During This Quarantine, Go Treasure Hunting At Home

In the past six weeks, I’ve learned a lot. 

Simple Treasures

I’ve learned that my oldest grabs exactly five ice cubes for his ice water every time he gets a glass. No more. No less.

I’ve learned my daughter keeps an insanely clean email inbox and desktop for her school work and that I’d give anything to have a million students like her in my classes. 

I’ve learned my middle son can create intricate sketches of anything in about five minutes and make it look like it took an hour.

I’ve learned my dogs can sleep for 20 hours a day. 

There is so much about my family that I never appreciated before the silent attack of COVID-19. Since we’re still social distancing, I’m excited to see what else I can find out about my kids before I share them with the world again.

Family Time

In a book called Untamed by Glennon Doyle, the author calls this kind of small appreciation, treasure hunting. Ever since I learned this term for loving little things about my kids, I keep searching for more information. Going treasure hunting within your family is fantastic, and I invite you to do the same.

I’ve learned my daughter loves to bake (even though it’s not my favorite pastime) and will try to take things in and out of the oven even if I’m not in the room. Yikes!

I’ve learned my oldest son will spend an entire day learning new skills compliments of Youtube while being snowed in on an unseasonably cold April day. We now know about twenty different knots that can be made in a rope.

I’ve learned that my middle knows at least ten different characters he can imitate on demand, and he’s a good sport when his sister wants to use his face as a palette for make-up.

The more I treasure hunt for the gifts my kids provide our home, the more I see the way they treasure each other. My kids can argue. Oh boy, can they argue. I often utter a silent “Sorry” to my neighbors on an open window day. But they’ve developed an appreciation for each other as well during this pandemic. After all, when you can only hang with your brother or sister, you make the best of it. However, since we’ve all been together in this one house, I watch the way they play together and it warms my heart.

The Family is Hunting, Too

I’ve observed my oldest teach my daughter a football training pattern on a rope ladder. I hear things like, “You’re doing so well!” coming from his mouth. She is glowing from the compliment, and he is truly proud of her athletic effort.

I’ve seen the way my daughter looks up to my middle child as he wins some contests on their favorite video game. This kind of honor is mega in the kid world, and she was so proud to be his sister.

And I’ve seen my husband teach my kids how to measure, sand, cut, and build shelves for their room, something they never had time for because of baseball, basketball, and wrestling practice. I love watching them create structures that make them truly proud.

I was overstretched before this horrible pandemic. Our family was overstretched. And while my kids miss their friends and their activities, there is a silver lining. These tiny treasures that make me smile were always there, but I didn’t see them. We were searching for treasures outside of our home. Outside of us.

This very scary time has made me realize there are one million treasures inside this home, and I plan to continue treasure hunting within my family after we are released back into the world.

What about you? How do you and your family