These are not normal times. Our lives have turned upside down and there’s no “how to” guide for navigating any of this. Everyday I’m asking myself as a mom, “am I doing the right things?” And with the official news of school closing for the remainder of the year, the glimmer of hope that at some point things will return to normal was extinguished. So this is our new normal, trying to be everything 24/7 … and that creates a lot of anxiety and stress, for us as parents and especially for our kids. 

And I’m guessing, even though we are all spending so much more time together, we haven’t spent a lot of time actually thinking about or talking with each other about what we are feeling. And sharing our feelings is not always easy, especially for our kids who already have a tough time expressing their emotions. My son had a tough time last week, and when I asked him to tell me how he was feeling (tough stuff for a 6 year old boy) he brought these two great books about feelings to me and we walked through all of his emotions. Then we discussed how I was feeling, and it quickly turned into a silly game of acting out different emotions, but it was cathartic for both of us.

Our emotional well-being is so important right now for the kiddos and the grown-ups too …  so take a few minutes, get in touch with your own emotions, and make sure you are giving your loved ones the time and space to do the same. If you are having a hard time finding the positive during the pandemic, I also found this article to be reassuring.

Most importantly, stay connected and share your experiences and your feelings with family, friends, your favorite mom group – whatever works for you — because we are all in this together.

3 ways to care for your family’s emotions at home

• Read books: A couple of our favorite books about feeling + emotions are My Heart Feelings Growing Hearts and Color Monster Story About Emotions. If you are looking for more, here’s a good guide to check out.
• Keep a journal: We plan to use this mindset journal, designed to help children discover how to believe in themselves and face challenges with confidence.
• Start a Quarantine Time capsule: We are also going to document this time with this Quarantine time capsule, here’s a link to a great template.

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