Oh, how things can change in an instant! And, no matter how strong and prepared you think you are to handle unexpected events, a crisis has the power to disrupt everything you’ve worked so hard to establish for yourself and your family.

My first instinct when coronavirus testing really kicked in and the case and death numbers started to rapidly increase was the safety of my daughter and I. With so many unknowns initially, the quarantine was welcome. We always feel more comfortable when we have control. If we isolate from the rest of the world for 14 days, we can most likely say we are not a carrier of the virus or already had it and were asymptomatic. That knowledge alone would significantly alleviate some of the worry.

And that’s what we did. Thankfully there were no objections from my co-parent. We hunkered down and slowly began to adjust to this new, temporary way of life.

Two weeks! This would be the longest time ever I would have my daughter with me. I was excited about it. Sure, we’ve taken a vacation for a week to ten days but had never been confined to the house for more than a couple days at a time. I welcomed it because, as a working parent, you just don’t get time like this.Settling into isolation didn’t feel like a huge adjustment for us. It was more like a 14-day weekend – lots of games, cooking together, watching movies and the like. We finally got around to renovating her bedroom. I admit I struggle with house projects because of how busy and/or tired I usually am. I also still had work to get done so I tried to time that to her daily period of schoolwork. But there were definitely hours of time across these two weeks (and still now) where she just had to keep herself occupied. Every single human has had to adjust on the fly – all ages, all over the world.

But, to be honest, as much as I welcomed this extended period of time with my daughter, I was scared. First, I was weeks away from launching a new business. That had to be put on hold. My savings account would cover me, right? Nope. This money had been invested in the business. That’s okay I thought because my vacation rental income would get us through this. Wrong. Nearly one third of my annual rental income vanished in an instant! Okay, I’ll collect unemployment benefits. Not for small business owners. I’m a positive person but I almost succumbed to this level of panic.

We are undoubtedly struggling and feeling the effects both individually and collectively as a community. I’m counting my blessings and it tears me apart knowing other households are faced with an even more challenging predicament. The financial stress and overall anxiety are real and have definitely had me feeling borderline defeated at certain moments and less optimistic than usual. Sigh…

But staying optimistic is key to our mental health. It’s amazing what you can accomplish with time, empathy and an attitude about helping others.

Communication is vital as well. I always make sure my daughter understands the significance of things going on in our world. We talk about it in terms of how it affects people emotionally so she can realize that, while it can feel okay to us, many other people could be struggling. It builds compassion and kindness.

Her and I decided to offer something for kids to fill their day and give them something to look forward to. We spent many hours brainstorming virtual game ideas, collecting supplies, testing and filming. I’ve always lived by the principle that I should find activities that others can enjoy in addition to myself. So developing fun games and challenges for kids was our way to have fun together, teach her a little about business and do our part to help others through these challenging times.

Given the anxiety I was experiencing, I couldn’t stop thinking of my fellow single parents who were also going through this. I needed to be there for them so I made time available to support them through phone calls and video chats. It’s the least I could do. And, ultimately, I found strength through it – which was a welcome surprise!

I’m not sure what the next days, weeks or months have in store for our life and our world. We will keep our fingers crossed that we come out of this for the better. In the meantime, just need to stay positive, stay safe and doing whatever it is we can to protect our health, security and happiness. All while enjoying this extra time we get to spend with our children.