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How Have You and Your Family Pivoted During the Pandemic?

By Jodi Lorence, Macaroni Kid Publisher November 29, 2020

The word PIVOT has become my word of the year. In all ways of my life I have had to pivot to accommodate the pandemic. Here is the definition of pivoting in the business sense via Google Search:

"While pivoting in the startup world means to shift to a new strategy, it is often believed to entail drastically changing the whole company. ... Focusing on a different set of customers by positioning a company into a new market or vertical."

So many businesses and of course all of us have found many creative ways to adapt and PIVOT during these uncertain times with Covid not because we wanted to but it was necessary to do so. Many businesses sent employees home to work, in person meetings became virtual zoom meetings, and traveling was curtailed. Working from home became the option that helped to keep businesses functioning while keeping their employees safe. 

In our personal daily family life PIVOTING happened almost daily and is still occurring. The definition from the Merriam Webster Dictionary:

"A person, thing, or factor having a major or central role, function, or effect."

As parents we too had to pivot constantly We had kids join the workplace that for many of us was in our homes,  some parents are essential workers and needed to find accommodations for their children while they went to work, some kids are distant learning, some chose to homeschool and some kids are learning with the hybrid model in place. I can imagine the panicked feelings parents had trying to sort out the new working directive along with the worry of covid and the ongoing worry of the security of our jobs while trying to figure out how we were going to support our families through this pandemic. Pivoting is what has helped us get through the past 8 months. 

Let’s face it, we are resilient and find ways to make it.  We do it because we have to. Not only for ourselves, but for our children and families.  My dad couldn’t have repeated and instilled truer words to us while we were growing up, “When there is a will, there’s a way!” He models that phrase every. Single. Day. Of. His. Life. And still does. We can and we will make it through these tough times. 

Pivoting or not, we are still here and have found ways to thrive. We need to continue to show up, adapt, pivot and make the best out of the situation we are all in. Wishing you all health, happiness, patience, and love. Together we will get through this.