bubble wrap

I want to wrap them in bubble wrap, my littles who are not so little anymore.

I want to keep them safe and protected in this strange world facing an everchanging virus.

I want to surround them with a deep layer of protection and keep them safe and sound.

I don’t think of myself as an over protective parent, protective yes, but a helicopter parent I am not. I try to give them space to live, to become who they are, to succeed or fail on their own while I stand by to catch them if they fall. I try to give them space normally, to grow into who God made them to be, not just who I want them to be. But at this moment giving them space is really, really hard!

This school year that we are facing is hitting me with all kinds of emotions, fears, and worries that this mama has not experienced before. I want to wrap them in bubble wrap and keep them safe. I want to surround them with a space that is virus free and safe.

Last year we kept them home, it made sense for our family at the time. There was no vaccine. I was a high risk case. Both parents were working from home with flexible work schedules. It worked. But after a year and a half of being home they need to enter the world. They need to see people. They need a routine. They need to wear real clothes again! (Okay, that last one might really be aimed at me).

After a year and a half of isolation, I see their fear of people that was not there before and as a parent that concerns me. My natural extrovert has become nervous around other people. That cannot be good. My natural introvert has become way too comfortable with not seeing people, and needs to interact with people outside of her family.

It looks like this might be our new normal, the rise and fall of virus numbers, and we have to find a way to balance life. I cannot just tuck them away and hide them from society as much as I would like. I guess sending them off with masks (even if they are the only ones wearing them at school) will have to be as close to bubble wrapping them up as I will get. I have to let them go and trust that they are in God’s hands.

At their baptisms (I come from an infant baptism tradition) I turned them back over to God, the greatest gifts I have ever been given. I put my whole trust into the grace and love of Christ Jesus to watch over them whatever may come. This school year I lean on that promise and place my trust in a loving and grace-filled God once again. I will live into the trust of those baptism vows each morning as they head out the door, trusting in the God who will watch over my babies with more care and compassion than even a mama can muster.

Strengthen my trust, O God, strengthen my trust!