A silly ol’ grilled cheese sandwich. That’s all it took to trigger all of the lasts of my son’s senior year. He’s seventeen and, after work and practice, was sitting in his room gaming with his friends. I knocked and opened his door and waited for him to turn off his microphone.

I have never been an outdoorsy person. I don’t like our Colorado snow, but the extreme heat isn’t my thing either. I prefer activities such as reading, watching movies, playing games, and enjoying a constant indoor temperature. This was great for the first couple of months of a nationwide quarantine.

Everyone does their best to prepare you for when you have your first child, but I promise that no one can ever do a good enough job of it. Before I had my first child, I thought I was prepared for the worst and prepared for anything at all based on the amount of unsolicited advice I had received over the years.

I’m struggling. I’m struggling with identifying my purpose, my role, my identity at this stage of my life. I suppose I am at mid-life-crisis age, but that’s not what this feels like. Becoming a purple-haired, bungee-jumping, motorcycle mama isn’t what I need. I am seeking a title.

We are adding 3 post-docs and 3 practicum students in the fall!

Except for centenarians, people have no experience when it comes to how to live through a pandemic. We all have had to follow the constantly changing guidelines to get through these times. Parents are juggling working from home while having their children, even adult children, at home at the same time. Relationships are strained.

It’s a wonder how quickly our whole world changed a year and a half ago, and how difficult it has been to pick up the pieces since. I don’t know anyone unaffected negatively in some way by the pandemic. I have had distant relatives pass away, friends lose their jobs, and family members seek mental health relief.

When will life go back to normal?

This is a time of global stress and distress in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers say the COVID-19 pandemic could “inflict long-lasting emotional trauma on an unprecedented global scale” (CNBC), and greatly increase the rates of psychological disorders

How Parents Can Support Their Children Through The Coronavirus Outbreak