The summer of 2020 was the summer that we did the least, had the fewest status updates, went the fewest places and took hardly any photos. But perhaps, given the whole picture, it was the summer we most needed.
And I still got enough sunshine to tide me over, for which I’m grateful– but that, too, now matters less than it once did.
I’m a planner, and I normally have the holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years) entirely planned out by early November. This year, we are taking them one at a time, as they come. Our focus is less on fun and gifts and taking photos, and more on togetherness (just the three of us and my parents) and on honoring simple traditions. It’s special. It’s needed.
And we are more thankful than ever for the gifts of life, health, family, and resilience.
As the seasons change, so do the seasons of motherhood. I find that I am somehow still surprised by this. But motherhood has always been catching me off guard and surprising me, and that continues now that my only child is a teenager.
My focus is shifting from making life comfortable and fun for my baby chick, to preparing our birdling to fly the nest. It has taken a pandemic to help move my mothering from the shallow end of the pool to the deep end, so to speak. Others probably grasp the need for this shift more easily and quickly than I have, and that’s ok. That’s the beautiful thing about mothering, that we can shift and reset and try anew. We are each on our own journey, and I am still far from having this mom thing all figured out.
From my nest to yours, you’re doing a great job, mama. May the holidays hold unexpected joy and light for you.
