Tips on how to stay home -- from a Mom who knows.

We know how to stay home. We stayed home for months facilitating the recovery from surgeries -- hip surgeries, spine surgeries, knee surgeries. We made movie lists and worked our way through each one. We played games. We made science experiments. We homeschooled for years and years. We know how to stay home. We even like it.

But this is different. So so different. Oh we are still going back to our coping skills honed over the years. We are still making movie lists and playing games. We still know HOW to stay home. But it occurred to me today -- after wondering why I am so exhausted doing nothing --  that the difference is the end point. If I knew staying home for six weeks, nine weeks even, is what it would take to keep my family safe, I could be all in. I could organize and plan events and make it a party. But I don't know how long this will last -- none of us know how long this will last. I don't know how many movies we should plan to watch, how much baking I should plan to do, how many game nights we can legitimately have without getting bored with our favorites. There is not an end in sight.

There is hope for an end. We received word yesterday that one of Wade's medical school classmates is among those working on a vaccine. I trust this doctor implicitly and can not wait to see what his brilliant mind discovers! I believe we will reach an end. I do. But listen, by all measures that I read, this is to be the apex, this week is to be the worst. We have to stay home this week. YOU have to stay home this week. I am imploring you to stay home, stay safe, keep your loved ones safe and let's flatten this curve.

And so I want to help you stay home. I want to share the tricks that have made it work for us in every post-surgery season we have endured:

1. Baking. When the house smells like fresh cookies, it is easy to stay inside! Pull out your cookbooks, pull up Pinterest, heat up the oven! And listen, it doesn't just have to be cookies....cornbread is a sure-fire comfort. If you need a recipe, try this one to start.

2. Science experiments seem to entertain with great delight -- this one has made us laugh for years. I have looked for our video of the rocket we launched in 2010. It was hilarious, trust me! 

3. Reach out to your people! Call, text, email, FaceTime. Zoom is a fantastic way to still gather with your loved ones! Last week my best girlfriends and I needed to see each other. We live states apart so even without the pandemic we wouldn't have had time face to face. But because of this crazy time in the world, we realized we COULD still gather. Seeing our faces together on the screen was exactly what my heart needed. Reach out to your people.

4. Read. I personally love easy-to-read fiction during this time, you know, those books we normally save for beach reads. I find they are exactly what I need to divert my mind and calm myself. But you read what works for you -- local libraries are providing ebooks, Amazon Prime has KindleUnlimited....check your local bookstores for ways you can get books through them. Read. And Read to your littles -- do you need this link again to Helix Stays Home??

5. Let all the members of your family put their favorite movie titles in a hat and draw one each night!

6. Eat al fresco -- we took advantage of lovely temps last night to just linger at the table on our back porch. It was possible because no one had anywhere to be...

7. Try new recipes. Beyond baking, we are getting creative with things in our cupboards. It doesn't have to be fancy but have fun. 

8. Get creative: We made salt dough Easter eggs last week with plans to paint them this week...our alternative to dying eggs.

9. You can always organize a closet or two. Cate has her's looking quite amazing!

10. Get outside -- we made a walking path around our house; we have established a frisbee-throwing ritual every afternoon; and we take turns as Cate's softball catcher so she can practice pitching. As soon as the weather warms up a bit more, we have big garden plans (ok, small garden, but big plans!) If you have a yard, enjoy it!

My prayers are with you. My intense-call-out-to-God-for-this-to-be-over prayers are with you! Please stay home. Please stay safe.