What Many Parents Are Thinking About Right Now

I got inside their heads. This is what I found out.

The life that we once knew, everything, is torn apart. It feels as though our very existence has been obliterated.

Emotions are in pieces.

When there is a just glimmer of hope, it is quickly overshadowed by fear.

When daily routines begin to seem normal, everything abnormal dominates each passing moment of the day.

When there is a ray of happiness, uncertainty consumes it.

The Internal Struggle Is Real

As parents, we are living in the toughest of times. Regardless of their age, we just wanted better for our children today. Now, they survive in a caged world. Now, they are forced to see what is not pleasant to see.

Our children must remain distanced from their special social contacts. This includes their friends, their parties, their BFF’s, their buddies, their peers, and their play dates. The ability for them to laugh together, to play together, to learn together, and to simply enjoy their version of life together is becoming a distant memory because doing so is now dangerous. The things that once gave them life could steal their life.

Our children have lost the ability to be children of the earth. They cannot breathe in the fresh air as they once did nor can they allow the sun to freely dance across their smiling faces. The masks that they must wear to preserve their life has taken the pure enjoyment out of their life.

Our children cannot have the freedom to love the things that children love in life as they get dirty and sweaty and wet. Instead, they are constantly reminded to scrub and to sanitize the childhood off of their hands. They are continuously reminded not to share their love of childhood with others because their childhood could be infectious.

Our children are hearing adults everywhere debating and arguing about the issue of returning to school. Children know that they must go to school because getting an education is a critical part of their life. However, children are becoming caught up in all of the confusing rhetoric. They are now hearing that it could be unsafe to go to school but they must go to school and be a part of the risk because they may be just fine if they go to school.

Our children have been taught to love others, to play fair, and to be kind. Yet they have had to grow up fast as they realize that hatred is real and that there are people are in our world who are not kind. Our children have had to also realize that some people really are unfair and some people have never had a chance to win.

When some of our children are hungry and need to eat, they cannot when the food pantry is empty. When some of our children are sleepy and tired, they cannot find rest when they no longer have a home to live in. When some of our children need to take a bath, they cannot because the water and other utilities have been disconnected due to nonpayment. It is impossible for some to pay for basic needs when jobs have been lost. These are some of the realities of living in poverty.

There is Certainty in Uncertainty

The concerns that parents have for their children during these troubling times are very real. Their worries are tangible. Parental anxieties consume them.

Parents find it hard to answer the questions that their children have about when a happier tomorrow will come and when the life that they once knew will return.

Despite all of the uneasiness that follows some parents and chases others, the light in their child’s eyes releases clarity. The love that they have for their child brings releases peace and assurance. This love helps parents believe that their children will, indeed, have a happier tomorrow.

How do I really know these things? Because I am a mom and I know these things because I have experienced them.

I invite you to join me by uniting together to create change in this area. Be sure to sign up to be on my email list at [email protected] to receive a periodic copy of my newsletter and specific information about advancing the

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Dr. Deborah M. Vereen is a retired Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher, School Principal, Director of Pupil Personnel Services, Assistant to the Superintendent for Family and Community Engagement, and Professor of Multicultural Education. Her website is www.Drdeborahmvereen.com and her YouTube Channel is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS1DPhBeA29UlybU9jzDkdQ.