Are you scrolling through your social media feed and seeing how people are organizing their homes, putting together a hundred care packages for the elderly, setting up elaborate crafts for their kids, and working out as if their life depended on it?
Are you overwhelmed when you watch TV and messages of donating blood, giving money to different causes, and reminders to buy gift certificates to your local restaurants to keep them going through the pandemic flash in your face?
I know I am
It’s making me feel like I need to do all of those things to truly be the good person I feel I am. Then I look at my kids, who need help with their homework, the mountain of laundry, the bags of groceries that need to be wiped down before I put them away — and want to get under my covers and not come out.
I'm now working from home during this outbreak as my brain tries to focus on work without worrying myself into the ground.
We're all struggling in some way through this regardless of our situation. We're also compassionate human beings who want to help and right now, we all feel big waves of helplessness which can paralyze us and make us feel like we are spinning in circles — something I’m pretty sure is allowed during a global crisis.
So, to combat falling into this pit of anxiety, I did something a few weeks ago that’s made me feel a lot better about myself and the way I’m handling things: I changed my mindset.
I told myself I am one person — the only thing I can do is what I can do
I had to because my mental health depended on it. I was sick of feeling like I wasn't doing enough.
If you have job security right now and are able to buy gift certificates to some of your local businesses, do that. If you are able to leave an extra tip for the Uber Eats driver, do that. If you have time to check in on a few friends, do that. If you have the energy to stay up a little later and get some cool arts and crafts ready for your little ones, do that.
But then, realize it is enough — and let your mind rest about it. Get up the next day and do your best again, even if it means you take less toilet paper at the grocery store than what you are allotted or you spend a little extra time reading with your child.
This isn’t the time to wear yourself down more than you already are
There's no prize for Best Quarantine Mom. Some people thrive and will do epic things during this time, which is great for them, but if all you can do is get out of bed and make sure your kids are fed and alive, that is more than OK.
As moms, we have a tendency to think of everyone else, overdeliver, and think about how we can help at all costs. We want to make sure everyone is OK before we look in the mirror and ask ourselves how we are doing — and that’s on a regular day, when there aren't quarantines across the nation and we have no idea when life is going to resume again.
So please, don’t beat yourself up during this or criticize yourself for only doing what you can do that day. Some days that will look like cleaning your bathroom, and some it will look like checking in on your parents and having some groceries delivered to them. And other days, it'll look like sitting in your pajamas and doing nothing but feeding the kids and scrolling your phone. And it is all enough.
It is enough. It is enough. It is enough.
