Yahoo Lifestyle 
5 Bright Spots From Our Crappy Year Of Pandemic Parenting
Anyone who parented through 2020 knows how difficult it has been. Parents are anxious and exhausted. Many are coping with the trauma of losing friends and loved ones, jobs, and safe spaces where their children can be educated. There is no sugar coating how devastating the past year has been for millions of American families.
But along the way, moms and dads have found small joys to cherish and celebrate — and those bright spots are important to remember if for no other reason than to help us bounce back from our current crisis.
HuffPost Parents first asked our amazing community about silver linings in April when we noted that we had all been through a few difficult weeks of isolation. (Oh, how little we knew back then!) As this year comes to a close, we asked our readers again. Here are some of the bright spots from 2020.
For parents of a 9-year-old with leukemia, the pandemic has been a blessing in disguise.
Cynthia’s son was diagnosed with cancer at the end of 2019, which was challenging for her family in so many ways. She and her husband had to work from home and take sick leave in order to give their son 24-hour care. They worried they’d lose their jobs. Her son left school and started home-schooling, but he had a hard time and really missed his classmates and teacher.
“Then the pandemic hit and we were forced to work from home (win!), all schooling went online (Another win! My son was able to join his class and teacher again virtually!), and we were all able to spend more time together and help our son through his cancer battle,” Cynthia wrote.
The pandemic also normalized mask-wearing, which her son had been told to do because of his cancer.
“He was so self-conscious about it,” Cynthia said. “Once the pandemic came around, and everyone was wearing masks, he felt normal again (yet another win!). All in all, this crazy pandemic has been a blessing in disguise for our family.”
Kids have learned practical, lifelong skills ...
“My...
