I just can’t get this off my mind. Our sweet, strong and creative 5 year old Nola, is going THROUGH IT. When the pandemic hit in March, we had no idea it would go on this long. Nobody did. We took the precautions. We wore masks, washed hands, we stayed home. In the hopes that this could be over soon. We picked her up at her beloved preschool right before Spring Break. Her safe space. The place she gained confidence and social skills. And we never went back. She never got to hug her favorite teacher goodbye. The teacher who, as parents we have so much to thank her for. She helped us all in a time we needed it most. She never got to hug her friends goodbye. She never got to swing on the swing set she loved it go down the slide she played on every single day.

At first, this was a massive blessing to our family. We realized that we could truly live our life the way we set out to. With both Remy and I both full time husband and wife, parents and entrepreneurs. He never has to walk out our door to work for someone else ever again. We are free to make choices that are rooted in our value system and to build our legacy full time.

Blessing.

As we hit 4 months of social isolation, then 5 months, we started to see the affect on our sweet kid. We did pod up with our neighbors and friends, who are kids are bffs with. Another HUGE blessing. They are even in the same virtual kindergarten class and school!

We noticed behaviors coming out of our daughter that are uncharacteristic of her. Yes, we have a 5 year old-but outside of those little kids attitudes. Anxiousness, striving for perfection, competitiveness and anger. But the root of all of that, is sadness. It’s grief.

At first, we acted as though she was just acting out. And the deeper we searched, we realized it’s a sadness and grieving of the loss we all experienced when this hit. Having patience in this time, is not easy. But necessary. Our children are not equipped to deal with this, most adults aren’t! Cries of “make it stop, momma! Make the sickness end PLEASE!” Haunt me.

I’m also not unaware that our situation is a privileged one. So many people are hit in a way that they can’t afford food or basic essentials. This post is merely to share how this has affected our child and to ask you to one, have patience with your little ones. Two, be kind. Stop fighting on social media. We are all hurting. That won’t fix it. Don’t let them pull us apart. And three WEAR A MASK. Help us end this. We did our part. Please do yours.