Month: January 2021

Sick Day

It was just a runny nose and it lasted about 48 hours, but when there’s a global pandemic taking place, that’s reason enough to stay home from school.

Homework

Gigi was ecstatic when she came home from school yesterday. When I asked her how her day was she said, “Great, Mama! It was magical, just like you said it would be!” She had a wonderful day and I am so happy for her. While I prepared her dinner, she told me she hadn’t had time to finish her school work, and asked if she could continue. So, I got out the crayons and she went to work. She told me they learned about the letter “M” in Spanish. After she finished, she turned over the page and wrote lots of letter Ms (for mama!). She also created a button, which we learned would turn me into “una mono” — a monkey in Spanish! Also, take a look at where she wrote her name in the letter “O” at the top of the page. Makes me so happy.

#46 and #1

It was a big day yesterday, my big girl. History was made and you were a part of it. Our country inaugurated its 46th president and its first female, first black, and first south Asian vice president. Kamala Harris has broken through a glass ceiling and paved the way for little girls to dream big without doing so in vain.

I remember learning about American presidents when I was six years old. The kid in class next to me raised his hand and said he wanted to be president when he grew up. I remember feeling ineligible, and I knew it wasn’t a possibility for me simply because I was a girl. Today, that is not the case. The world and your opportunities are different.

Four years ago today, Gigi, I was scared. I didn’t know what kind of a future would await you. Our country had just elected a leader who I feared would act in a way that would be inconsistent with our values which are rooted in basic human rights like dignity, decency, and equality for EVERYONE. In short, he wasn’t nice. He wasn’t kind. And I worried that him leading by example would lead to bad things. Well, G, I can tell you that, four years later, I wasn’t wrong. But, thanks to our prevailing democracy and the deep-rooted good in human beings, that leader and time in our history is a thing of the past. Yesterday, we inaugurated into federal office two new leaders who have made it though the first filter I think necessary for the job of president and vice president: they are kind, good human beings. My faith is renewed and my hope is endless. I’m able to dream big for you, again, Gigi, and I deeply believe that your impact on this world can be just as good and meaningful as you want it to be. And no matter what your vision for your future is, sweet girl, you have my word that your daddy and I will support it.

I also want you to know that, while it’s taken the United States 200+ years to get it right, there are countries, companies, and other organizations all over the world that have powerful female leadership. All that is to say that, Gigi, if someone puts you in a bucket or paints you in a certain light, step out, step away, step forward, and step up. You are in charge of your destiny. The world is big — there are billions of people… you told me so last night! — surround yourself with people who are more interested in the content of your character than your gender.

I love you,

Mama

Life in a global pandemic

When I reflect on the time we’ve spent in this global pandemic, most of it has been at home, just doing our best to be part of the solution as opposed to the problem. As a society and for people all over the world, it’s been an unbelievably challenging time. For our little family of three, though, we have been fortunate: there have only been a few brief rain showers and the rainbows have been bright and plentiful. Our largest complaint is that we have been robbed of time with our extended families — the only compensating factor being the hope that a year plus of sacrifice will yield more time together in the future

It’s been slow and quiet with not much to entertain us than one another, and, candidly, that’s been just fine with us. It has been a year (and counting) without ceremony, replaced with small and intimate moments like this one in the picture below. Parties and celebrations and makeup and shoes up have been replaced by family meals, at-home dance parties, all-day PJs, and lots and lots of reading and snuggling. I wonder how this will change us in the future: how we will adapt to ensure we fill our days, months, and years with as many little moments as possible. I’ve already found myself brainstorming ways to maximize my efficiency when the world “reopens,” so to speak. But I’m trying to quiet the temptation to think ahead, and instead live in the moment, appreciating all the little gifts of quality family time this pandemic has afforded me.

Mystery Reader!

We’ve waited so long for this moment and it finally came! I got to be the mystery reader for Gigi’s class. I read one of her favorite books, “El Perro con Sombrero,” and Gigi’s Dada even made a cameo. At the end, the children shouted, “That was a fiction book!” And when I picked up Gigi at school, she told me the “clues” I gave her teachers— grew up in Georgia and favorite color is green — were too easy.