I loved reading Natalie's story. I remember early in the pandemic, just feeling so completely overwhelmed. Like so many others, my husband and I were both working full time remotely, facilitating virtual kindergarten for our 5-year-old, and trying desperately to keep our 2-year-old entertained. One Sunday, while watching virtual church, our pastor was asking volunteers to help deliver care packages to people in need, and he listed several groups. One of those groups was parents of young kids. For some reason, this was just the most important and validating thing. I think I'd been spending every day telling myself that we didn't have it all that bad, that we were really ok, and that so many people were so much worse off. While those things were true, I wasn't really allowing myself to acknowledge the hard that I was experiencing. That moment of hearing my need validated publicly allowed me to name it for myself. I think acknowledging just how hard things were helped me to cope with them better.
I was a teacher last spring and we did not go back to the classroom from Spring Break. It was wild. I was also pregnant with my fist baby while our world all but shut down. There were some really hard moments, but looking back now, my husband and I appreciate the extra time we were able to spend together before our baby was born. Now I think back on last spring and our shelter-in-place as a time when we drove to pass time on the weekends, enjoyed take out at home from our favorite local restaurants, listened to epically long playlists of happy music, and completed puzzles in the evenings. It was hard and scary at the time because of all of the unknowns and people we loved who had gotten sick. But just like any other time, we had to make a choice to find the good in each day and focus on those glimmers of hope. I think we are better because of our experience and we are able to appreciate the good in our lives in a new way, but that doesn’t mean we won’t bear the emotional scars of the difficulties we went through.
Also, seriously, Bluey is the absolute best children's show ever.
I watched the first two episodes yesterday and cracked up. Bluey is a new favorite for sure!
I loved reading Natalie's story. I remember early in the pandemic, just feeling so completely overwhelmed. Like so many others, my husband and I were both working full time remotely, facilitating virtual kindergarten for our 5-year-old, and trying desperately to keep our 2-year-old entertained. One Sunday, while watching virtual church, our pastor was asking volunteers to help deliver care packages to people in need, and he listed several groups. One of those groups was parents of young kids. For some reason, this was just the most important and validating thing. I think I'd been spending every day telling myself that we didn't have it all that bad, that we were really ok, and that so many people were so much worse off. While those things were true, I wasn't really allowing myself to acknowledge the hard that I was experiencing. That moment of hearing my need validated publicly allowed me to name it for myself. I think acknowledging just how hard things were helped me to cope with them better.
I was a teacher last spring and we did not go back to the classroom from Spring Break. It was wild. I was also pregnant with my fist baby while our world all but shut down. There were some really hard moments, but looking back now, my husband and I appreciate the extra time we were able to spend together before our baby was born. Now I think back on last spring and our shelter-in-place as a time when we drove to pass time on the weekends, enjoyed take out at home from our favorite local restaurants, listened to epically long playlists of happy music, and completed puzzles in the evenings. It was hard and scary at the time because of all of the unknowns and people we loved who had gotten sick. But just like any other time, we had to make a choice to find the good in each day and focus on those glimmers of hope. I think we are better because of our experience and we are able to appreciate the good in our lives in a new way, but that doesn’t mean we won’t bear the emotional scars of the difficulties we went through.