My child has taken to hiding under a blanket on the couch while he does his schoolwork or reads a book on his Kindle. I think that says a lot about our mental state right now.

The first few weeks of quarantine made me feel creative. But after a while, a serious lack of motivation set in. I’ve had to dig deeper into my bag of coping skills. Good thing I grew up in the middle of no where. Self-entertainment is not unfamiliar territory.

Right now that looks like learning how to make dried chickpeas that taste amazing and picking up some new tricks from these free online cooking classes. This knife skills class inspired me to sharpen my knives, which led to a scary finger-slicing incident a couple days ago, but even so, I think it was worth it. My onion dice is so uniform! And really everyone should have a go at smashing ginger. It’s just plain fun.

Coban is so bored that he gave only the slightest resistance when I asked him to sort out the scrap wood I’ve been saving in the shed. It’s now been cut into uniform pieces, and I’ve got a new use for my large collection of sample paints. When we’re allowed to touch common surfaces again, we’re going to have our own version of this outdoor Jenga game to liven up our porch parties.

I don’t want to give the impression that it’s all positive productivity over here; I’ve also spent whole days on my couch not bothering to hit pause when Netflix rolls to the next episode. (If you’re at that sad point where you’ve finished all the good stuff you know to watch, read this for some inspiration. It’ll set you up for quite a while.)

It’s all part of this rollercoaster ride we’re on. I feel a little hopeful now because things may open back up soon. I don’t like to think too much about what that actually looks like or how it could go wrong. Uncertainty is the hardest thing. I guess all we can do right is wait and see.