Surfing, parenting and staying afloat through this never-ending pandemic

“It feels like I started the pandemic with one set of kids and am managing it now with another.” ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  [View in Browser]( | [Donate [WBUR]]( [WBUR](  [WBUR]( September 26, 2021 Dear Cog reader, We’ve now been living through a pandemic for a year and a half, which — as any parent of young children would tell you — is approximately a lifetime. The toddlers of 2020 are newly minted kindergarteners, elementary school kids are pubescent middle schoolers. What a thing. Sara Shukla has three young kids. She likes to say she started the pandemic with one set of children and is now managing it with another. Her essay, an ode to surfing, parenting and staying afloat, is poignant and lovely and full of uncomplicated wisdom. It’s the [perfect jelly doughnut of a piece]( full of show-stopping prose, but the simplicity of this one sentence stopped me (Cloe): “She intuits now to paddle a beat or two longer than seems necessary, until she feels the wave take over and carry her.” There’s something alluring these days about being skilled enough, and brave enough, to ride something beyond our control. Please [listen to this essay]( too -- it includes excerpts from the piece, groovy surf tunes and original sound from Sara’s beach adventures. It was so much fun to make. Kids were an unintentional theme on Cog this week: Amy McHugh shares a [harrowing story]( about enrolling her 4-year-old daughter in a cancer treatment trial, and the connection to families enrolling their kids in COVID-19 vaccine trials today. And Rich Barlow on how much we could [learn from our children]( about ending this pandemic. Thank you for reading. -- Cloe Axelson and Frannie Carr Toth Cognsocenti editors newsletters@wbur.org Must Reads url[When I'm Out In The Water With My Daughter]( I could fill an ocean with all I still can’t control, but after keeping my daughter so close, it’s wonderful to see her paddle away from me, writes Sara Shukla. [Read more](.   #%23%23[Twitter](  #%23%23[Facebook](    [The COVID Vaccine For Kids Is Almost Here. Let's Not Forget The Children Who Made This Possible]( About 10 years ago, Amy McHugh enrolled her 4-year-old daughter in a trial to treat her stage IV neuroblastoma. The risk her daughter took in the trial helped many others -- similar to kids enrolled in COVID vaccine trials now. [Read more](. [Why BU Should Rename Myles Standish Hall]( Myles Standish committed terrible acts of violence against the Massachusett Tribe, writes Travis Franks. BU should rename the building after one of Standish's victims. [Read more](.  Support the news [What's Missing In Our Fight Against Climate Change]( Too few corporations have been taking the important next step toward achieving their environmental goals: pressing for government action that will prevent climate catastrophe, writes Mindy Lubber. [Read more](. [If Only More Adults Treated Mask-Wearing Like Kids Do]( Our children are doing their part to end the pandemic, writes Rich Barlow. Are you? [Read more](. What We're Reading "To all of you — to women and girls of Texas, afraid of being traumatized and hounded by predatory bounty hunters; to all women outraged by having our bodies’ rights taken by the state; and to all of you who are made vulnerable and subjected to shame because you have a uterus — I say: I see you. Have courage. You are beautiful. You remind me of my daughters." "[The Texas abortion law is a human rights crisis for American women,]( The Washington Post "Even after this latest surge crests and subsides, the new pandemic reality will linger, through fall and winter and into the spring, as vaccination rates rise and the virus continues to change." "[Six Rules That Will Define Our Second Pandemic Winter]( The Atlantic "I never thought that Mr. Cuomo’s behavior was sexual in nature. Whether he understood it at the time or not, his form of sexual harassment was a hostile act meant to diminish and belittle his female former boss in front of the staff." "[Chris Cuomo Sexually Harassed Me. I Hope He’ll Use His Power to Make Change]( The New York Times “ Your newsletter is like having a conversation with a well-informed friend, who cares about the same topics that I do, but who often offers a different perspective or access to another source I didn’t know... Keep those conversations going by [donating today](. ICYMI [After So Much Uncertainty And Loss, We Need The Grace Of Connection]( Writer Adam Stumacher describes how a chance encounter with a former student gave him hope. [Read more](.      If you’d like to write for Cognoscenti, send your submission, pasted into your email and not as an attachment, to opinion@wbur.org. Please tell us in one line what the piece is about, and please tell us in one line who you are. 😎 Forward to a friend. They can sign up [here](. 📣 Give us your feedback: newsletters@wbur.org 📨 Get more WBUR stories sent to your inbox. [Check out all of our newsletter offerings.]( Support the news [WBUR]( [WBUR]  [WBUR]( [95289b97-66e8-43d4-a174-3bc3520a79a9.png]( [Instagram](  [Twitter]( [Facebook]( Want to change how you receive these emails? [Stop getting this newsletter by updating your preferences.]( I don't want to hear from WBUR anymore. [Unsubscribe from all newsletters.]( Interested in learning more about corporate sponsorship? 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