Parenthood is an ever changing obstacle course of firsts for them and firsts for me. It appears my children always look to me as if I will have all the answers; this is both frightening and empowering depending on the situation.

In past years, I’ve mastered healing scraped knees, midnight feedings, and sending my loves to kindergarten. Today, I am learning how to comfort a middle schooler with an overbooked homework pile, a fifth grader with sore teeth from a recent trip to the orthodontist, and the little who spent the afternoon fighting a stomach bug and fever.

Tonight, my husband and I made the decision not to travel tomorrow due to the recent news of COVID-19 (and recent stomach bug in our household). Just like parenthood has no rule book, trying to make decisions about whether to chance travel is agonizing. The teardrops from one and sadness hidden with bits of anger from another tore my heart apart. My heart goes out to all parents tonight who are trying to shed some light on a very scary subject such as a worldwide pandemic. As an individual, I’m just trying to keep calm, but the mass pandemonium isn’t helping. As a parent, I need to protect, console, and comfort, and that’s about all I am confident with at this moment: my love as a mother will never fail me or them.