Dear parents

A play on words. Antigen test or Anti-gan (daycare)?

I let my mind wander today to a place I don’t often visit. I thought to myself, what would my Mom make of the craziness that is the world today? What would I ask her if I could? What advice would she give me?

As a parent in what feels like a never ending pandemic, there is a level of stress that feels revolutionary.

My Mom was worried about me crossing the street without looking, swimming in the deep end before I was ready and perhaps breaking a limb because I climbed too high in a tree. Once upon a time, these were also my fears for my own children.

Now those stresses are compounded by every ding of my WhatsApp.

Dear parents.

One of your children has been exposed to a very contagious virus.

Now, I am generally a very go with the flow kind of person. We take precautions but we in no way let fear be our guide.

And that is the point. Fear and stress are two separate emotions. As I manage Zooms and emails and phone calls, I am also managing three separate WhatsApp conversations for three separate small humans who are constantly exposed, being tested and quarantined. Rinse and repeat.

On top of that, friends and family are testing positive left and right.

It is an unprecedented time. One in which this virus both unites and isolates us. One in which fear and stress meld into one another.

So I come back to my mother. What would she have said? What wisdom can I glean from my memory of her?

I wish I had something deep to offer, but my Mom was also a go with the flow kind of person. Mainly, I just hear her laughter and encouragement to pour that glass of wine. Let the fear and stress and dings recede and try to be present.