Back to normal? – Corona Chronicles day 38

Five and a half weeks ago Norway, like the rest of the world, went into lockdown. Tomorrow preschools will open again, but are we going back to normal? I don’t think so. However we will get back a sense of normality.

Five and a half weeks of family time

We’ve had five and a half great weeks together as a family. Not saying that we haven’t faced some challenges or had our fair share of stupid arguments, but these weeks have been good for us nonetheless. I think our experience comes down to the fact that we decided to treat these weeks as bonus time for our family to do stuff we rarely get to do together.

I’ve written a lot about it in my previous Corona Chronicles posts, and I also talked about it in my first episode of “Explore Locally”. About how we decided to have a daily family adventure. And I knew we had succeeded to make these family adventures a valuable experience for our boys this morning. Big brother and I was looking through the video as he eagerly said “mum, are we going out on another adventure soon?” Not tired of them after 37 days of local explorations. So how will it feel to get back to normal?

Preschools are open – back to normal(ity)

Big brother is really looking forward to get back to preschool. He does however have some concerns. About not being able to combine social distancing and playing with his friends. Or about not being able to wash his hands properly. We’ve been able to convince him that the grown ups are there to take responsibility for that, that he gets to be a child and are not to worry. He is allowed to just look forward to play with kids again.

I love observing how much he is looking forward to some thing going back to normal. Or some sense of normality. And I have to admit that I’m ready for him to be able to play with other kids myself as well. Not that I don’t love spending time with him. It’s just that I’m a grown up, I need to be able to do grown up things for a few hours a day. Constantly having to think about how to make things fun for the kids is indeed exhausting. Especially while working from the home office at the same time. Back to normal would be great, back to some sense of normality is welcomed.

Wrapping up the Corona Chronicles

I’m not going to stop telling stories of our adventures. I am however not going to link my posts to COVID-19 from here on. Corona Chronicles started because our society went into lockdown. Getting back to normal(ity) with the opening of preschools seems like a good way to wrap up the Corona Chronicles.

We’ve gotten so much better at just being outside without any goals of going far or reaching a summit. The other day we went on this 1 km hike to spend a few hours in the forest. Looking at insects, butterflies and flowers. Studying signs of spring. Making lunch on the burner. Climbing to the top of a huge rock. Twice. Just being. I will miss that aspect of lockdown. To be able to take a break in the middle of the day to just be together as a family in nature.

I’m planning on making a photobook documenting these weeks. Something for my family to look through and talk about. When we actually do get back to normal, I think it’s easy to forget what we learned these weeks. And I really don’t want any of us to forget how much we enjoy a slower pace, and spending time together in nature every day.

I hope that wherever you are in the world, that you sooner rather than later will get back to normal. I know this isn’t over yet. Far from. But when it is, I hope you will remember some of the beautiful things we’ve seen through this crisis. The big things like people fighting this together all over the world. And the small things you learned to love about yourself and your loved ones. Stay safe, keep washing your hands, but get outside and explore locally.