Caring for Calves and Kids

This story begins in the middle of the 2020 COVID pandemic in what was our first, but likely not last quarantine. It was day 4 of 14, and the last two days hadn’t gone very smoothly.

• Anna, my middle child, wasn’t sleeping very well.
• Ellie, my oldest, just had so much energy from not being able to go anywhere.
• Ben and I were going stir crazy and we’re just not our usual selves. (Remember this was the during the first quarantine phases for everyone so there was no going anywhere for 14 days, 24 hours a days.)

For me it was trying to balance ALL. THE. THINGS.

1. Daycare closing for a bit
2. Reassigning projects at work because I now had my family at home
3. Making breakfast, lunch, dinner and now snacks for the whole family for 14 days straight
4. Attending to the kiddos whatever they needed (giving me a big glimpse into what our daycare providers do every day 😉)
5. Managing all the to-do lists
6. Being there for everyone without much of a break in between
7. Worrying about my husband and how he was handling all of this

I’m sure we all get it. We all lived this at some point right? And even when the world stopped during the pandemic our daily list still seemed to be so daunting and stress us out. At least that’s how I felt, especially when you decide to go camping in your backyard as a way to break up the monotony of quarantine.

Yes, I’m not quite sure what my husband and I were thinking taking on that challenge. I mean it had already been a long day with two littles pretty much refusing a nap and not being able to burn off their normal energy. It was stress to the max as we set up the tent, made a campfire, tried to get all the sleeping stuff out to the tent, get a campfire worthy super ready. It was more of an undertaking than my husband or I had energy or patience for.

But as I laid there that night, after catching lightening bugs with the girls and watching them play for hours in the tent, it made me think that one of my most stressful days might actually be a day they remember and cherish the most. 

Let that just sink in for a minute friends. Seriously, go back and read that again.

Many times our days that seem to carry the most stress and worn down patience, lead to some of the greatest memories for our children. The ones they will look back on when they are grown. Memories they will want to recreate with their children. Ones they won’t quite fully appreciate until they grow older, but you know they will have an impact.

In the end we aren’t left with things or money – it’s the memories that count. So while it might be your most stressful day, and the last thing you want to do right now is a big hoopla for the kids, it might just turn out to be their best childhood memories.