The Most Important Gift of 2020: Permission

A Holiday message from The Tot team…

Our lives have all changed dramatically the last nine months. 2020 has demanded a lot from us, both emotionally and physically. While you have likely spent time checking in on family members, have you taken a moment to check in with yourself? The holiday season is a wonderful time to show your loved ones how much they mean to you, and this year it’s important to include yourself in that list.

At The Tot, we have decided to give each of ourselves the gift of permission.

Permission to contemplate and cry.

Permission to ask for help, even when it’s hard.

Permission to rest, read, and reimagine.

Permission to celebrate our wins.

Permission to say no.

Permission to not ALWAYS be the family rock.

Permission to let the little things go.

As parents, we seem to hold ourselves to a higher standard than we do friends, children and even partners. While it shouldn’t take a global pandemic to teach us this important self-care lesson, we’ve learned that it’s okay to lower our expectations and accept that given the circumstances, we’re actually doing a fantastic job.

Even though the Covid-19 road has been long, hard and at many times heartbreaking, our new (not) normal has reminded us that we (and our kids!) are more resilient than we think. We can make new traditions, memories and schedules. We can leave things that aren’t working and create new paths. Together (albeit virtually), we are confident we can do pretty much anything and that, dear friends, is worth celebrating.

From the entire team of moms, dads, uncles, aunts, grandparents and godparents at The Tot, Happy Holidays!