The last few months have felt like treading water.
Between the kids’ school schedules, homeschooling Safa, and being sick myself, I’ve mostly been focused on keeping everyone fed, warm, and somewhat on track. Some seasons are productive and inspired. Others are about endurance. This has been an endurance season.
Michigan has been generous with snow lately. The kind that piles up quietly overnight and keeps us tucked inside more than usual. When Maria and Marwa aren’t at school, we’re home—boots by the door, wet gloves draped everywhere, and that familiar winter stillness outside.
School mornings still come fast. Backpacks, layers, reminders, the rhythm of getting everyone out the door. Then it’s just me and Safa at home, working through her little lessons in between laundry, dishes, and trying to recover. Homeschooling a three-year-old is beautiful and chaotic in equal measure. Some days are full of curiosity and giggles. Other days are mostly about patience—hers and mine.
Being sick on top of it all has made everything feel heavier. When you’re a mom, especially one who can’t just visually scan a room to see what needs to be done, everything requires intention. I can’t glance around and quickly spot the mess, the missing shoe, the overflowing basket. I have to move through it, piece by piece. When your energy is low, that extra effort feels magnified.
But we’re still here.
The girls are learning. Safa is discovering letters and sounds in her own playful way. There are warm meals. There are stories under blankets. Astro still gets excited about the snow, even if I’m counting the minutes until we’re back inside.
Sometimes keeping your head above water is the accomplishment.
If you’re in a similar season—tired, snowed in, juggling school drop-offs and little ones at home—consider this your reminder: surviving counts. Rest counts. Slow days count.
Spring will come.
And when it does, we’ll step outside again, blinking in the sunlight, stronger than we realized we were.
The Dappled Odysseys 