Dear Moms with covid fatigue,
Ugh, sometimes I sit down and think that it has been NINE LONG MONTHS since the covid pandemic has started. Nine months! A child could have been conceived and been born in the time that this pandemic has lasted. I am tired of this already! I have watched just about everything on Netflix, my kids and I have done tons of crafts, played games, reorganized the toys… what now?
I am here to tell you this sucks, but we can do it. I know that we do not all have the same situation, but our lives are all being impacted by this pandemic somehow.
Here are a few tips/words of wisdom that keep me going most days:
Most kids will not remember the fear of this time if you don’t overwhelm them with panic. Tell them what they need to know according to their age and what they need to know to make good choices.
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- I let them know in advance if something is going to be different and how they should best protect themselves.
- I answer questions when they are asked of me by my 8-year-old and try to not give him more info than he asked for. When I told my children that we will not be attending all of the large Christmas parties that we usually attend, my oldest asked me if he will still get presents and Santa will still come, and I said “yes,” and we moved on.
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Your kids will remember most how you approached this time and what they did with their family. This is especially true for younger kids. Make the most of every moment for self-care when the opportunity strikes.
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- Yesterday I was picking up fast food dinner for the kids while my husband stayed home with the kids. We do not get fast food very often. I realized while driving in my car, as it became dark outside, the weather was nice, it was not too cold outside, and I was enjoying the mellow ’00s that I was listening to. I realized that at the moment, it was a great moment. I sang aloud to Nelly Furtado’s “I’m like a bird” like nobody’s business, and remembered that even in these crazy times, there are happy moments.
- My sister and I have been talking on the phone almost every other day. The nice thing is that we both know that we are both up by 7 a.m. because we both have similar work schedules and we both have kids. We both have a lot of similar concerns. She is 200 miles away from me and I likely won’t see her again until some point next year. I miss her and her family but we make the most of it. I FaceTimed her one night last week after the kids went to bed. She happened to be sorting old photos, many of them when she and I were kids. She ended up showing me a lot of the photos and we laughed and talked about memories of the past. Before I knew it, we had been talking for over an hour and I did not feel so lonely anymore. It almost felt like I was in Toledo hanging out with my sister. It was nice. The moral of the story, Facetime/Zoom video chats don’t have to just be for work and the kids.
Remind yourself that this pandemic will not last forever.
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- Repeat this to yourself when you feel like you cannot stand it any longer – “This pandemic will not last forever. This pandemic will not last forever.”
- Yes, we don’t know exactly when it will be over, but it will end at some point. Call me crazy, but I think that someday, there may be some of us that will look back at all the family time that we had with our nuclear families and miss some of that extra family time.
- I have a bit of an inside joke with myself. I tell myself that someday when this Pandemic is over and my kids or I are having a bad day and complaining about something, I will tell myself or my kids – “Yes, that is unfortunate, but at least it is not 2020,” and then we will all remember that things have been much worse. I like to think that 2020 is our generation’s struggle that will give us an appreciation for the simple and often forgotten things for the rest of our lives.
- Be strong. Rally your family. Do what you can to make the best out of this situation. Be a great example to your kids and your neighbors about how to make the best out of this situation and put others before yourself. Most of all, be safe. I know that I am not able to meet these ideals every day, but I am always trying.
