While adults hoard toilet paper and panic-buy bread and pasta, kids seem to be taking this whole thing in stride.  

As a parent, when the kids get anxious about something whether it's during a fight with a sibling or a project at school, my first reaction is to attempt to calm them down with all of the reasons why everything is always going to be just fine.  It's gonna be okay.  There's nothing that's ever too big to handle. We are loved and we will get through this.

Now it's their turn to throw that big, comfy emotional blanket of hope onto adults.

Jen Austin - Townsquare Media
Jen Austin - Townsquare Media
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My 8-year old daughter left this note on my home office door right before she left town to visit her Nana last Thursday.  Before she left, I might have stressed myself out a little bit worrying about the trip, and I might have been a little too transparent with my anxiety, which she picked up on in a flash.  Late last week seemed to be a peak time for escalating fears about COVID-19, and even though I was ramping up the stress level just a smidge, she wasn't having any of it.

If you've got shared custody with an ex, the separation is never easy, but having a divided family at a time like this is even harder.  What if something happens to the kids while they're away from me?  The kids didn't ask to be part of a broken family, and what if the brokenness prevents me from protecting them like I should?  Oh, the guilt.  It's an emotional roller coaster that's anxiety-inducing on a normal day, and with an ongoing health crisis to worry about, well, it can leave a Mama feeling pretty helpless.  But they went on the trip, and everything was fine, just like she said it would be.

As a parent, I've always thought if I can get the kids to carry peace with them all the time and know deep down inside that everything is always going to be okay, then they will be equipped to handle just about any situation.  My faith has always been a big deal to me, and I want them to have that underlying sense of calm too, no matter what they go through.  I just didn't expect an 8-year old to throw it back in my face quite so soon.

I'm going to take it from the mouth of a babe, and trust that we will be fine through this journey with the virus.  Honestly, I'm more afraid of my favorite grocery store potentially running out of Fugi apples than I am about getting sick.

Kids aren't stressing.  At least mine aren't.  They just want to play with the cats and binge-watch game shows, and they don't see a need to stockpile food and they don't fear running out of toilet paper.  They just trust that stuff will be there when they need it. And they truly are not afraid of the virus.  They know that any of us will beat it if we get it.  Because that's how we roll.

Maybe adults should start believing all of this a little harder too.

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