While our communities are quarantined, we hear stories of kids missing milestones. Graduation. Prom. Senior year of baseball as the Captain. Or for littles, maybe their first season of kids’ pitch.

I think sometimes we feel our kids need these milestones to feel ‘accomplished’. Like they have to experience these peaks and rites of passage or they somehow fell short. It breaks my heart, don’t get me wrong. I have vivid memories of my high school graduation and dancing awkwardly at my senior prom.

My oldest son is turning 12 in two weeks, and while 12 isn’t considered a major birthday year, it’s still his birthday. And for an 11 year old in quarantine, it’s a day celebrating him and only him. He’s disappointed that a sleepover isn’t in the cards, but he understands. 

A friend of mine said the other day, “Disruption brings creativity and innovation”. It’s so true. Sometimes it takes moments that rock our world to think differently about what we always do on autopilot. What we assume we all need to feel success. Or happiness. Or joy. 

I have been thinking about this a lot lately, and I think this holds true to anything we can apply it to. For Declan’s birthday in quarantine, it forces us to be creative in how we celebrate him. And you can bet we are going to pull out all the stops because we feel so guilty he will be alone (he will be with us, but for an almost tween, it’s the same).

Grieving the life of what we expected is ok. I know I’ve gone through that a lot over the past several weeks. But I’ve already witnessed on many accounts some pretty incredible memories and experiences shaped by others’ willingness to think differently. Things that would have never seen the light of creativity had we not all been in this world today. 

I don’t know. I am trying to apply this to everything right now. And I just have this feeling this is a birthday he will remember forever.