Parenting in Isolation

Adjusting to life as a new parent is like settling in on Mars. It is an entirely new world, one that we’re not quite sure how to survive on. Throw in being bound to your home in isolation, and the adjustment become that much harder.

For many new parents we never could have imagined we’d be joining this new role completely alone. We never could have pictured our first few months without the support of our family and friends.

We’ve feLt alone, we’Ve feLt lost, we’ve feLt scared.

We are exhausted and overworked. We haven’t had a break in what seems like an eternity. We cannot escape to a coffee shop or take a browse around the mall to clear our head. We cannot find the comfort of a hug in a friend or a family member. We are alone and we sure feel it.

Our hearts fill with sadness as we cannot share these precious times with those we love most. Milestones and moments are sent virtually and cannot be celebrated in person.

We have grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, friends, and so many more that deeply miss our children or have yet to even meet them. We love them from afar, FaceTime, zoom and photos. Although this is something, it just isn’t good enough. We need human connection. We need to be in others company. We need our village.

We are learning an entire new way of being while raising small children. With each passing day our efforts to simply get by are pushed to new limits.

We entered parenthood in isolation, something we were never meant to do.

Now I know you feel like no one understands. But I want you to know I am with you. All of you. I feel the sadness, the anxiety, the uncertainty. And I need you to hear me when I say, you’re not wrong for feeling this way. You’re not wrong for going through the struggle. For that pile of laundry and dirty dishes, for the dog that missed their walk, for yet another day in your pyjamas, for zoning out while your partner talks, for shutting down and feeling low, for breaking and crying, for snapping or yelling, for eating unhealthy, for missing a workout, or for spending the day in bed.

This introduction to parenthood has not been welcoming. It has been the furthest thing from easy and you may be feeling like the furthest thing from okay. And you know what? That is alright. It is alright to feel the weight of being alone through one of the hardest adjustments in your life. Please take the time you need to be angry, disheartened, let down, frustrated, worried, however it may be you’re feeling.

Once you do, just know this will end and when it does we will will be remembered as the parents who made it. Who raised small children without the help of friends, family, and supportive services. We will be the parents who had to figure out an entirely new way of being while socially isolating. We will let this make us stronger. And we will one day share our story with our children.

Please reach out to my email or inquiry form if you are needing someone during these trying times. I have needed others to lift me up and I would love to do the same for you.

Sending light always,

Xx

Nikki