Helping Kids Through Disappointment During COVID-19

My son was crushed this morning. It's been really hard to see this stupid virus shatter so many dreams. Weddings have been canceled, kids aren't having birthday parties, and I had to have a difficult chat with my son this morning.

First and foremost, I understand that it is important for kids to learn about disappointment. Disappointment is part of life. That doesn't mean it is any easier to watch your children go through pain.

My son Boston has been trying to make it to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. since he was in the 5th grade. He's made it to the regional bee, but had yet to score that coveted trip to Washington.

This year he won his school spelling bee after 25 rounds of tough competition and he was so excited to compete at regionals. He studied every single day, hours upon hours of spelling, and then COVID-19 hit.

Originally, the spelling bee was postponed, and we were holding out hope it would be pushed back to summer or fall, but this morning we found out it has been officially canceled. This is the first time this has happened since WWII and only the second time the spelling bee has been canceled since it's origination in 1925.

It was so hard to watch my son digest this news. He only has one more year of eligibility and he so badly wants to make it on that national stage.

We talked about all the other kids who are disappointed too and the different ways people around the world have been disappointed by events being canceled by the virus.

I hope I said the right things, but my heart broke for him inside. Just for bragging rights, we're going to hold our own little MIX 106 spelling bee with him tomorrow at 7:25 a.m.

What have your kids been disappointed about in all that is going on in the world and how did you deal with that difficult conversation?