I get it. The weight of all this has been crushing. Disappointment, sadness, frustration and worry are just some of the feelings overwhelming many of us right now. But I’m starting to see, hear, and feel glimmers of hope. Of “we’re all in this together.” Of “pull up your big kid pants and let’s handle it.” The conversations are starting between parents. We’re setting rules for our kids playing outside. We’re getting on the same page when it comes to not running in and out of each other’s homes, as we’ve done freely for years. We’re asking important questions concerning grandparents. And isn’t that half the battle? Starting the conversation could actually end up saving lives. I think it’s safe to say we owe that to ourselves, our kids, our families, our friends, and our communities.
I was chatting with a friend recently (at a safe, six-foot distance) when she made the comment that this is forcefully bringing us back to the simple life and making us focus on what is important. She said it might shine a light that some of us are over-scheduling our kids and placing importance on things that are, in the grand scheme, not that important. She also said we can all keep sitting back and complaining about it, or we can start dealing with it and figuring out our new normal. She’s pretty wise, right? Everything she said really hit home with me, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Just this short time of uncertainty has made me so thankful for so many different people in my life. It’s made me think about all kinds of things I take for granted, like dropping my kids off with my parents for a night, going out to eat or heading to the movies. And it’s making me get creative about what ELSE we can do.
We are big outdoor people, so we LOVE hitting parks and playgrounds. So often, the park or playground has been our destination. But now, the trail getting us there has become the focus as we try to physically distance ourselves. We went worm hunting down the sidewalks the other day. We saw other kids out searching for shamrocks. We took a bike ride and threw rocks in a creek. The dog is getting walked A LOT. Bottom line is, we are spending more time together. We’re appreciating nature more. We’re coming together to try to figure out how the heck to handle this.
Is it all going to be rainbows and sunshine? Clearly not. Am I going to hand my kids devices for two hours some days while I’m attempting to work from home? Absolutely. But, if anything, this has made me focus on what’s important, which is leading by example to get our family through an extremely uncertain time together. So band together, Moms. We will get through this.
