The Kids are Alright

Our family has gone back to basics. Suddenly, there is just more time. No one is rushing to get to school, to get to work, or baseball practice. No one is too busy to take a phone call with our parents to update them on the smallest details of our day. We laugh together at something childish our children do or say—because their simplicity and innocence place us right back into the present, where we all belong.

Yes, we can read the whole book. We can bake. Make homemade play dough.

Not to suggest this time isn’t stressful and complicated.

It’s worrisome.

And there is fear.

But our kids, if we are shielding them, aren’t feeling this in the same way we are. They are feeling and loving our presence. It blankets them in protection and makes them feel safe.

They recognize changes. They are missing the people from outside our bubble. But remember, they love us most of all. They will look back and think of this time where they didn’t need to compete for our attention.

They will remember the time school ended and then looked different. People wore funny masks. They were bored, and survived it.

They’ll remember the times we went to the pond with the ducks. The way the colors of the outdoors made them feel something on the inside. They will remember the forts made out of couch pillows, and bed sheets, lit with flashlights.

They will remember this time, where we had nothing but time just for them.

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Everything is a 10

There is no off button. No volume control, no mute. Everything is a 10. Every moment your toddler is awake they are experiencing emotions at a 10. The good news is this goes for frustration, but also excitement; anger but also joy. In case you are not yet living in this reality, or it feels like a distant memory, I will present some examples of a normal everyday scenario for a child and the scenario that would have to happen in order for an adult to emote an equivalent emotional response.

Excitement

Child: Anything that involves bubbles.

Adult: You found out you won an all-expense paid trip to Hawaii, and your parents offered to watch the kids.

 

Anger

Child: It’s time to get out of the bath.

Adult: You are standing in line at the DMV and your number is 102 and they just called 7.  

 

Anger

Child: It is time to leave the playground.

Adult: Your flight out of Alaska has been canceled and you are snowed in at the airport for two days.

 

Joy

Child: Anything that involves Elmo.

Adult: The moment you found out you were having a baby.

 

Anger

Child: They have run out of Puffs.

Adult: Your neighbors go out of town but leave their teenager home alone to throw an all-night rager, complete with house music and vomit on the sidewalk.

 

Frustration

Child: They have to share a toy with their sibling.

Adult: The cable guy strolls in during the last 2 minutes of his four hour window, on a Saturday.

 

The good news is every day for you with kids is also a 10.

The bad news is every day for you with kids is also a 10.

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