What have you learned about yourself in the last year?

A year ago I was preparing for my kids to not go back to school. Three weeks prior to that day we had moved from Michigan to Alabama, and all three of my children had been sent home from their new preschool a week prior due to COVID-19. Then the state of Alabama started talking about keeping all kids at home for the remainder of the school year.

Well, the kids did stay home and I decided to homeschool them. Perks of being a freelance #WFHM. I bought a Highlights workbook for Kindergarten (even though the twins were only in pre-k) and dedicated about an hour a day to it. They LOVED IT. My oldest daughter still asks if we can do a workbook. We watched the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden each day, attempted kids yoga and other physical activity videos, had picnics outside, and built things. My littlest just tagged along and enjoyed every minute of it.

I learned a lot about myself during this time... that very brief blip of time as I look back on it. I prepared myself for becoming a full-time homeschooling mom to the twins in case school didn’t start back in the Fall or the terrifying thought of them being at school and what could happen while there.

I learned I can handle anything mentally and emotionally, but not without a breakdown or two (I mean, we’re all human, right?). I also learned just how smart my kids are and how children in general seem to process things much better than adults. Yet, I also learned that kids are a product of our emotions. My husband and I didn’t get panicked in front of them about the state of the world, and I did my best to make learning from home fun and not act like it was a chore (but let me tell you, that was HARD!).

In the midst of all three children being at home with me full-time and nowhere to go, I lost my one large marketing and branding client who had three start-up brands I was helping to bring to life through social media, web building, product descriptions, and packaging designs. He shuttered all marketing within weeks of the novel coronavirus. This is when I decided to really start investing in myself. I scoured HubSpot Academy and gained the Content Marketing Certification, I tried to study French again (that didn’t last) and finally built a website of my own to officially put myself out there. I was able to take a breath and realize what my focus should be. Instead of offering all the marketing services I’m semi-capable of, I was able to realize my purpose is to write, from social content to mostly web content and blogs. However, I do still consult on marketing and branding projects at times because it’s just in my nature to overextend myself a bit!

My kids did get to start Kindergarten in the Fall with masks required and no parents allowed in the school. And now we’re just six weeks away from the last day of school. Although I wasn’t able to participate in a typical first-year Kindergarten manner from parent-teacher conferences to class performances, I’m grateful for being given the time to grow professionally and for my kids to socialize and make new friends, as well as be taught by a legitimate teacher!