my heart that He has not. He is there in all of it: the healthcare workers who never waver even though they have families at home too, the neighbors who check on each other and feed each other, the kids who laugh and play, the friends who drive by each other's houses just for a wave, the generous gestures of those who donate what they can, the dawn of each new day as we carry on. We can do hard things. He taught us that. He showed us that.
Tomorrow brings week four and the beginning of spring break in addition to holy week. None of it will look like we planned, but all of it will happen just the same. We will carry on and make it great. We will wave to you as we do. We are honored to be alone together with you. xo
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