When the coronavirus pandemic started setting in, impacting our daily lives, I pulled out an unused notebook and started chronicling it.
I wrote down what was going on through my eyes as it played out so that one day my kids would be able to read it and understand how uncertain times were during the outbreak…
How wearing masks became the norm.
How hugging our loved ones became somewhat banned.
How I had to remove them from daycare and work from home in order to protect our health.
As 2020 wears on, it still feels like a nightmare or something out of a movie. In my eyes, I don’t believe something so fearful has ever happened for our generation.
Now, another whirlwind of emotion surrounds us with the death of George Floyd and nationwide protests demanding change in the Black Lives Matter movement. I am somberly writing this down as well because one day, soon enough, I’ll have to explain racism and hate and it makes my heart ache.
I look at my 3-year-old and infant and am envious of the innocence they have, that they don’t have to understand the fears and uncertainty swirling around them.
With all the news coverage on both topics, this will be something they’ll likely read about in history books by the time they reach high school. But as I journal the experience, I rest a little easier knowing my children will also be able to read about it from their mother’s perspective. I hope it helps them feel the emotions and helps to shape them into better humans going forward.
Before I even had kids, I wondered if I should. I thought long and hard about whether to bring beautiful, innocent humans into this crazy, chaotic world. But, these difficult events do shape us, the good and the bad, and we {hopefully} will all learn from them.
I’ll tell my children that their dad and I learned to not take anything for granted, to hug our loved ones more often, and to always be on the right side of history. I’ll teach them to speak up, stand up, and be sympathetic to the injustices in the world. I’ll teach them to love everyone, no matter their skin color or beliefs and to celebrate differences not mask them.
2020 has been incredibly taxing, both emotionally and mentally, but I hope what we are all going through right now will change our world for the better and make us all come together to fight for a brighter and better future for our children.
