We're so excited to share this guest blog post from Kelly Obranovic, one of our beloved Ambassadors. Kelly is a mom, teacher, creator and an incredible writer. She has a way of getting right to the heart of things that gets us every single time. Below are her thoughts on Mother's Day after a year that has changed us all. Her words really resonated with us and we hope you enjoy reading them!
When I was in college, John Mayer came out with this song, Dear Marie. One of the lyrics says, And if you're further up the road can you show me what I still can't see? For some reason, the line has always resonated with me. The hope in just knowing there is
a road ahead, and others have made it there, coupled with the idea that perspective is earned. If only any of us had the gift of seeing what was further up the road when this pandemic hit our nation. Unfortunately, every human experienced the same rollercoaster of uncertainty, but we’re here to talk about the real MVPs. Moms.
We never saw it coming, but we still rose to the occasion. There was no one further down the road to tell us how it was going to play out, or show us what we couldn’t see. Instead, we figured it out. We found a way to get all three kids on zoom calls and into our own meetings (mostly on time.) We made something out of nothing as birthdays came and went. We taught Great Grandma how to use the ipad so we could throw her a virtual 60th Anniversary Party. We wiped down groceries, and googled the best ways to get kids to keep their masks on. We made cardboard castles, painted rainbows and relearned Geometry.
Some days it looked seamless and others ended in a good shower cry. Sometimes it came naturally and other times it wreaked havoc on our mental space. But you know what, moms kept showing up. Even when they weren’t sure how or what to do themselves. They held their child's hand through their first COVID test; when the doctor in full PPE tickled their nose and made their eyes water. Experiencing these things for the first time themselves, Moms reassured their kids, tucked them into bed with a promise of a better tomorrow not entirely certain what tomorrow would bring.
As a mom myself, this last year has forced me to strip down to the basics. What’s most important to me now, looks much different than it did one year ago. I used to have this well laid out plan, a vision for my family, goals for our future and all kinds of expectations. This pandemic led me to take a leave from my accomplished teaching career, and forced me to break routine, break down the box I had put myself in. I now know, at the drop of a hat, everything can change. When the nation shut down, what was left? People. The people in my house, the people on our zoom calls. The people we missed. So I made a vow to myself to focus less on what “should be” and what others may think is best for me and instead channel that energy on building the happiness of my home. I’ve learned that being grateful for what I have where I am now vaccinates me from self doubt. At the end of the day, I’ll say this now, and I’ll say this time and time again, I just want to be a happy mom, so I can raise happy kids.
I’ve heard my own mom say, “someday you’ll understand” only to greet her with a little bit of an eye roll. Thinking at three, thirteen or thirty three I already understood. Well, inevitably, down the road, someday comes and I have that moment where I get it. I finally understand. I understand that the baby months are fleeting and the dishes don’t need to be done. I understand that there’s no reason to stress over things you can’t change and that it’s better to rotate toys than keep them all out at once. So while a brief look into the future would have certainly been helpful during these pandemic times, I’m not sure it would have made the difference. There’s something about having to experience something yourself to truly believe it.
So here’s to you Mama’s. Here’s to coming through further down the road. Here’s to experiencing a little bit of history. I hope you found some peace, I hope you gained some confidence in yourself and what you are capable of. I hope you let go of some expectations and I really hope you’re proud of yourself. When historians document this time in history, they’ll share the facts. I know they will rightfully note the healthcare workers, teachers and essential workers as heroes, but I hope they also document mothers. We are superheroes.