I have a couple secrets...
1.  I have “day” pajamas AND “night” pajamas.
2.  Breakfast has been known to be served at 1:00 pm at my house.
3.  Not having enough time to do my laundry is apparently NOT the reason my laundry isn't done.

AND... you know what?? It’s OK! I could go on and on about what I have not completed/accomplished or done with my time in the last few weeks. I think that is so easy for all of us to do, when there are so many feelings of uncertainty.  Lots of things are uncertain right now... financial stability of businesses, jobs, the health and well-being of our families and community, or just an overall sense of how and will we survive Covid-19? Most of us have been quarantining ourselves for the last 2-3 weeks and by now, we have had lots of time to think about how this pandemic could affect us or our families. And you know what? It is so easy to find ourselves focusing on the negative.
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This is a mindset I had to reset this weekend. I was so focused on the mess we still had in our yard from leaves and leftover junk from last year that I almost didn’t see the beautiful flowers growing through the mess.

And then it hit me. There can be beauty in this quarantine time, and that beauty is my Quality Time with my family! We have had pajama day, and we have stayed up way too late binge watching Tiger King, then slept in and had breakfast at 1:00 pm and really... WHO CARES about laundry. Right? My QT has allowed me to do these things that I may not have otherwise been able to do or made the time to do... and I LOVED every second of it!

You see, I truly believe that out of darkness, beauty can come. And that there is beauty around us if we just take the time and see it. 

Quarantine Time = Quality Time

How are you spending your QT? 

​Is your QT allowing you to see what really matters?

​Have you had a pajama day yet?

Whoa, how life suddenly changed. For all of us. Funny how that happens, isn't it? Less than two weeks ago, we were all humming about our busy schedules, trying to figure out how would possibly accomplish everything on our “to-do” lists and (many of us) looking forward to a warm spring break somewhere sunny. Now, many of us are canceling those plans and working to figure out our new/temporary normal. As we do that, I wanted to pass along a few ideas of family bonding and other activities to do at home during the quarantine.

1. Clean our your medicine cabinet!
As you organize and clean out cabinets during all this time at home, make it a priority to clean out your medicine cabinets. Our Drop2Stop locations throughout Northern Indiana and Southwest Michigan offer safe and convenient (almost curbside!) drug disoposal.

2. Talk with your kids about an exit plan. 
If your kids are in school, they are old enough to have this conversation. Let’s fill this time with meaningful discussions… including the importance of making good choices, the importance of being a good friend and the importance of having an exit plan! This “plan” comes into play when they are in a situation that makes them feel uncomfortable or where bad choices are being made – the exit plan helps them get out of (or exit) it. Have them call you or text an ‘x’. Then you know to reach out to them and you come up with the excuse to pick them up. We, as parents, can help them navigate through tricky times.
 
​3. Take a Walk.
There has never been a better time or excuse to connect with your kid and find out what’s going on in their life. It sounds so simple but realistically, how many of us know the day-to-day of our kids’ lives from THEIR perspective? Their perspective on what’s going on in their life is probably a little different than yours! Relationship building is truly priceless.