Motherly Advice on Surviving Co-Vid from Cora Good

In recent months, societies around the globe have been forced to host an unwelcome guest: the lingering panic that is the coronavirus pandemic. Traversing a strange new world filled with foreign, now everyday phrases the likes of “social distancing” and “co-vid” can be tiresome to say the least. In this peculiar situation, the most trivial of tasks have become daunting. We don masks in the grocery store, skip regular visits with our grandparents, and adjust to a life where school, work, and play now coexist in our living spaces. So how do we tackle surviving co-vid on an emotional level? How do maintain our mental health while placing our physical wellbeing in the forefront of our minds?

For local surfer Cora Good, placing the importance of her mental health on the same level as her physical has made all the difference. But Good is no stranger to tackling global issues with an air of positivity and grace. As the owner of her St. Augustine based eco shop, The Big Green Initiative, she provides plastic-free options for everyday use in the kitchen, the bathroom, and for when you’re on the go. Good is accustomed to looking at the big picture, implementing small practices to encite big changes. This intense connection with the natural world has also helped her in surviving co-vid while caring for her two young sons alongside her husband, Will. Good has taken to the outdoors to outsmart the chaos of the pandemic, taking Liam, age three, and Noah, age one and a half, into nature to reconnect with the serenity this space provides. This week, we catch up with Good to learn more about how her environmentally focused lifestyle has offered refuge from the clutches of co-vid.

Surf Station: What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced taking care of your little ones during the Co-Vid madness?

Cora: It was an adjustment not being able to “go anywhere”, we were just getting pumped about camping every weekend. That was a bummer to have to cancel a bunch of nights in the woods. We rely on our family a lot to give my husband (Will) and I breaks, we are best buds and it gets tough not getting to spend enough duo time together. But you know what, I have become very grateful for our original challenges…we now have such a fun and simple routine. We spend the entire day outside, checking out what new caterpillars have hatched, picking fruit from our yard, watching our veggie plants grow up from seeds and enjoying the slow pace of just wandering around our neighborhood. Will and I are finding new moments to be alone, even if it’s just five minutes in the hammock or an extra long hug…we have really all become so much closer after a couple weeks of hard struggle. The boys and I take walks every morning down to the river and it takes up the entire morning. I cherish these days and am grateful for the ways the challenges have changed us.

Surf Station: What are some of the activities and other things you’ve been doing to pass the time with beach limitations and so much time spent at home?

Cora: We don’t own a TV so we keep our hands dirty in the soil, planting seeds in every corner. We have built three new raised beds and got chickens that we are all in love with. We have kind of started a little urban farm on our very normal sized lot. We take bike rides to the docks in our neighborhood and chase crabs. We take our little boat out on the weekends and go run around on the islands. The boys make giant messes and it makes me smile to watch them become best friends. We play in the street with our neighbors. It feels like the old days growing up just entertained by your own neighborhood: nowhere to be, no schedule to keep.

Surf Station: What advice would you have for other moms that are feeling the pressure from having their children at home 24/7?

Cora: Give your kids space and to be creative and don’t feel bad if some days they sit in front of the TV all morning. Give yourself space to take breaks, go for a walk or bike ride by yourself. Focus on your mental health. Order dinner delivery to give yourself a break from cooking. Use InstaCart to get your groceries delivered this week. Try to eliminate as many sources of stress as possible. Turn the news OFF. Pamper yourself tonight. Go outside with your kids, get down on their level and see the world the way they see it…it’s extraordinary. Stay outside, let them get dirty! Reflect on how you have changed in the past month, the growth I have seen in myself is pretty monumental. Explore your neighborhood with your kids. Go through the carwash (but make it super exciting)…it’s honestly become one of the boys favorite excuses to go for a ride. Do a mailbox swap with a friend. Bake some cookies, swap some plants or paint something and leave it in your mailbox. Then they leave something in yours when they pick it up.

Surf Station: Have you talked to your kid(s) about what’s going on in the world? How do you handle questions that they have, if any?

Cora: They haven’t skipped a beat & luckily are too young to really notice anything, they have no idea.

Surf Station: With Mother’s Day coming up, how would you describe the perfect Co-Vid holiday? How can we help out our overworked moms right now?

The perfect Mother’s Day would be: breakfast in bed (after I’ve slept in), the only gift I would want is some new fruit trees. Mama gets a couple hours to herself so she heads to the beach…it’s perfectly glassy chest high peelers, she come home to a sparkling clean house and it smells like dinner is cooking. Wait what’s that? It’s an ice cold Old Coast crowler waiting in the fridge…Also I think that mother’s day should last an entire week this week. So that but on repeat for seven days. If a mom is comfortable with it, offer to watch their kids for a hour or two so they can get some “me time”, or offer to cook dinner one night. Little gestures mean a lot to an overworked mama.