To say that a lot has changed since 2020 is an understatement. We didn’t realize the huge effect that this would have in our lives. Businesses were forced to immediately adapt, they suddenly offered online sales for their clients, and work from home for their employees. For the kids, distance learning became the norm. Before, it was a luxury if we can have dinner with our family, but these days, we are spending time with each other 24/7. The initial panic buying to ensure our cupboards are well stocked have been replaced by online shopping.
Even our homes were not spared. We had to rearrange the house to make space for our ‘home office’ and even the kids had to be given their own space for their distance learning set up.
Roughly a year and a half into this new normal, we’ve somehow adjusted, and things are starting to look more optimistic. There are still a lot of uncertainties but in these dark times, the spirit of bayanihan has prevailed giving hope for everyone. Left and right, we see news and stories of people helping each other out. The vaccine has arrived, and more and more people are willing to be vaccinated.
In our homes, we’ve gotten used to our work from home set up. With no more commute taking a huge chunk of our day, we found ourselves with a lot of time in our hands to discover new hobbies or pickup a pastime that has previously taken a step back. We turned to gardening, baking, cooking as either new hobbies or a new side hustle. We were able to spend more quality time with our kids every day, instead of it being just a weekend event.
It really challenged our patience, but even the kids were somehow able to adapt to distance learning. Or at the very least, they were present during the synchronous classes with their teachers and were able to submit all the assigned tasks that were given to them. Kids these days have even discovered a new way of bonding with their classmates by playing an online game while on a zoom meeting to coordinate their moves.
It has been a very challenging and interesting year and a half, but despite the uncertainties and the fears, we’ve grown stronger and are even closer to our families. So, pat yourself on the back, we will get through this.