The bags by the door...
Today, like many that have come before it these past few weeks is weird and unnerving for all of us. Your children are home with you for an extended period of time.
If you're anything like me you went from praising and loving teachers to pretty much realizing you cannot in fact step into their shoes without sweating, swearing under your breath, and in all likelihood crying. There's validity behind my love for teachers and I know myself well enough to know why I'm not one.
I stocked up on food, I have a reasonable amount of toilet paper, not enough for a mummy party, but enough to ensure we aren't using leaves within the first week.
We are prepared, but not panicked. We are willing to do our part to make sure we slow the spread of this so we can all hopefully go back to living life without this worry that seems to be with us when we go to bed, and remains when we wake up the next day.
Most of us have joked about stocking up on the true essentials like wine, coffee, and chocolate. It's healthy to still joke a bit during times of crisis, but seriously I got all three.
We have board games, and school work, yard activities, and bike rides planned. Maybe we'll bake, and paint. Or maybe we'll eat all the chocolate on the porch in the sun. I'm not sure what each day for the next few weeks will bring, but I know that while most of us know we are home bound for a time, there are many who are not.
They are the ones with the bags by the door. They are ready to be away for how ever long it takes. They are the ones who could be gone a day, a week, or more. They are the ones who stopped everything today for a game of catch in the yard because they know it might be a while until the next one. They signed up for this, and they still run into the crisis while we all retreat away for a while. When I see the bags by the door, I'm reminded that this is about so much more than our typical days being anything but typical for a little while.
This is about giving more than we take, checking on our neighbors, only buying what we need, and sharing when we can. This is about showing up as a human and being the best version of ourselves. When things feel hard as I'm sure they will (especially during all of those math lessons) try to remember the people with the bags by the door. They are leaving the most important people in the world to them for people they don't know, and they wouldn't have it any other way. Thank them. It means more than you know.