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.