Hello there friends,
As I write this, my two little rascals are next to me at our dining table and we are balancing our new reality where the world around us is in limbo. Despite the uncertainty, I hold on to this simple thing called hope. My optimism comes from my kids and husband; when I feel like crying, they are there with a sweet smile or a silly joke and all seems right in the world. I cherish this time with them, but the level of the unknown future is unsettling for me.
Our world is changing. The world has already changed. But we can still create the world in which we want to live in.
It’s the understatement of a lifetime, but I wanted to acknowledge the extremely trying times that have been brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Let’s be honest, every aspect of our lives has been upended in the past few weeks. As we get lost in the midst of it all on a larger scale, we may find ourselves downplaying how this affects us personally. I know I have.
I wanted to reach out and tell you that it is okay to not feel okay. In the past few weeks, I’ve shifted from valuing the extra time with my rascals and the ability to slow down our regular routine, to the heaviness of the world reality hitting me at once, to trying to find a way to maintain a daily feeling of joy and gratitude while also grieving my daily connections with the outside world. As I struggle to understand where I am with it, I know, deep down, that everything will work out.
As content creator for Hello Rascal Kids, it is okay to acknowledge our feelings about losing our creative outlets and routines, about queued posts that need to be pushed further or scrapped completely, about whether we should even be posting “happy” content. It may seem frivolous to worry about these things in the midst of a global pandemic, but these are real ways that our lives have been affected and your feelings are valid. Hello Rascal Kids and my family, like many of your families, had so many plans for the future – travel, Spring Break ideas, Easter activities – and these plans will no longer pan out. That’s okay. Allow yourself to adjust and adapt to our present reality, even if it’s not perfect, because it won’t be. Share your imperfect holiday, share your imperfect celebrations, share your imperfect work-from-home routines, share your imperfect at-home workouts. Share all your imperfection, because it‘s all so beautiful and we are in this together.
We will continue to create content and be consistent in whatever ways we can. Hello Rascal Kids has always been about my rascals and about kids being kids, but that doesn’t mean it always has to be perfect. My joy has always been and remains to be my kids, but that experience will look different now. Presently, it is focused on how to play the role of parent and teacher, how to manage their emotions as we go through changes as a family, and how to navigate working-from-home with two energetic, unpredictable rascals running around. I am still trying to create meaningful experiences for my kids in whatever ways I can because of all the joy they have brought me. Creating these experiences will look different for all of us; it will depend on your values, your abilities, and your present situation as it has been impacted by the pandemic.
Here’s an update about our original rascals. AJ and Ben are making sure to giggle and causing chaos when possible. Nothing has changed much on that front. They are navigating mom and dad’s new role as their teacher(s) for the next few months. Most days, they listen to our instructions and are good students, but there are days they try to test our limits. We are currently trying to teach Ben how to read. It’s a new challenge for all of us. We decided to take it on during this time, because we always relied on preschool to get him ready for kindergarten, but we know it’s important, now more than ever, that we play a big role in it as well. Ben is also going to celebrate his 5th birthday soon, so we are brainstorming ways to celebrate safely at home. AJ started remote classes two weeks ago. Our school sent him home with his laptop the day they announced the school closure and really prepared the kids to take ownership of this learning process. AJ does miss social interaction with his friends. We’ve been trying to schedule FaceTime calls with friends and family, which has been extremely helpful. They have both spent plenty of time playing in the yard; we are making sure they wiggle and move around when the sun is out. We also took this opportunity to rearrange furniture to maximize space in their bedroom and playroom. AJ and Ben have each other, so I know they will get through this. They have always been “better together,” and now I think they will grow to be “stronger together.”
How are your rascals? How are you all? Let’s start a dialogue where we share resources, tips, and stories. I’ll re-share them so we can connect and support each other. For now, I’ve put together a list of resources below in hopes that they will help you hold onto normal in any way possible. These resources are not in any way meant to dismiss your feelings or your struggles. These are meant to be resources that you all can pick and choose from based on what works for you and your family. What works for mine may not work for yours, and vice versa, and that is okay.
I am going to be slowing myself down. Don’t feel discouraged if you have to slow down too. We wish you the best of luck in finding your light. Everybody has their own light, and my hope is that we can help each other illuminate it.
Resources for the kids:
Resources for you and adjusting to your new routine:
One of Hello Rascal Kids’ core values is: “We are an uplifting space, led first by our own attitudes. We know life and parenthood is not always happy, simple, or fun, but we want you to rely on us to help you remember, create, and celebrate uplifting moments with your own family.” We are committed to coming together to get through this crisis as a community.
With Much Love,
Ngoc Nguyen Lay, Your Head Rascal
