Another week down. When did we become so cynical? It's amazing to me that anytime any piece of good news comes up about this virus it's immediately squashed. It's actually incredibly ridiculous. I consider myself a reformed cynic. It's in my nature to be cynical but I've worked for many years to be an optimist. As a result my cynicism tends to come out as intense hatred of Olive Garden and Cafe Rio. At least I know my cynicism is well deserved.
It's not that I think we should only be wide eyed optimists. Excepting the hard truth of this virus is an important part of taking our own responsibility to help stop it. However any time there is any piece of good news or anyone trying to show any optimism in any way it is quickly squashed. It's OK to have good news regarding the situation we're in. It's OK to know that things will get better. It's OK to hear about good things people are doing. When I look at the media all I see is people saying no one is doing the social distancing. At the same time I see the parking lots empty and the streets empty. There are a lot of people taking this seriously and doing what they're asked to do. There are people who are not and those people need to pull their heads out.
Enjoy the good news that you see. Embrace it. Share it. There is a tremendous amount to be grateful for, even during this time. It's important to be educated and to not underestimate what this virus could do to our country. Be the good you want to see. You'll be amazed at how quickly things will start to look up. Like I wrote last week, find something that makes you happy and do it. If there's a hobby you used to do and now you don't, start it again. If there's something you always wanted to do, start. You've got time. Make it good.
For Priya's birthday she got a toy guitar from Coco. Priya likes it a lot but Mirinda fell in love with it and often would sit on the couch playing it and singing. So I bought her a ukulele. She's so excited about it. The only problem with buying a 6 year old a ukulele is that you've bought a 6 year old a ukulele. She wants to really learn how to play it and I have no idea how to play one. So I guess I'm using my time of social isolation to learn how to play the ukulele so I can teach her how to play it. It should be interesting. Plus I have like 4 Hawaiian shirts that finally fit me again and I need an excuse to wear them.
Something that has constantly occurred to me this week is this: Organization will set you free. I really do believe that. When you always do what you need to do first, then you'll be able to enjoy the things you want to do more. Each morning this week the girls have got up and been given about 10 minutes to do what they want to do and to wake up. Then they start exercising for 10 minutes. It's either Mickey Mouskercize or DDP Yoga for kids. DDP Yoga for kids is being offered for free right now, by the way. After the exercise they have breakfast. These girls never eat breakfast. After exercising they finish their entire breakfast. Then it's homework and get dressed. Since they know exactly what to expect every morning it is so much easier to get them to do it and to give them incentives to do what they need to do. After they've done everything they get to have fun. There is much less fighting and arguing when they know what to expect. I think one of the problems is we have in our mind as adults what should be done and how it should be done. We don't always vocalize that to the kids and as a result they are left trying to guess what we're thinking and sometimes it looks like we are just being unfair or mean when there may be a good reason for the way things are being done. That's where organization comes in. Setting clear expectations and then following those expectations helps kids so much. Not always. Kids are still going to be kids. They're still going to have good days and bad days, good moments and bad moments.
I'm convinced that organization is the key in all this. Organizing priorities, organizing tasks, organizing everything. That's my suggestion this week. Get organized in whatever you need to be organized in. Let the kids help. Let them come up with suggestions and help to organize a plan. They will own it more if they have a hand in creating the organization.
Always do what you need to do first. My dad always told me a story about a fisherman who went out all day and caught four fish. When he came home he was very tired. He knew he had to clean the 4 fish but he thought he would sit down for 15 minutes and rest. After 15 minutes the 4 fish had become 6 fish. The thought of that made him more tired so he rested for another 15 minutes. Now he had 8 fish to clean. That was an overwhelming thought. After an hour of resting he had 20 fish to clean. The thought of that many fish was too tiring to him, exhausted as he was. He gave up and the fish didn't get cleaned.
In reality there was still only 4 fish. But because he decided to do what he wanted to do instead of what he needed to do first it felt like too much to do as he rested. Clean the fish first. Then do what you want to do. You'll enjoy the things you want to do so much more because the things you need to do aren't constantly on your mind expanding and growing until it just seems like there's so much to do.
Just remember this will end. Stay home and stay safe. Make a plan. Get organized. Find the joy where you can. It will get better. And if you need a good laugh or a recommendation on takeout, listen to my podcast.
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