Last night, November 5, 2020, was Bonfire Night. My American understanding of this day is that it is a celebration of the democracy that Parliament represents for England. The fact that someone tried to blow it all away and was stopped is really important. My kids just wanted to light sparklers. Fireworks went off in the sky over our neighborhood. The children were very excited at first to see the explosion of colors. Unfortunately, our little one got very frightened by the loud booming noises. I comforted him and we distracted the kids with our little sparkler attempt in the back garden. Our younger one was not at all interested now. Our older daughter tried a sparkler after I showed her how to hold it. The appeal didn’t last long and off to bed they went though unable to sleep for a bit. I can relate. The spark for many of us has fizzled out quickly this year. Hiding under the bed covers sounds like a good idea to me!!
It was also the first day of our second lock down. This time feels a little more manageable as the children will still go to school. We’ve only had two months back at Church and Sunday club. We will miss meeting in person and replace it again with Zoom meetings. Our extra activities such as swimming for both kids and ballet for our older one will stop/move online. Socially distanced play dates, meet ups, and coffee dates must halt. It’s as if someone is trying to ruin our fun. But it is important to fight this virus. Protecting each other is the most important thing right now.
This pandemic has been an eye opener for me. An unwanted mirror. Am I capable of putting others first? Am I really this selfish? Our younger son who is three said at dinner earlier this week, “I love you, Mummy, so much! But I don’t love the virus.” I had to really keep it together as I looked into his big green eyes. I reassured him that I loved him and that we will look after each other. That is what we need to do as a community. With these darker, longer Autumn and Winter nights, let’s light a sparkler for each other!
Counting Sheep... 