Making Lemonade Out of Lemons
By Charlotte Phillips
When the schools closed on March 13 to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, I don’t think any of us expected to still be living in this state of limbo six months later.
Finishing the last nine weeks of the school year around our kitchen table while my husband and I worked from home was less than ideal. Our daughter was sad to miss her ballet recital, our oldest son was upset he didn’t get to play flag football, and I was sad to miss our middle son’s pre-school closing program.
When it came time to decide if we felt comfortable sending our children back to in-person school, we talked and prayed about this decision a lot. While my husband and I decided to send them back and have been more than happy with the way both schools are taking appropriate steps to keep our children safe, this is the only pre-coronavirus part of our lives that has returned to “normal.”
Six months later, I still have “those days” from time to time. Frustrated that I can’t just take our 2-year-old for a quick unplanned trip to the zoo or to play in the park; sad that we may be planning the third Zoom, or at the very least, socially distant birthday party for our child; and overwhelmed that I have no idea how much longer we will have to live our lives like this.
Even though we’ve all felt frustration, sadness, and overwhelmed during these last six months, good has come from this unprecedented time.
During our unseasonably beautiful spring, our 4-year-old learned how to ride his bike without training wheels, almost two years sooner than his older brother and sister. We say decades of the rosary as family several nights a week and have recently finished our first family novena. Our daughter excitedly makes breakfast for our family several days during the week.
On the days that I’m frustrated that life isn’t going how I planned, I try to remember all the good that has come over these last six months and thank God for the wonderful family God has given me.
What “lemonade” have you made from your coronavirus lemons?
