Welcome to . We saved you a spot on the couch. It’s got a squirrel named Ernest watching over you.

Then ring that bell. Build that fort. Start the broth-off.

When Grandpa Joe had his hip replaced, the Carvas set up a bird feeder outside his window—but not for birds. They baited it with peanuts to attract squirrels. They named the squirrels. They started a betting pool on which squirrel would fall off first. (Ernest, the fat one, lost spectacularly.) In a bizarre twist, the Carvas limit screen time during recovery. "No doomscrolling," Elara decrees. "You are rebuilding cells, not anxiety."

Instead, they bring in a rotary phone. Yes, a 1970s yellow rotary phone is plugged into your nightstand. Friends and family call. Because it’s a rotary, you can’t text; you have to talk . Conversations are longer, weirder, and more wonderful. Last week, a former college roommate called and sang the entire score of The Lion King to a recovering patient. Try getting that via emoji. At the Carva household, bedtime does not mean loneliness. Because the patient cannot come to the living room, the living room comes to the patient.

So the next time you find yourself laid up in bed, whether for a day or a month, ask yourself: What would the Carvas do?