The other night we snuck off to the playground at older brother’s school to let the kiddos run around and get out some of their energy that’s been building up lately. We have a big local park that underwent an almost 2 year renovation and it just opened at the end of last year, but we haven’t played at it since March, at the start of the pandemic here in the U.S. It was fun while it lasted, though, and the kiddos absolutely loved going there.
Needless to say, we’ve had to get creative in how we let the kids play outside. Our yard is pretty small, so they can only run around so much in the back yard, and we don’t feel safe going to the new park (even though it’s open) and have them be around all the other kids, potentially putting their health at risk. We weigh the pros and cons of it all the time, of exposing them to others during this pandemic, and it’s just not worth it to us in the long run. We know this isn’t forever, it’s just for a season or two. We want them to be as safe as they can be right now so that they have a long life to live and make up for all the fun that’s being missed right now.
Of course, that presents many challenges right now in the middle of summer, which is why we’re so grateful for our land during this time so they (and us) can run wild and free. Our house is in town and doesn’t give us a lot of room to stretch our legs, so we need that release every now and then (read: as often as we can get it).
Maybe you’re not social distancing as much or maybe you don’t have kiddos to look after, or maybe you’re staying in as much as we are to be as safe as you can be? It’s crazy how we’re all going through this together yet experiencing it all so differently. Such wild times we’re in. And on top of everything, older brother starts school next week, or is supposed to, so we’ll see how that goes. Hoping for a virtual option, but it’s still not 100% in the clear.
Regardless of all of the above, we’re fortunate and grateful to have the opportunity and the choice to stay home and social distance ourselves and the kiddos. We know so many people around the world are going through such a tough time right now and are being put in unimaginable situations for various reasons, and our hearts break for them. We think about it often, how much life has changed for us over the last 5 months and how much more it could change for all of us.
However you’re dealing with it or whatever you’re going through, we sincerely hope you’re staying as safe as possible and doing what you can to stay healthy, both physically and mentally.
Sending love and virtual hugs, friends xx.
