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I've been in quarantine for an eternity. It's been since March 9, but this year March had 634 days. There's a meme going around that asks, "Where should I visit next? Isla de living room? Casa Kitchen? Bedroom Bodega?" In an apartment with five rooms I'm feeling pretty limited. Of course, I know it could be worse. I only have a husband to deal with. He's still sort of working, so he amuses himself with loud phone calls filled with business euphemisms - "We'll run it up the flagpole, and see if we need to circle back" - and frequent trips to the kitchen to forage for snacks.

I don't have to read books out loud to him or build pillow forts like some of my friends with school-age children are doing day after day after day. I remember the years when my kids demanded constant activities and entertainment. I would set up an art project on the kitchen table, getting out the paints, paper, markers, scissors, glue and glitter. For 10 minutes my kids would be creative, happy geniuses. Then they would be done and ask what was next. I was grateful to be able to push them onto the school bus each day. In quarantine, parents have 45 minutes of video school, leaving 23 more hours in the day that must be filled.

I try not to watch too much news - although after the first 10 minutes of depressing statistics, our local newscasts have been focusing on "good news!" That means videos of neighbors delivering groceries to seniors and firetrucks driving by with birthday wishes. I don't miss the daily report of car accidents and gun violence, but I can only stand so much manufactured happy.

So I'm not posting photos of chalk rainbows and concerts from balconies. But I am happy to share what I've learned from the isolation, grocery panic and free-floating anxiety that comes with the current pandemic:

Just get through each day. Don't plan around that future date when things will be better. Experts advise us not to put an end date on it. And by experts, I mean someone who survived nine years in a Siberian prison. Natan Sharansky, the former Soviet Jewish prisoner now Israeli Knesset member, madeavideo to lift the spirits of his fellow citizens with his tipsfor surviving alone. Although his first tip is too cerebral for me (he played chess in his head against himself!) he does know what he's talking about. Another brainiac who survived isolation is astronaut Scott Kelly, who was on the international space station for many months. His return voyage to earth was delayed several times, and not only was he disappointed, he was stuck in outer space. Kellyrecommends stickingto a consistent schedule to keep yourself motivated. I think of him most mornings as I debate whether or not to brush my teeth that day.

Ihave learned some new tech in quarantine. I've Zoom conferenced, Google chatted, video messaged and more to stay connected to elderly parents, friends and my children who are young adults living on their own. I've always just texted or chatted on the phone with my kids - but because I can't be with them and can't hug them it's made it more important to me to actually see their little faces on my phone. I need visual proof that they have made it through another day, that they have something to eat and haven'topened a bottle of wine at11 a.m.

The days when my kids would gather to play a board game are long gone. No one has touched our Monopoly or Scrabble for years. But last weekend, we gathered around our respective laptops, in our separate apartments, and played a word game together. Similar to Password, in Codenames teams of two people try to get their partner to guess a secret word. The game was chosen by my oldest son who leads a lot of corporate team-building exercises, and for a few hours it made our teams feel very important and vital to next quarter's corporate operations indeed!

Tasks that I used to take for granted and not even think about - walking the dog, grocery shopping and getting the mail are now nerve-wracking and anxiety inducing because we're trying to stay germ free. The arrival of an Amazon package requires major strategizing. I told my husband to open the box, dump out the contents, put the box in the trash and wash his hands. Instead he opened the box and put the box on the kitchen table. He dumped out the contents onto his keys and phone. He picked up his phone and then picked up the box and asked,"Where do you want this?" He went into the bathroom, texting someone on his phone while unzipping his pants. I sprayed his package - and his package - with Lysol and told them all to stay in the hallway.

- Ellen Scolnic

Ellen Scolnichas been a published writer for more than 20 years. Her humorous essays on modern family life have appeared inpublicationsincludingThe Philadelphia Inquirer, Parents Express, The Christian Science Monitor, Washington Jewish Week and more. With her writing partner, Joyce Eisenberg, Ellen and Joycewrite, speak, blog and tweet together as The Word Mavens. They dispensetheir advice and opinions on everything from dealing with technology to sneaking out of a party early. Together, they are the authors of the best-sellingDictionary of Jewish WordsandThe Whole Spiel: Funny essays about digital nudniks, seder selfies and chicken soup memories, a collection of some of their favorite essays. Their third book,Stuff Every Grandmother Should Knowwas published by Quirk Books in 2019. Their op-eds, features and essays appear in The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Forward, The Writer, Interfaith Family and more.