End of school, beginning of summer holidays, Covid restrictions lifting in different cities…how is everyone handling all this change?
I thought I was fine until I found myself wide awake at 2:30am on the eve of my son’s first baseball game, and realized that I was feeling overwhelmed by all the changes.
So for three hours in the middle of the night I contemplated the following:
- jumping back into life as parent of a kid in competitive sports (attending games, driving to games)
- committing to social engagements
- transitioning from being at home 24/7
These are the solutions I came up with:
- accept that although restrictions were opening up, I could be intentional and careful about how many social gatherings to commit to
- accept that I only have a few more weeks before I depart to hike the West Coast Trail and that my training needs to take priority
- accept that the transition to being a sports parent may feel harried at first but that we will get back into a groove after a few outings
- limit the number of coaching clients I could see in July and start booking into August
Once I came up with this list I felt better and eventually got back to sleep! Other patients and clients have been describing similar re-entry stress so this is likely a familiar feeling as we try to navigate the new ‘normal’.
On a side note, the training for my hike is going well – in the picture above I’m carrying a large MEC pack that I’ve had for 18 years (still in good shape!). I’m up to carrying 30 lbs for 4 hours during my weekly training walks.
[originally published July 2021]
Dr. Cynthia Chan 