Believe it or not, I wrote Kissing Elbows long before the pandemic. It’s hard to believe that such a sweet concept would turn into a public health necessity years later.
When my twins were just a few months old (circa 2012), they spent a lot of time in their car seats… even when not in the car. We used the car seats like little movable beds all over the house. I could keep an eye on one strapped in, while changing the diaper on the other. I could burp one while watching the other one drink their milk. And sometimes, to give mama’s arms a little break, they would both be in their car seats while I would read to them or just watch them adoringly… most of the time anyway. It was definitely a different stage in life.
When my babies were this little, I was inspired everyday. I think all moms are in different ways. But I would have poetic moments of peace and tenderness that I just had to get out into words. The twins were both drinking their bottles in their car seats one day and were close enough to each other to “kiss elbows”. I thought it was such a sweet moment and I thought of how that was another fun way to show each other love. Granted, they might have even just bumped elbows and I thought it was the sweetest thing. But the concept in my mind was born! I wrote down the sweet verses as an ode to good night and new way of showing love before bed.
Fast forward 8 years to the global Covid Pandemic and all the sudden bumping elbows was a thing! I immediately thought back to my Kissing Elbows poem and thought we should call it kissing rather than bumping!
I hope you have found new ways to hug your neighbors and shake hands with a stranger… instead, maybe you too have kissed elbows with someone! I hope under these crazy circumstances, with the delta variant ramping up again, we can all still be kind to one another and show a gesture of loving hello… when we are Kissing Elbows!
I’d love to hear from you! Have you been Kissing Elbows during the pandemic? Comment below with what other ways you can say hello during a global health pandemic.