This week has been surreal, as I’m sure it has been for many of you. I struggled to fit my home-office job, my kids mounting online homework, and the extra housework their constant presence brought into my once balanced day life. By the end of the first day, I had clenched my hands in frustration so much they hurt. How would I survive another fourteen days like this, when I felt driven to the brink on day one?

That night it struck me, I had spent the day trying to keep with the status quo, but this wasn’t like business as usual. And I would never get through this if I kept trying to act like it was.

The next day, I stopped stressing that I wasn’t working in my office during my normal hours. Instead, I focused on the positives this quarantine had brought. My teenage children were now a literally captive audience. Beyond homework, we started a puzzle, played board games, even had a bonfire where my youngest ate so much junk food he gave himself a tummy ache.

Yep, I haven’t been nearly as efficient with my office work–most of it doesn’t happen until the evenings now. This won’t last forever, so I’m taking the opportunity to strengthen my relationships with them. Work will always be there.