YDEV 501 - Blog Post #1

    When the pandemic took off in 2020 I was working in Massachusetts as an Intensive Care Coordinator. In this role I worked with families who had children with severe mental health concerns impacting every area of their lives. I worked as a point person to pull together doctors, teachers, therapists, family, and other supports in order to create a holistic approach to treatment. It was an extremely rewarding job that was also emotionally and physically draining (as most jobs in youth development fields are). These families welcomed me into their homes and I worked with them there or wherever needed sometimes 2-3 times a week. When I made the decision to move to Rhode Island for my relationship, it was right in the thick of the pandemic - May/June of 2020. Working those last couple months with my families (most of whom were extremely low income), knowing I was leaving, and not knowing what would happen next in the world was one of the tougher times in my life. Hearing mothers crying on the phone to me that they can’t find a food pantry that delivers or they don’t know how to get their child’s medication because they don’t have a car and and/or are deathly afraid of their family becoming sick were just daily conversations. 

It was a strange dichotomy for me as I was living through my own first world-wide pandemic and fighting with my own anxieties and mental health. However, when I went to work not only would it put things into perspective for me and remind me of so many of the privileges I held, but also there was no room for my own thoughts and feelings. Others took priority and that both helped me through and also allowed me to be numb to what I was feeling (which is not always recommended). Strangely enough as all the adults in their world were struggling to make sense of anything, I noticed that the kids I was working with were mostly…..happy. Those lucky enough to live in families without abuse/neglect, and even some who unfortunately weren’t as lucky, always found a way to muster up a smile and silly story or laugh when I’d stop by. One family brought all their mattresses down together in the family room and “camped out” for weeks. The child said he’d never done anything more fun. Looking back now, those few months were such a whirlwind of the best and worst that the universe and humanity could offer. It was chaotic and scary, isolating and convergent, so many things at once. To me, it was an amazing lesson in resiliency that was taught to me by the youth I surrounded myself with. 

Now, I am in a vastly different position in child care. I am helping to shape little ones and am grateful for that everyday. I try never to take it for granted. We are still certainly feeling the effects of the pandemic in the school with ever changing regulations and un-regulations, relentless anxiety and cleaning routines, class closures or zoom conferencing (yes, with 2 year olds) and more. Again, I think my experience early on in the pandemic both scared me and inspired me. I think that it’s a great reminder of the weight that children can carry, but never should have to. It helps me appreciate the time in my classroom with my kiddos and give parents some extra grace and patience with their anxieties and new routines. While there were certainly moments in the pandemic that were devastating, hard, and confusing, I am trying to reframe this as I try to do most things, into a lesson. Children are adaptive, resilient, empathetic, and so many other things they rarely get credit for. I learn my most important lessons from them, almost always.