It’s almost the night time rush with kids. You pull out chicken nuggets and a frozen mac and cheese. You pop those nugget shaped meats into the microwave, because who has time to bake them? They come out hot, albeit a bit soggy on the breading. You put them on a plate with the mac and cheese-like product and call it a win. Perhaps you cut up an apple. Or perhaps you don’t.
It won’t win any shares on social media, but it gets the job done.
We are now on day 9743(+/-) of Covid, and I feel like I have aged five years since March. I have had time to set resolutions, break them, and set them again. I have reached the end of Netflix while making time to find my favorite rose wine (and believe me, I have tried a lot). I have argued in virtual court with a child on my lap while wearing sweatpants and a blazer. Like most other parents, I have done what I can to keep my head above water while maintaining some mental sanity. We have been through battle, folks, and it’s not over yet.
All of this has made me . . . uninspired.
Uninspired to make cute plates of food, uninspired to finish start the family album, and uninspired to coordinate matching outfits for school pictures.
I have reached the point of this pandemic where I no longer feel any mom guilt for any of the above. My child coordinated an orange shirt and red shorts to school this week — I gave him a high five and sent him on his merry way. If he wants to dress like a twin pack of starbursts, you do you, Kid.
Letting go of the society-imposed expectations of how to be a “put together mom” has made the mental weight of everything a bit lighter. And guess what, my kids are just as happy, if not happier. So, if you see me out and about in sweatpants with my kids dressed in clothes like a two year old picked them out, know that a two year old probably did pick out those clothes, and that I am very okay with all of it.
For my kids’ upcoming birthdays, I look forward to whatever selection the bakery section of Publix has to offer. My Elf on the Shelf may get lost on the way from the North Pole, and I may be emailing Christmas cards. Look, y’all, we survived the great toilet paper shortage of 2020, curfews and riots, a time change, a full moon, and there is simply not enough mental space to be inspired. And that’s okay.
*High five*
You do you, Kid.
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