This is my first pandemic. We are now seven months in, and I have had a few epiphanies.
Since it is close to Halloween, we will start with the realization that the scariest thing a mom can do is whisper. Yep, whisper. While it may not always scare your children, it will make their eyes get big and they will be super attentive. Folks, that is my big win of the week. It is only Wednesday, but I am calling it early.
Which leads me to my next aha moment from this pandemic. When you think you can not lower your standard any further, you can. This can be a good thing. I do not mean lowering your standard in personal boundaries. Rather, lowering the expectations of yourself. Letting up on the unneeded pressures you place on yourself. I am a recovering perfectionist and this has been a welcomed liberation. It has been a form of self care in a demanding and heavy emotional climate. So give it a try. Free yourself from the coulds and shoulds and lean into you inner voice. Listen for the heart whispers.
Some of my biggest breakthroughs in the past few months have been learning more about myself: my emotions, my values, what is a non-negotiable and what is busy work that just doesn’t really matter. Lysa TerKeurst taught us about our Best Yes, but I am finding that is just the surface. I feel like this is a lesson I keep revisiting. Like an onion, this lesson has layers; Yet, emotions are more complex. I am growing and continuing to evolve along with the world around me. It has been a time where I have been regularly uncomfortable, but more assured in who I am than ever. Priorities are a lot like my kid’s toy closet, it takes a routine purging to keep it from getting too cluttered and just plain messy (Which is on the list to be done again, yesterday). It has been a time of growing into my newly stretched skin, sitting with my own thoughts, and learning to deeply like the person I am.
Now, here is a fun ah-ha moment. Do not discredit how much a person can learn from T.V.. Prior to the pandemic, we had pretty limited screen time during the week. We worked hard to have family time and outdoor time. Now we are always together and over half the day outside. By 3 P.M., I’m counting down to when the kids click the big screen on. Well, two weeks into school, everything I wanted to teach my kid, he already knew from a show on TV. He would reference it like I reference medical journals. I now consider it part of our curriculum, Homeschool 2020. Here is another lesson in how to lower your expectations. You are welcome.
Next up, celebrations are important. We, humans, need hope and something positive to look forward too. We embraced this in WWII (and I caught it in 1992, when I watched A League of Their Own with Tom Hanks), but I have felt it intimately in this pandemic.
After passing Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Indigenous People Day, and birthdays… I recognize it is vital to celebrate. I tried a let a couple holidays slip by with less fanfare, and I found it utterly depressing. So this year, we have Halloween inflatables (this is a huge change of us, you can see how big by looking back to our blog on our first inflatables circa 2014). We are also working on a candy shoot to deliver our trick o treaters a socially distanced sweet treat.
Last, do not minimize the power a walk or talk can have on your day. Our bodies need to move, and our souls need to connect. If you are feeling blue, try these simple, yet profound little ditties. They do not disappoint. I love them so much, I have started scheduling them in my life. Frankly, just writing that makes me feel like I have aged decades in the past 7 months.
Without further ado, I want to remind you to Save the Date for our 8th Annual Pie for a Purpose, November 10 from 3-6 P.M., where we will connect and give to one another while bringing awareness to a non-profit we love, The ARC of San Antonio. This year will be a virtual party and will be one to remember. Come and share with me your Pandemic aha’s, as wee or grand as they may be.