May 25, in a letter to an Italian journalist, Pope Francis said we should pray for mothers to have courage as they face the challenges of the post-coronavirus world.
“The question of every mother resounds in the heart: ‘What world will my child live in?’” the pope wrote.
“Let us pray for them, so that the Lord may give them the courage to accompany their children with the trust that it will certainly be a different world, but it will always be a world loved very much by the Lord.”
Several of our friends and relatives have children graduating this May and June and are off to college. With the uncertain state of our world, I wondered what parents were thinking regarding the future of their children, so I posed the question to a few. And also asked how they were coping with children at home full time.
From our Hawaiian Oblate Karen who has two children off to universities in California
Am I ready? I don't think any parent is ever ready to send their kids thousands of miles away from them to face the cruel world by themselves. I am fearful for all of the things that I would be without the COVID: their physical safety, mental health, finding good friends, rejecting bad boy friends and girl friends, building good habits, avoiding opiods, being academically successful at college, and most importantly, finding the career that makes them happy. I can tell you that I am SOOOOOO happy one of my kids will be at a wonderful Jesuit college and the other at a small/medium sized school in a medium sized town.
Having them go to college is actually more comforting for me than young people who don't have a plan for the next couple of years in life. I have two nephews graduating from college this month. What job prospects are there for them? What about all of the seniors not going to college? what will they do stuck at home without jobs? Sounds like a recipe for disaster.
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| Ana- No graduation |
I think this, like many other times in history, is a short term hurdle to overcome with a new life on the other side. I am trying really hard to trust in God (spending an hour a day in prayers, reflections and doing the Jesuit spiritual exercises this month) and keep a positive attitude.
My one big question is this: We have taken it for granted that our children, families, friends, spiritual community are just a plane flight away. So I have always been comfortable being physically distant knowing that in a day I could easily get anywhere I needed if someone needed me. Is this dependence on easy, affordable and safe airplane travel going to be something we are going to continue to depend on or will we all have to start being more geographically centric? If my kids are in CA and I can't get there in a drop of a hat, I am moving there.
Another mother of four very active children (one in college) wrote: The stay home order has been an utter blessing for the kids and I. The change has resulted in a much more peaceful home and we have also appreciated the change in pace. I was already homeschooling the younger two girls, but now we are not running around 5 days a week.
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| Children at Play- Edvard Munch- Norway |
Our days and evenings have been filled with family bonding time; board games, card games, baking, long walks and exploring our garden. Since we cannot go to the store, we are working on making gifts for family and friends for special occasions. Handmade soaps, knitted items, floral collages and baked goods have been appreciated by family and friends. We have participated in "drive by" birthday greetings for friends and have developed a special relationship with our next door neighbors, whom my children now call Grandma & Grandpa.
We have been able to participate in Mass at the Cathedral through VEMO and have found an online adoration website. Sunday school has continued through Zoom and emailed lessons after the books were mailed to the house. I have been reading saint books to the younger two girls as they work on puzzles and we have finished one on Joan of Arc, Saint Vincent de Paul and are currently reading one on Saint Francis.