Happy New Year, West Seattle!
Oh boy, 2021 was a trying year full of the highest highs and the lowest lows for our family and many others. The hope that vaccinations and plateauing pandemic infections brought quickly gave way to fear and despair as vaccines for the under 5 group were not approved and the Delta variant gave way to the Omicron variant. Parents were the hardest hit, having to balance yet another year of covid testing, school closures, remote learning, and sick kids all while working both remotely and back in office. It's been a lot! But we've made it to 2022 and there is hope for vaccines for the 5 and under group and a possible return to some normalcy. I hope that Macaroni KID can be a small help through this upcoming year as I strive to provide your family with resources, safe events, and community connection. If there is some way we can help you in the coming year, or you have ideas for new Mac KID content, I'm always available to chat.
Our family has been incredibly fortunate and I recognize our privilege in having a stay at home parent and a remote working parent in our family. We've been lucky enough to avoid COVID so far, and our daughter is blessed to be able to attend school safely for the first time in 2 years. That said, 2021 was incredibly hard for my family. After 2 years of trying for a second kid, I received an infertility diagnosis that was unexpected and our family chose to move on with IVF to complete our family. I was grossly unprepared for what the IVF process would be like and I would be lying if I said it wasn't incredibly difficult for us all. Thanks to the brilliant minds at our fertility clinic in Downtown, we were able to squeeze an egg retrieval and an embryo transfer within the year and received the great news that our first transfer has worked so far. We have all of our fingers and toes crossed that we will be able to complete our family in 2022.
I took on Macaroni KID West Seattle as a way to connect with our community. We moved from Shoreline to West Seattle during the first covid lockdowns and have been unable to make many connections around us for that reason. We are really looking forward to meeting more of you and experiencing more of our community once our soon-to-be 5 year old can get vaccinated. I've enjoyed meeting so many of you virtually through posts, advertising with local businesses, and engaging on social media. I'd love to get to know more of you, so if you haven't already, check out the Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages for Macaroni KID West Seattle. I've got a lot of plans for 2022 and am excited to share them with you through the year.
I hope this year brings your family safety, health, and happiness. If there's any way we can support you, your business, or your community, please let me know. If you haven't subscribed yet, consider signing up for our FREE weekly newsletter which delivers the week's best events, articles, and giveaways directly to your inbox. I look forward to all of the connections 2022 will bring and want to thank this community for all of the support I've received with Macaroni KID so far.
Best Wishes,
Arianna Gervasio
