I opened my eyes and frantically felt around the bed for my phone to shut the alarm off. I laid in bed for a minute and stared at the ceiling before begrudgingly getting out of bed.
I flipped the switch on the coffee pot and shuffled to the kids rooms to wake them up. Everything was normal except that it wasn’t at all.
My husband is home, normally he is at work, but now he is laid off due to Covid-19. My middle kiddo is normally getting ready for school, except there is none now due to Covid-19. I would typically be grabbing my coffee and heading out the door to teach class, but again due to Covid-19….
I sit at the table with my coffee. As I start to go through the list in my head of all the things that are so different now a sense of heaviness begins to consume me. All of a sudden my youngest sits down next to me with his cereal and says, “Mom, I’m so glad we get to sit together in the mornings now”. And just like that, I realize I’ve been given a gift.
The way I see it, we only have two options. We can spend this time that is everything but normal wishing it was normal, feeling sorry for ourselves. Or, we can find joy in the opportunities we now have that we didn’t before. I’m not saying things won’t be hard…we can’t control that. I’m just saying, the one thing we can control right now is how we let it all affect us.
What is the importance of having a positive attitude during a difficult time? It gives our kiddos a sense of security and well-being. It helps them to see you modeling a healthy coping attitude. It helps us to remaining in control of our own emotions so that we can parent to the best of our ability.
So, what I have decided to do is spend a little time building an attitude of gratitude. Each day with my family we are going to stop and think about something or someone we are grateful for during this time. Will you join us?
by Jen Bernardi, Prevention Coordinator, Drug Free Charlotte County
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