At the end of March, I wrote a reflection on our first two weeks of quarantine. It was the beginning of spring and the beginning of an alternate reality that, though we didn’t know it at the time, would still largely be our reality many months later. And here we are, many months later. While so many aspects of our life remain in that shifted state – masks on, sanitizer at the ready – a significant milestone took place this week when our kids returned to preschool after five and a half months at home. With that, an acute season of our life closed, and I wanted to record a few more reflections here. I’ve often said that one of my least favorite things in life is trying to work when my children are around. I hate it. It leaves me exhausted and irritable, feeling like I failed at being both a parent and an employee, and since becoming a mom I have put structures in place to avoid it whenever possible. I like to think I’m not a distracted parent, and perhaps that’s why trying to do focused work on my computer while my children are clamoring for my attention feels so icky and alien to everything I try to cultivate in our family life. Even aside from my life as a parent, I think it’s the Enneagram 5 in me that makes me highly value compartmentalizing my work life and my personal life, and wrapping things up cleanly before I transition from one to the other. (Trying to do something for work on my phone while my kiddos are in the room is literally the stuff of nightmares for me.) Anyway. All that to say that after our preschool closed, John and I knew attempting to juggle two

Though Articles Club has faithfully continued meeting over the last two months, we’ve switched to focusing on “life lately” updates instead of our usual fare. I miss our deep dives into important (and not-so-important) topics, but have also been enjoying the simple, and shorter, time together – after a long day, Zoom fatigue is real! In honor of Articles Club, I thought I’d collect a few of my favorite recent coronavirus thought-pieces to share – all reads and listens that would be just perfect for discussing around the table. They’re less about current events and more about what life right now means for life beyond the pandemic. I hope they light a little spark in you today! P.S. Perhaps you’re tapped out on coronavirus reading right now. Been there! Just for you, I’m including a few photos from this weekend’s backyard campout :) Enjoy! Our favorite floral melamine plates in action!Present in the Pandemic | This sermon from Jon Tyson was a gentle but firm reminder to abide in the midst of difficulty and sameness. He speaks persuasively about distraction, and what it means for our core relationships and our intimacy with God. If you loved The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, you’ll be nodding along the whole time. In the words of Jon, let’s not say at the end of this, “It was kind of a blur, and then it was over.” The teaching starts at about 44:30. It’s Okay to Be a Different Kind of Parent During the Pandemic | This is perhaps not the essay you’re thinking it’s going to be. Mary Katherine weaves insight from her husband passing away, leaving her and her two young daughters behind, into advice for parents dealing with our current upheaval. A poignant and lovely piece. When the Small Things are Everything

Hello, friends! I missed you last week! Like many of you, I’ve found myself much busier than usual since our kiddos’ school closed. We’ve had our babysitter over several mornings a week, but there’s still a lot of creative scheduling (mornings, evenings, etc.) needed to fit in an almost-full work day on my part. John has also been working far longer hours than normal, as his industry is currently roiling. Unfortunately, that’s meant less time here. I find it so interesting that this virus has impacted people in such opposite ways, particularly in terms of time — some people are attempting to work full-time, parent full-time, and homeschool full-time, while others are out of work, have seen all their commitments snatched from them, and have suddenly found themselves with hours to fill. Both are challenging in their own way. Similarly, John and I were talking yesterday about how different this experience would be if our kids were any other age – particularly high school age. In high school, families are usually scattered by sports, friends, and activities – plus, you can’t pay some teens to spend free time with their parents :) While I’m sure there are many difficulties to having older kids in this crisis, I hope so much that those parents are also able to soak up the fleeting sweetness of having their big kids suddenly and unexpectedly held so close (especially knowing that they’ll soon go off to college or perhaps move states away…) From my seat as a mama who currently always has my kiddos close by and tears up thinking about when it will be different, that sounds breathlessly dear. (On that note, I’ve recently read two interesting pieces on the silver linings of this pandemic for families: here and here.) Aside from the work