Finding your way in challenging times

As I write this blog, I am juggling work, remote-schooling for a primary school kid and a high school kid…and trying to create a dynamic presentation for a conference for a Masters degree. And it’s RUOK day! All this has been rolling in one way or another for more than 18mths now, since COVID-19 appeared and has shaken lives as we knew them.

As my work with Nature families has been so disrupted this year, I have had much time to wonder about how everyone else is managing through lockdowns and COVID times and whilst I don’t always know details, I can see such strength, tenacity and value in the stories I have seen and heard, the stories shared with me.

I used to see strength as being about not giving up, about not crumbling under the pressures life and parenting can bring. Now I see strength as about falling over, crumbling, wailing, laughing and getting back up again. Stumbling over hurdles, tripping over small things and then getting back up again and celebrating whatever small moments get you through.

Little things such as hearing one of the First Steps in Nature kids call me “Sarah” has been just delightful! Who would have thought that a little voice saying something as simple as a name would be so joyful!

Seeing smiles is certainly another cause for celebration. Receiving words, messages and emails from Nature families, colleagues and friends.

So my hat goes off to all the parents out there juggling work, study and raising small people. Newborns, toddlers, kinder kids and school kids and all the different needs and challenges these age groups and personalities bring! Some women are even growing a new life during these times too!! Incredible.

I notice a lot of talk about resilience, about kids being resilient, but they only become resilient because they have people around them attending to their needs and caring for them. Having adults notice and smile and create space for these kids. Having adults make food, think of activities, take the kids outside, clean up their messes, find patience to keep stepping up, reading one more story, running one more bath. Finding a balance between responding to the kid’s demands, and having boundaries about what behaviour is encouraged or discouraged! Holding strong for them as they cry, tantrum and push these boundaries.

I guess what this blog post is, is a message of appreciation, of gratitude and of hope.

Appreciation for the work you’re all doing. Your small acts of bravery and kindness add up to make the fabric of your children, your families and our shared community.

Gratitude at what you have shared with me, the stories and experiences we have shared together. Gratitude to Bluebird Foundation Inc. for being an organisation that is authentic and true to their values. I have felt valued, honoured and supported as a worker…which has allowed me to provide care that I hope shares these same things with families and my co-workers. (In my head I see a Jenga game…lots of blocks have been removed in this last year, but the tower has not crumbled as there are supports all around).

And hope for the future. This is hard, the challenges have felt insurmountable in these unprecedented times. And yet here we all are…managing the unmanageable, laughing, crying, walking, eating, playing our way through the challenge.

Next time you feel like you’ve got nothing left in the tank, but somehow you have to find a way, here is what I suggest…

Step outside

Take your shoes off

Feel the dirt, grass, mud, puddle, rocks under your feet

Cry, laugh, shout, twirl, jump

Call a friend

If you have no words to understand your situation, then don’t use words! Put your hands and feet in the mud, in the playdough, in the water, in the paint or the glue…lie in the sun, play on the grass, go down to the river, listen to the birds, watch the clouds go by, climb a tree…

Finally…

If you want a soundtrack to play in the background, I can highly recommend Nature Track podcasts found on the ABC radio app. Each one is a lengthy recording of sounds recorded in different Nature settings. Birds, rivers, rain. (just watch out for the latest that has a few mozzies buzzing around! Not so relaxing when you have head phones on)