Pandemic Parenting ✕ Lunar New Year

The pandemic has made it hard to celebrate LNY the way we used to, but it's been SO amazing seeing the online multilingual parenting community (and for me, seeing the Cantonese community in particular) come together and get creative.

Even just within our teeny tiny Little Kozzi Reading Club, there's been SO much activity and energy. So much virtual laughter, and online bonds being formed.

The sheer amount of photos and videos posted of happy kids in DIY lion heads have been *fascinating* for me to see. Which is why this illustration really struck me, cause I felt like it perfectly encapsulated this lunar new year season.

This is not some ornate elaborate lion head illustration. Rather, it's simple drawing of a child dancing inside a DIY cardboard box lion head with a blanket trailing behind them. And they are having a total blast.

It's so heartwarming seeing parents feed off each other... inspire each other (🙋🏻‍♀️ I for one, wouldn't have made 湯丸 yesterday if I hadn't seen someone else post theirs and say how easy it was)... and also commiserate together about all this *gestures broadly*

When we posted about a verrrry last minute virtual 拜年 idea in the club, people jumped on it so quickly (!!), and we got the cutest video montage of so many kids saying new year greetings to each other 🥺

I dunno about other kids, but my son probably watched that video 20x. He loved seeing his peers celebrate LNY. Plus, he got lots of greetings practice when we did the real 拜年with grandparents 😂

I'm not sure if I had a point in writing all of this... I don't really plan posts, but I just 有感而發 when I saw this brilliantly simple illustration by @kyototeng (who was kind enough to give me permission to repost this on our grid)🥰

🖼 credit: @kyototeng (go check out her other illustrations!)