“Look for the bright spots”...
“There is always a silver lining”...
“Look for the rainbow”...
“What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”...
“See this as an opportunity to better yourself”...
We’ve all heard it. We’ve probably also said it. Truth is, there is growth in struggle. While we may choose to deny it at the time, if we look hard enough there is always a bright spot to be found. As our family has stumbled through the past 4 months of working from home, emergency homeschooling, social distancing, and sheltering in place, I have had to work hard to keep myself afloat. I have tried to find the bright spots. Yeah, at times they are pretty hard to find. I am not going to lie about that. But, after nearly 4 months of practice looking on the bright side, this is what I have found...
Time at home was good for my kids (albeit incredibly challenging at times)
Working from home is hard, but worth it
I am blessed to have my career and my private practice
I have a LOT to teach my boys
I can multi-task
I can do hard things
My boys need me
And then there is this...
Over the past four months, I have watched my middle son bloom. After YEARS of struggling to learn to read, I took this time as MY chance to help MY (now 9 year-old) son make some strides. Armed with some of my favourite learning tools, we have gone from learning letter sounds in March, to breaking words apart/decoding in April, to reading simple sentences in May, to spelling simple words in June. As an SLP, early literacy intervention is entirely within my wheelhouse... I know how to teach early literacy skills. I know what to do. I know why reading is so hard for my son. I have just never been able to commit SO MUCH TIME to helping him. Social distancing has blessed us with the ability to provide intense, individualized instruction without the fatigue that comes after a full day at work and school, the disruption of extra-curricular activities, evening meetings, and early bedtimes. While COVID has brought with it so much devastation, for us it has brought the gift of time.
So while I look for my silver linings and bright spots in the chaos and monotony of life during a pandemic, I also feel incredibly blessed by the grace period that my son has been given to catch up.... just a little bit.