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Life has changed!


Isn’t it interesting how quickly times can change?


At the start of this month I was prepping for our busiest season of the year. All six of my kids were signed up for Spring season sports. Baseball, softball and soccer. We would have a practice nearly every evening. We would be double or triple booked some nights. We also had one night a week of religious ed and were looking forward to our 8-year-old’s first communion.


Every time a friend would ask how I was doing, I’d reply with “Busy. But it is a good busy.”

I knew it was a ‘good busy’ because my kids enjoy sports and I enjoy watching them play. I knew it was a good busy because time is crazy fast and I’m aware that one day I won’t have littles to take to practices and games and school science fair nights and friends’ birthday parties and . . . well, you get it. It is a busy that I wanted. A busy that I appreciated.


Now the calendar has been wiped clean of all of that and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me sad. And anxious. And a little afraid of just how long this all will last.


But I have an internal mama bear instinct and I’m thriving on that currently. It is my job to give my kids a sense of normalcy and a feeling of security amid all of this chaos. I’m in brainstorm and planning mode now of a new routine at home.


This past week was our school district’s Spring Break – so we slept in every day, went to the park some, and mostly have been really lazy.  But next week? The week we were supposed to return to school and sports and church? Since we can’t, now, I’m planning to homeschool.


I am not going to be overly ambitious and try to implement some rigorous 8-hour schedule of school work. But I also can’t let my kids become zombies with their faces stuck in devices all day – we need some sort of routine. So I’m prepping for that. We are fortunate that we are going through this while we have so many resources available to us – technology is amazing and the internet has a plethora of information for homeschooling parents. I’m grateful for that.


I already miss my gym, but I’m doing home workouts thanks to Youtube. If I am going to have my kids with me 100% of the time now I’m going to especially need the self-care that working out provides, so I am taking that seriously. I am still staying alcohol-free. I remember in the past when I was drinking how it made my anxiety worse, so the last thing I need is to fall back on something unhealthy.


I’m really sad about missing out on Mass. But I can read aloud the daily readings with my kids each day. We can watch Mass being streamed online. We can pray together just as we always have.

This is difficult for all of us but in my home I am choosing optimism and choosing to trust in God’s plan for all of us. I pray you keep your spirits up as well.




Until next time . . .








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