…i’m choosing to remember the small, beautiful things.

a bed and quiet room to myself to rest, sleep and recover
my husband, unfazed, stepping into full time parent/household manager/errand runner while i was sick and isolating
text exchanges with friends who are also In It, offering support and virtual hugs
joking, playfully, after the kids went to sleep
drinking hot coffee in my car via drive thru while my kids were safely buckled in behind me, me out of arms reach
a tiny-voiced toddler who renamed himself ‘baby bear’ and me ‘mama bear’
the sound of that three year old squealing with delight at a birthday gift from his dad
the weight of a sleepy, heavy infant on my chest
these crossed feet, mirroring his dad’s signature style

*thank u for nothing: covid infections + inconvenient/unavailable testing + isolation, peanut butter toast that caused a ‘drop-everything-and-get-to-the-ER-now’ reaction and subsequent confirmation of peanut and tree nut allergies, part-time hours to get full-time work to get done, very late nights and very little sleep.