Embrace, Embrace, Embrace

I am sending this note out to my Sun West DLC Families this morning …

Just taking a moment this morning to send out a little “good-bye for now” note, as we move into a period of school closure for the next 10 days or so. These are interesting times, and the life we’ve known seems to be vanishing … to say that I am experiencing a little “discomfort” with it all might be an understatement. 

I LOVE my work and I LOVE serving all of you! My purpose in life is to teach, guide, inspire, and influence … and my work helps me fulfill that important purpose every day!!! 

Of course, in these turbulent times, in an attempt to bring some “order” to the “chaos,” I did what I do best, and I made a bit of a plan (for me, but also for my oldest daughter who seems to require some predictability in her days). I tried to focus on “the important things,” so I made a plan for how I would care for myself as a mother during this period (my husband is normally gone for 10-11 hours a day) … exercising, eating well, drinking enough water, writing in a gratitude journal, reading, working on a few special projects (like compiling my blog posts into a book and working on my 2019 family photo album), taking time to call family and friends, and the like. As mothers, we MUST fill our own cups FIRST … we MUST put on our own OXYGEN MASKS FIRST … NO ONE can pour from an empty cup.

I was also careful to “schedule in” one-on-one time with each of my children. I will aim to remind myself again and again of the blessing of our good health and of the special “opportunities” surfacing during this time (like homeschooling my middle daughter … I really DO LOVE all things school). 

I will also try to prepare for the inevitable tears and feelings of overwhelm that are sure to crop up (remember, I live in a household full of girls … and I am one of them). And, of course, there will be MESSES … so many MESSES!!! But, guess what??? Nobody’s coming over!!! Thankfully, we are officially released of the pressure to keep our home “guest-ready” …  the state of our house doesn’t matter nearly as much right now! Let’s  aim to ride these “little storms” with love, compassion, and understanding … because this is “tough” and “different” for all of us (and maybe especially so for our children) … if nothing else, HUG IT OUT! Right??? 

All we can do is “the next right thing.” To quote Michael J. Fox: “Do the right thing, and then do the next right thing, and that will lead you to the next right thing after that.” And the right thing might be just sitting down with your family to colour or build a puzzle … maybe the right thing is going for a walk outside together … maybe the next right thing is petting your cat or playing a board game … maybe the next right thing is Facetiming your cousins … just do the next right thing … 

I share these things with you today, because I want to encourage you to do a few of your own preparations … as the “leaders” of our households, we are responsible for setting the tone, the rhythm, and the routines that keep our families healthy and happy … 

Now, on a more “schooly” note … if you would like to continue working on your courses during “the pause,” I recommend taking some time today to save or print off any handouts you might need to continue working … you could also take note of any “links” to watch (and copy and paste them “elsewhere”) so you can keep going … in our house, we’re going to keep doing “schooly” things … as you can see on my schedule (here’s the link to check it out: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nPpNQhIFWwnxY6cY9ULKm4J8xEozdkbCYOJmAY65ADY/edit?usp=sharing), we will do a shared activity each weekday, and some one-on-one school work each weekday too (but only for a couple of hours a day). As other things come up, we’ll aim to embrace them too (like having a “party lunch” with triangle sandwiches and pickles or “suddenly” making bannock, two recent events inspired by books we’ve read). 

I encourage you to do the same … EMBRACE … EMBRACE … EMBRACE … literally (like hugging and holding your family tight), but also “figuratively” too, I suppose … as Bob Goff says, “Embrace uncertainty. Some of the most beautiful chapters of our lives won’t have a title until much later.”