COM Outlook Summer/Fall 2020

22 | DR. KIRAN C. PATEL COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE O n March 13, the reality of schools closing hit me and my husband like a Mack truck. The foregone uncertainty about when schools would close quickly transitioned into a litany of worries about how we were going to make homeschooling happen while working full time. While feeling calm and capable exteriorly, my insides were on a roller coaster, so I leapt into action with the coping mechanism that helps me feel safe and in control—planning. Within 48 hours of the school releasing its alternative online education plan, I created a three-page Excel note- book for each of our children with color-coded classes and shading mechanisms for charting completed coursework. We created a functional home office for my husband that doubled as a schoolroom since I would be at work in the NSU clinics. A whiteboard allowed us to update on a daily basis up to 11 different Zoom session IDs my husband would need to refer to when plopping the kids into class in between his own work. Somewhere in week three or four, while doing our best to keep afloat, my husband noticed a hardworking cardinal flying back and forth to a blossoming bougainvillea bush at our front door. Slowly, this busy little bird created a delicate nest of twigs. We watched it every day. Then there was an egg, then two, and finally three. Around the same time, the NSU clinics shifted to telehealth, so I started working from home more often. I soon found myself spending more time looking out the window, watching this story of new life unfold. This brought me peace and reminded me of a perspective that awed me during my own pregnancies—that, for the most part, life grows and carries on regardless of the chaos going on outside the nest. At some point, the busy little bird needed to stop preparing and just sit and provide warmth to the eggs. While I am still trying to accept this perspective in my clinical and academic work, I have been more success- ful in applying this mentality to our home-schooling efforts. I have attained a better litmus test for what assign- ments will be helpful for the kids and those that won’t contribute to their growth. I find myself leaving a Zoom ID or two off the board when I know our kids have reached their maximum. Like the momma bird, I have found a better balance between hustling back and forth to find hearty worms for my three little birds to eat and just sitting, cuddling, and providing them warmth and protection to nourish their souls. I share this snapshot of our lives because I imagine so many of us are struggling to find this balance between seeking peace in the chaos and accepting that which we cannot control. For me, I found a sense of control in planning and preparation, but had to learn to let go when this no longer provided respite. I am thankful to the universe for sending that busy little bird to help bring me back to my center. Gina Foster-Moumoutjis is an assistant professor of family medicine. BY GINA FOSTER-MOUMOUTJIS, M.D., M.S. Wind Beneath Our Wings HOME SCHOOLER Gina Foster-Moumoutjis I have attained a better litmus test for what assignments will be helpful for the kids and those that won’t contribute to their growth.