It’s been a cold week here in Utah. On top of that, the governor announced on Tuesday that schools will indeed be closed for the rest of the school year.
UGGG. Sucker punch to the gut.
This news is not surprizing…but I’m freaking bummed! I really miss my quiet hours.
But even sadder is the fact that our senior who is on the student council and has LOVED high school won’t get to experience all of the amazingness of that final month of senior year. Prom, graduation, award banquets, bonfires…all the rites of passage. It’s just SO SAD!
I’m just letting myself be sad this week, and holding space for my son if he needs to be mad or sad as well…without trying to coach him to happier thoughts.
It’s ok to feel sad for, and with our kids. The human experience includes lots and lots of disappointments.
Something that I’m noticing with this pandemic is how quick I want to fix discomfort for my kids when things aren’t going their way. It’s so hard to let them feel pain!
But this is one of those times when there’s nothing I can do.
So here’s a question I like to ask myself when my kids are having to struggle:
What if the universe is actually conspiring in his favor?
What if he is going to learn things from this trial that he could never learn at school, or from us? Lessons that will prepare him for bigger, more intense experiences that will be thrown into his “curriculum” later in life?
I’m choosing to trust that God knows exactly what this is for.
One of my favorite quotes is from an author that I love named Byron Katie. She wrote a book called Loving What Is. (Highly recommend!)
She said, “If you argue with reality you’re going to lose. But only 100% of the time.”
So why argue with this reality? Why feel unneeded misery?
These life alterations that we are having to make are our reality at this time.
And letting our kids choose their thoughts and creating their own results without trying to fix things may be just what they need in order to learn how to be emotionally sound humans.
Go ahead and have your sad days. Feel it all. Let your kids feel it all.
Then just lean in.
It’s all good.
I mean…look at this boy. This was him at the opening banquet for student council. Yelling, “Proud to be a CAVEMAN!”
They will rise…we will all rise!
XO, Heather
