"What if I f*ck this up?"

thinks the mother whose children will be e-learning from home this fall,

the mother who decided to homeschool her children,

the mother who plans to send her child back to their school campus in August.

"What if I f*ck this up?"

thinks the mother who is

a teacher,

a nurse,

a doctor,

an EMT,

a school psychologist,

a hospital administrator,

"just" (though anything but) a mother.

"What if I f*ck this up?"

thinks the new mom,

the seasoned mom,

the mom on the county school board,

the mom who is a high school principal.

"What if I f*ck this up?"

thinks the mother who must indefinitely work from home,

the mother whose job requires her to leave her home,

the mother who will be incapable of doing her job because her kids are home.

"What if I f*ck this up?"

thinks the mother who must care for her elderly mother,

the mother who hasn't seen her mother,

the mother who, before March, was thriving at being one.

"What if I f*ck this up?"

thinks the mother who lost her job and is scrambling for an income,

the single mother,

the mother whose physical and mental health is hanging on by a thread.

"What if I f*ck this up?"

thinks the mother who is a new business owner,

a seasoned business owner,

the mother whose self-made business can't effectively operate without people, lots of them, and no distancing.

"What if I f*ck this up?" I wonder.

And I'm sure you do, too.

"What if I f*ck this up?"

In some way, somehow.

It's inevitable, right?

That when it comes to this "new normal," I'll falter?

But, dear God, who won't?

There is no mother,

woman,

or person right now in this pandemic-plagued world that is riding out this new normal any better than you -- differently, perhaps, but no better.

"What if I f*ck this up?" you ask.

And to that I say, you probably will, and so will rest of us, so at least we'll be in the rocky boat together.

The good thing about that?

The more of us in this together,

being honest,

sharing our highs, lows and woes,

the more balanced, steady, and stronger the boat will be, and in turn, well, so will we.