10 Things I Learned in Quarantine

As things begin to open back up for us here in Michigan (a little slower than most other places), I am feeling a sense of joy and relief.

I know we’re not out of the woods, but if I can just go out and about more freely to buy an ice cream cone or a package of bandaids for all the cuts on my hands from 2 months of home cooking, then YAY!

But, looking back, I learned a LOT while staying at home. Here are the Top 10 Things I Learned in Quarantine.

1. Coronavirus is stupid.

2. Racism is stupid. And real.

3. You know what else is stupid? The fact that while everyone else in the world including yours truly gained weight in quarantine, my husband joyfully announced he lost 10 pounds. SIGH.

4. I survived cutting my bangs myself. Twice.

5. I learned that it’s a good thing my two teens share a bathroom. Due to the bathroom’s increased use over the pandemic, it got gross a lot quicker than usual. Thus, my able-bodied teens realized it was disgusting and finally started cleaning it themselves.

6. Why did I ever wear makeup? I guess I will again once I’m let back into my office, but, really, I don’t miss it.

7. I learned people in quarantine say things they shouldn’t say, just like when we’re not in quarantine. Case in point: on a recent Zoom call, a coworker kept commenting how tired I looked. I wasn’t tired, I just wasn’t wearing any makeup.

8. There were gentle moments I learned to treasure amidst the strangeness and fear. As a family, we found out we all liked jigsaw puzzles. Even the sixteen year old liked doing them with us, he who mostly stayed in his room for 2 months, only coming out at night to play video games online with his friends. I will always remember the puzzles.

9. I learned that it was challenging to endure a pandemic with Bath and Body Works’ Pink Lemonade Don’t Quit Your Daydream hand sanitizer because of course my teenage son didn’t have any hand sanitizer so I had to give him my regular hand sanitizer, just in case.

Then, because I needed hand sanitizer in a pandemic, my daughter gave me her least favorite Bath and Body Works Pocketbac hand sanitizer. Gulp. The Pink Lemonade Don’t Quit Your Daydream hand sanitizer has worked so far, although I’m not sure if it’s the alcohol or the pungent smell that is killing all the germs.

10. I learned I could survive. Seriously. Not in a Naked and Afraid chop-wood-and-eat-bugs TV show kind of way, but in a day-to-day get through it way. Sort of like how it was really, really hard having a newborn those first few months and then I got used to the new reality of being a parent.

Anyhoo, enough about the 10 things I learned in quarantine. What did you learn? Are you out yet?

Take care. Of yourselves and each other. Might I add no matter our skin color, too.