5 Lessons I Learned as a New Mother in a Pandemic

Sandy Young hugs her young daughter

By Sandy Young

My 10-year-old daughter is learning to express her emotions after we adopted her from Taiwan a year ago.

“ANGRY!” “SAD!” “Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” (That’s her happy squeal.)

Although she has mastered an extensive amount of the English language, her current emotional expressions are often shared in one-word exclamations.

These can also explain the roller coaster of finalizing an international adoption, traveling to a foreign country to pick up said child (15-day quarantine included) and navigating new parenthood — all while working in one of the jobs consistently ranked as most stressful — I’m vice president at a public relations and marketing firm — during a worldwide pandemic.

To read the full article, go to The San Diego Union-Tribune’s website.