Trying Not To Panic in the Pandemic

You can’t turn on the TV or log in to Social Media without hearing about it. It is LITERALLY everywhere right now: COVID-19. I didn’t quite realize just how much it was effecting EVERYONE until my four year old started saying something about coronavirus. It blew me a bit away, because, as any parent will tell you, you never really know just how much your kids are soaking in from what is being talked about around them. And, just like most parents will attest to, it’s usually a lot more than we give them credit for.

My preschooler has also been having some serious tantrums over the last few weeks. I originally credited it to the Daylight Savings time change, but as that usually calms down after a few days, I’m realizing that it more likely has to do with COVID-19.

My husband has been taking his paternity leave, and he tends to consume more news than the average person when he’s working, so being home means that he is almost constantly inundated with the news. He’s been watching the path of COVID-19 since mid-February. He was very closely watching the situation in Wuhan, China, and so, he knows more about this than maybe most. He definitely knew more than me because I have, quite frankly, been ignoring the news for the better part of the last three and a half years.

I have been paying much more attention this week, especially in the last half of the week as my own boss directed us to consider what we would do (ie: how we would deliver content ot students) if our school was shut down. Then, that night, President Trump restricted travel to Europe, the NBA suspended their season, Tom Hanks announced he had contracted the virus, and my home church announced that they would be suspending all on campus services and groups and moving everything online. I started to panic because, quite frankly, that was A LOT for one day.

The next day, I tried to get diapers for my youngest--not because of the pandemic, but because she is ready to move to the next size. And guess what?

I couldn’t. There were none on the shelf. I ordered online. Target canceled my order. I called my dad and asked him to compare this to when SARS hit. He said he’s never seen anything like this before--that MAYBE Y2K was similar, but the “threat” was different and less people were panicking. He said that SARS never made it to the US, at least not the way COVID-19 has.

Well, hearing my level-headed dad say he was buying some extra groceries made me panic a little more. And when I started talking to my husband about it and we began feeding off of each other. We were both definitely on edge.

As I got ready for work the next day, the last day before Spring Break, with the news of more schools in the area closing, and the talks or more travel bans on the horizon, there was definitely an air of panic in the room. And our preschooler definitely felt it.

We sometimes forget that our preschooler is younger than she acts, and smarter than she sometimes lets on. We also forget that even as smart as she is, she doesn’t necessarily have the vocabulary to express how she is feeling. And so, she acts out. She tantrums. She whines. She regresses and talks like a baby. Sometimes, she has accidents.

When I begin to recognize these things, I take swift action. In this case, when I realized it, I started talking to her about it. You hear experts say to give the fear a name. Well, I started telling her that mommy and daddy were worried because there was a sickness out there and that the sickness wasn’t too bad for people mommy and daddy's age or even her age, but that it might mean that we have to all stay home for a while and that was making us worry, but that she didn't have to.

But I also told her that when I get scared I pray and I asked her if she wanted to pray with me. She said yes, so I said aloud, “Jesus, I am scared. This is scary and I don’t know what is going to happen. Please help me to not be scared. Remind me that You are in control and that when things down here on earth are too scary, that I need to give them to You and let you make me feel better. Amen.”

This smart little four-year-old turned to me and said, “Mommy, Jesus will take care of us, huh?”

Yes, T, He will.