We’re on week eleventy-jillion of our stay-home directive, and I realized yesterday that I have actually learned a variety of things during this time. Who knew quarantining could be so educational?

Things I’ve learned:

1. I can give a men’s clipper haircut. My son’s hair grows at an alarming rate – a trait he inherited from his dad. He also twists it into mini-dreads if it gets too long, so we have kept it pretty short for years. Our barbershops and salons have been closed forever, and he’s needed a couple haircuts during this time. I watched some YouTube videos and got out the clippers. His haircuts haven’t been perfect (he really doesn’t like me to do it), but they’re not bad! I likely will stop taking him at all, to be honest. Saves us $25 a month, yo.

2. I have learned or re-learned how to make a variety of tasty delights: stove-popped corn, homemade potato chips, fried rice, homemade ramen. The list is probably longer than this, and I know that because my waistline has expanded along with my cooking repertoire.

3. I can grow veggies on my countertop. It started with green onions and has morphed into celery. The lettuce was a fail, but I’m going to try it again.

4. I’m a pretty decent homeschooling parent. You might think that’s because of my educator experience – maybe it is – but having a special needs child at home all day every day ain’t easy. And when that child really loves going to school, it can be very challenging. Most days, we hit all his learning targets, and we’ve gotten into a pretty good groove. Having a plan is half the battle. His dad also set up a OneNote for us to use. That has been great for communicating with each other, keeping track of the work we do, and conveying that work to our son’s teacher. My OneNote experience up to that point was extremely limited; now I can OneNote with the best of them.

5. Online tutoring has been a good way to keep my professional skills sharp and to contribute to the community. I wasn’t sure how effective tutoring over Skype or FaceTime would actually be; however, I think it’s been working pretty well. If I’m going to continue to do it, there are some things I would tweak, but generally speaking, it’s been good to know I can tutor this way.

6. All the online meeting platforms are easy to navigate. I’d never heard of Teams or Zoom before this. These platforms are now something I use daily.

I think that’s it. I was feeling like I was stagnating yesterday, and then I realized that I’ve actually grown and learned quite a bit during this time. Thankfully, I have remained healthy and well. All my new mad skillz are a bonus.