ENTERING THE 2ND YEAR OF COVID-19
Courtesy of Dr. Gipson-McElroy. September 2021, Mackenzie’s first day of 2nd grade after 18-mos of virtual learning. At the start of the pandemic she was a 5 year-old kindergartener.
Happy New Year, and welcome back to Where All the Children are Well!
I’m going to take off my provider hat for a second and tap in with you as a fellow parent. Y’all. Are we okay? I mean, geesh, in a few weeks our children will have endured their second year of this COVID-19 pandemic. In early 2019, they were traumatically uprooted from school, one of the few places other than home where they find stability and security. And yes, what our children have endured is trauma; I discuss this in an earlier blog from March 2021 - learning at a distance, void of the social interaction of their friends required for them to thrive.
There was a lot we didn’t know about Covid-19 at that time but as parents do, we adjusted the best way we could right? Some of us quickly pivoted to schooling our children at home, many of us doing so in between zoom calls that we could barely navigate. Others, like myself, had to modify our careers and education paths, and some, unfortunately, had to leave work and school altogether. And even though they were stressful, they were welcome sacrifices we made in order to help our most precious treasures navigate through the uncertain times.
Courtesy of Dr. Gipson-McElroy
We absorbed their disappointments and planned drive-by birthday parties and graduation celebrations. Calling and texting everyone we knew to invite them to line up in their vehicles on our streets, and interrupt the quiet of day, with celebratory honking and cheering for our babies’ big milestones. Which, I think are here to stay! Drive-by parties became a hit for my household. Once we realize how much money you can save with just a few balloons, maybe a yard sign, some treats, and no after birthday party lingering! I mean, it’s the one thing we will take with us from the Covid-19 Era.
After 18-months, balancing our anxieties to keep our children safe with their burning desire to go back to school, most of us sent our children back to a very different school experience. Although we were full-time masking, weekly testing, deciding to vaccinate or not vaccinate, it seemed things were moving in the right direction.
Now here we are. January 2022, almost 2-years away from when it all started and possibly headed into what seems to be another challenging time as we face navigating through this pandemic’s Omicron variant.
So, I am hopeful because we have come a long way from those early days, weeks and months of this pandemic, but my pediatric provider self knows we have a long way to go. But I do know we will get there.
May this always be where ALL the children are well.
How have you helped your children adjust through this pandemic?
Courtesy of Dr. Gipson-McElroy
