2020 changed the way I parent, without a doubt. There were so many life lessons to be learned. In general, I won’t remember this as an amazing year. I lost two relatives. I have spent months away from my loved ones. We had an awesome vacation planned to California that took a back seat.
It’s funny; the beginning of this year felt like a rebirth. After so many years of putting our children first, my husband and I were finally trying to have some time to ourselves. And then, the universe laughed and gave us a global pandemic, forcing us to literally lock ourselves in with our kids.
It’s been tough, but there are a lot of life lessons to be learned.
1. Don’t wait, do the fun stuff! Now that we can’t do…anything…I’m annoyed at how many times I pushed off some fun adventures for random reasons. Once this is all “over,” we’re going to do ALL THE THINGS!
2. Regardless of what’s going on, kids need structure and routine. In those early days of chaos, we were trying to keep it together day by day, but that served no one well. We quickly fell into a routine, albeit different from our previous one, and it was clearly necessary. And pandemic or not, never alter the bedtime routine!
3. I like my kids. Like, really like them. Yes, this is more togetherness than I ever thought possible, but it’s given me a much closer view of them changing and growing up every day. There are fewer distractions, earlier dinner times, and actual conversation happening.
4. My husband and I are a really good team. We’ve been together for 21 years, so I know we work well together, but now that he works from home, we’ve settled into an easy rhythm in the morning. I get the girls dressed, he makes their breakfast and packs their lunch, and I’m out the door with them. It’s a give and take we haven’t had before in the mornings, and I really appreciate it.
5. Family is everything. I know it’s cliche. I know everyone says it. But we are moving together through this year as a tighter family unit than ever before, and I’m so proud of that. My kids are much more adaptable beings than I knew, and we are all just doing the best we can, together.
