What a crazy time we are currently in. Waiting out a pandemic, held in our houses with so much unknown to account for right now.
We are mourning this week in our house. Mourning the loss of months at school with friends and great teachers. Mourning our extracurricular activities and running to the store for a quick errand... We are mourning dinners with neighbours and big hugs with all of the people outside of our family. I am mourning the loss of art shows and teaching (and the income that goes along with them), as well as the few hours I had a day to paint.
And as I remind my kids daily, it's okay to not feel okay, we just cannot take it out on each other. Probably good advice for all of us right now.
There are also some amazing silver linings to all of this time social distancing though. I have never had so much time to create art with my boys (thank goodness for being an art teacher and having an amazing stockpile of art supplies). We have been playing so many games (Harry Potter Clue is the current favourite) and I've rekindled my yoga and meditation practices. Sleeping until a natural time each morning has also been a perk.
I am grateful I chose to stay home with my youngest who is in kindergarten this year, so I'm not balancing full time work while teaching and caring for them.I am watching their bond as siblings grow, and we are settling into a slower pace of life which suits us just fine. I know many others are in much harder situations than we are. We practice gratitude each day around the dinner table.
I've witnessed so many people step up. Our neighbours are all keeping tabs on each other and offering to grab whatever the other needs while out and about. We are cooking for a neighbour with a broken ankle and taking each other's dogs for walks. The kids and I have been delivering baked goods and happy art mail. Our friends sent us on a neighbourhood scavenger hunt to break up our day and bring some joy.
My super power in all of this has been creativity. It has been therapy for my kids and I to make beautiful things, but it has also been what I can offer to my community. I've been sending out many resources to parents suddenly needing to occupy young kids and posting ideas on my social media feeds. Its heart warming to see parents and kids running with those ideas and making them their own with the supplies they have at home.
So please let me know if you need any creative inspiration for you or your kids. Let me know what you have or if you'd like to order some supplies.
Also I'd love to hear, what has been your superpower offering during this period of isolation? What has been your saving grace? What are you mourning or looking forward to when all this has passed?
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