The Covid 19 pandemic has been horrific. So many have been ill, lost their lives, their loved ones, their jobs. It has been surreal. We have all tried to make the best of it. What I am heartened to hear from so many families is that amidst the challenges of juggling home schooling, working from home, and stay at home orders they are learning to appreciate some parts of their current situation. Many are saying they are enjoying eating meals as a family again, taking walks together, playing games, and doing puzzles, and having family movie nights. The rushing to sporting events and extra curricular activities has stopped…And it feels good! So what does that mean? Could it mean that there are parts of life during this pandemic that your family wants to keep in place when the crisis is over? That maybe the endless rushing to do unimportant things can end? I encourage you and your family to sit down together BEFORE the crisis is over and talk about what has been challenging, but also what you have all found valuable and want to keep in place afterwards. Write it down so you can revisit it later because when the immediate crisis is over and folks go back to work and school and sports we will all be pressured to return to our old ways of being…to rushing and shopping, and eating out instead of cooking together, etc. We are going to have to be very intentional about what we want to keep in place, otherwise we will be convinced that we need to return to all those old ways of living and we’ll forget the valuable lessons we have learned during this time.