One of the conversations I’ve found myself having quite a bit with everyone from my kids to the Wonderful Husband to my co-workers is how are things going to be different when we go back to “normal.” One thing we can all agree on is that there will be a “new” normal.

I’ve been working from home exclusively for over a month now, and plan to continue doing so for at least another full one. Since I did already work part of the time from home, this wasn’t too much of a transition for me. The WH has also been working from home for almost a month, and this has been a huge change for him.

Both of us know that we are extremely privileged to be able to continue working full time and stay safe in our homes, and we are careful not to abuse this privilege, and we are both hopeful that going forward, we may continue to have the same opportunity to work from home, at least part of the time.

A change like this, even a few days a week, for the WH could save him a round trip commute of two hours per day. In addition to the wear and tear on the car, and the savings on gas and the benefit for the environment, having two hours added to his day, even just once or twice a week would definitely help decrease his stress level and increase the amount of time he can spend with us.

For me, instead of taking my ergonomic break to walk to the copier, or the water cooler, I head over to the dishwasher or the washing machine and change out a load of dirty stuff. I also am more focused on just getting as much work done as efficiently as possible so that I can spend more time doing the things around the house that need to be done or that I enjoy doing. I am definitely feeling more productive around the house and at work. From some of the conversations I’ve had with others, I think a lot more people are feeling like working from home when possible is a win-win for both them and their employers.

Although nothing is going to replace my kids going to school, EVER - let me make that quite clear - I do think there are some learnings that can be taken away from their trial period of online learning.

For one thing, having a slightly more flexible schedule has been a good thing for them. Even though we’re keeping our bedtimes pretty close to the old normal, I think letting them get an extra hour or two in the morning has been good for them.

Having a little bit of freedom to manage their schedule has been good for them. Sitting in a classroom for eight hours a day, five days a week isn’t 100% effective for all kids, and maybe going forward, we can be more flexible with how we administer education.

I can honestly see a point where for older kids, something like a four-day school week, and one day of online work. Obviously for younger kids who need more supervision, this wouldn’t be convenient for working parents. I can also see this becoming a norm for snow days, which will mean we actually have spring breaks in the future.

I do admit to missing a lot of the kids’ extracurricular and sports activities. These are irreplaceable. I’m glad that my kids have each other to go out to the backyard and play some catch or bounce on the trampoline, but those activities are no substitute for the camaraderie of their teams and clubs.

That being said, I am grateful for this time for their bodies to rest. I’ve never pushed my kids to the point of injury, and I don’t believe in year-round dedication to just one sport at any age, but my kids have been playing a sport of some kind year-round for many years, and this lull has been good for them.

I’m seeing what activities they’re telling me they miss, or what they’re going out to the backyard to practice on their own. That’s telling me what activities are going to be worth bringing back into our schedule in the future. I can’t imagine ever having a clean slate like this again.

While I do know there are parent coaches who are standing out in the backyard tossing 100 pitches to their little superstars every night, I’m leaning toward most parents not doing this, or at least not going overboard doing this.

As a swim coach, I know that none of my athletes are putting in any kind of yardage right now. I’m excited because when we do get back to the pool we will be starting over. I’m hoping bad habits are forgotten. I’m hoping my kids have a new appreciation for what it means to go without their sport and are ready to jump back.

I’m hoping that new kids who never did a sport before will be more eager to try something new because they won’t be coming onto a team where everyone has been practicing for years and is better than they are. I’m hoping my older athletes have now gotten a glimpse of what lies beyond their high school or college years, when sports teams will disappear, and they bring a new enthusiasm back as leaders and examples for their younger teammates.

One thing that I hope we’ve learned from this is that the way we’ve always done things doesn’t have to be the way we keep doing them. Advances in technology have certainly made a lot of things more possible, and convenient.

Now that I’ve done online shopping, I am wondering if I will ever lazily stroll through the aisles looking for new inspiration for menus. Is it better to have that hour I would have spent in the store to be in the kitchen making something new with E?

I’m always wary of turning into one of the people on the spaceship in the movie WALL-E. I am hopeful that our new normal will take into account the best of both worlds: the convenience that technology offers and the wisdom to spend any newfound time engaged with the people around us.

Liz Pinkey is a contributing writer to the Times News. Her column appears weekly in our Saturday feature section.