Gratitude During a Pandemic

grat·i·tude /ˈɡradəˌt(y)o͞od/ - the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

Welp. It might be a little tricky these days to practice gratitude on the regular. We made the decision early on that due to his father’s job (firefighter) it would be safer and healthier for Ben to stay with me. Enter full-on panic mode. How was I going to homeschool him with no co-teacher? How was I going to successfully keep up with work? How was I going to juggle both? Here is how.

Practice gratitude.

Team Scola has a full with a capital F Full schedule. Full-time job. Sports. Part-time job. More sports. Part-time job #3. The one thing we didn’t have a lot of was one-on-one time together. Sure, he spends most nights with me but between sports and work, quality Mom/Ben time was at a premium. There were so many days that I’d leave for work in the morning and come home after he was in bed only to rush him off to school in the morning. We’ve had many conversations about why I must work so much. Thankfully, I have a wicked awesome support system and a very understanding child.

The last two months have given me something that I haven’t had in years. Time with Ben. Time to discuss science projects. Time to work on his swing. Time explore the neighborhood. And most importantly time to do all the things that make him happy including whooping me at NHL20.

Gratitude.

New tee. New net. Same swing. Time to work on it!

Everyday hasn’t been filled with sunshine and rainbows. I’m still working full-time. He still needs some redirection at home to make sure his schoolwork is being completed. The most important part of our day is bedtime. Every night, we tell each other one thing we are grateful for. Although this is something we’ve been doing for years, it is extremely important now. Times like these are super important to identify all the things we’ve been blessed with. We are navigating through this together. As a team. And I’m very grateful for that.