As some parts of the world start to open back up, and others are being told the worst is still to come, we are all continuing to adjust to this “new normal.” I am certain there are things you have experienced or learned as you maneuver daily life that others could benefit from, and so I’ll soon invite you to share your experience. Before that, though, it’s only fair that I share some of mine…

(I should preface this to say that I feel very fortunate. To date, my family and I have not had any first hand experience with illness, so our adjusting is to the shelter-at-home environment. I know many people are dealing with much more. None of the following is intended to minimize that.)

One thing I’ve noticed is that we’ve traded a lot of things. What we’ve traded them for isn’t necessarily better or worse, it’s simply different. Part of the general anxiety that peeks into our days on a not-irregular basis is likely just because so many things are different. Many of them minor, but they all add up to a lot of change, which can be unsettling. But there are moments when we settle into it.

As one example of this trading of events: our weekdays now start out without the mad rush to get the kids clothed, fed, and onto the school bus. We had exchanged that over the past few weeks for an extended period of mayhem. To my delight, however, in just the recent couple of days, our mornings have calmed. The kids self-organized to empty the dishwasher and put away the dishes—two days in a row (!!). While pre-COVID Cole would have scolded them for climbing on the counter, current Cole is all for anything that will entertain children, particularly if it’s something helpful for us or them. I’m going to count this trade a definite win.

Another trade that has happened without being planned is when I work. My productive day used to start at 7:30am when all three kids were put on that bus I mentioned earlier and whisked away for organized learning. Now, I’m the one trying to manage that: I’ve been leading the daily morning learning segment for our boys (kindergarten and first grade). We focus mainly on math and science and read every day (we’re nearly done with the Wizard of Oz!). I’ve posted some of our successful projects to the SWD community—here is an exercise with blocks and there is also a conversation where I and others have shared activities to help teach kids logic, math, and visualization (including one the kids and I wrapped up today, pictured at the onset of this post, where we rated things and made graphs that was a lot of fun). One thing I feel is important to note: while the pictures show only smiling children, these are countered by frustrated mornings where attention spans or tempers are unusually short and things sometimes end in tears (mine). Which is just to say, don’t be fooled by what you see in a public forum: many people are dealing with things behind the scenes that don’t lend themselves as well to the infinite scroll.

Now that my work days (the non-kid-teacher part) are typically starting around 10am—and we still have a ton of stuff that we’re trying to accomplish at storytelling with data—my husband and I have both found ourselves turning back to work after the kids are in bed. This rarely used to happen. It’s crazy how quickly it has become habit. While I feel pretty efficient this time of night (the kids have just been put to bed as I type these words now and the house is—for once today—quiet), this is a routine I hope we trade back when things return to “normal.”

OK, enough about me. I want to hear about you. How are you adjusting? When it comes to both work and life in general—what trades have you been making? What challenges are you facing? Are there any surprises: things you anticipated would be difficult that have actually been fine? Or things you thought would be easy that have been surprisingly hard? Have you experienced any successes or learnings that we—everyone reading here—might benefit from, too? We’ve started a conversation in the SWD community where we all can share. I look forward to hearing from you there.