These are unprecedented times.
The world has been turned upside down and inside out, and most of us are right now, just living day to day and trying our best to keep our jobs, keep everyone fed and keep up with the news and Zoom calls and homework and really – it is a lot right now.
Many are stressing about schoolwork – and maybe naturally so. Most of us are not teachers, and have not made the active choice to homeschool our children. But yet, here we are, and I, for one, have found it all a little overwhelming.
I think we are all questioning whether we’re doing enough or not, we’re driving ourselves demented trying to figure out how to incorporate lessons into our day while the kids run around and we run behind on our own workload. I don’t know about you, but I feel like I have spent a lot of time worrying if all of this means that our children are going to fall behind—with friends, with school, with life.
However, then I came across this beautiful blog post over on Altogether Mostly, and it really helped put things into more perspective for me – and I think we can all benefit from reading these words:
Here are author Jaime Ragsdale’s beautiful words in full:
“What if instead of ‘behind’ this group of kids is advanced because of this? Let’s talk about helping our kids during social distancing.
“Hear me out.
“What if they have more empathy, they enjoy family connection, they can be more creative and entertain themselves, they love to read, they love to express themselves in writing.
“What if they enjoy the simple things, like their own backyard and sitting near a window in the quiet.
“What if they notice the birds and the dates the different flowers emerge, and the calming renewal of a gentle rain shower?
“What if this generation is the ones to learn to cook, organize their space, do their laundry, and keep a well-run home?
“What if they learn to stretch a dollar and to live with less? What if they learn to plan shopping trips and meals at home.
“What if they learn the value of eating together as a family and finding the good to share in the small delights of the everyday?
“What if they are the ones to place great value on our teachers and educational professionals, librarians, public servants and the previously invisible essential support workers like truck drivers, grocers, cashiers, custodians, logistics, and health care workers and their supporting staff, just to name a few of the millions taking care of us right now while we are sheltered in place?
“What if among these children, a great leader emerges who had the benefit of a slower pace and a simpler life. What is he or she truly learn what really matters in this life?
“What if they are ahead?”
