Dear kids,

We’re driving each other crazy and loving each other like crazy. While we have no known end date to this quarantine, I’m pretty sure we’ll look back on this time and miss it.

We’ll miss sleeping in and staying in our PJs, playing old fashioned games, enjoying dance parties, playing Nintendo Switch, taking walks as a family with the dog, baking 5 batches of cookies in a day, Facetiming your family and friends, and really having nothing to do or anywhere to go.

We’ll miss not having a schedule filled with activities, school functions, demands, responsibilities, doctor appointments, and more. We’ll miss the quantity of time together. I know we will even if we're not thinking about it now.

It’s not that we didn’t do all those special things before. We’ve always valued our family time. But now more than ever we have to be together. It’s the memories we’re making.

I couldn’t believe the other day when I saw how much you all have grown - seeing your growth from the beginning of the year in our photos on iCloud. My draw dropped. In this time, you’ll go up a pant size, maybe two. Lose more of those wiggly teeth and tell me you need new shoes. You’ll eat me out of the house like you always do.

During this time, you’ll mature even more. It will go fast-- it always does. Even though the days are long, the years fly by.

So, until then, I’ll keep documenting our days. Praying for sanity. And trying not to take all God has given for granted. I’ll try to cherish these moments as much as I can.

When the house is empty one day, I know I’ll give anything to go back to the days when your fingerprints were all over the front glass door, the floors were sticky and messy, and your presence was right within my reach and I could control where you were.

These coming weeks and months will go down in history, and in the memory books of our family. Let’s keep persevering through this pandemic and savoring this time together.

I love you,

Mom

Samantha Krieger is a pastor’s wife and mom to 4. She is the author of Quiet Time: A 30-day Devotional Retreat for Moms in the Trenches. Her writing appears regularly on Her View From Home, TODAY Parenting, and For the Family. Connect with her on Instagram and Facebook.