The rainbow signs started in Italy, while the whole country was under lockdown due to the Coronavirus. The kids paint them, write the words “Andra Tutto Bene” (translated to “everything will be okay”) to signify that one day there will be a rainbow after the storm, and then hang them in their windows so that their neighbors can see them. This message of positivity soon spread to Denmark, where the kids accompany their rainbows with the words “Det Bliver Godt Igen,” which means “It will be good again” in Danish. I wrote about the rainbows on  @mommyshortssquad and asked people to spread the positivity in whatever language they speak. But I didn’t fully realize how much I needed to hear that message myself until I had Harlow paint her own rainbow and she pressed it up against the glass.

Since I was told by my doctor that I most likely contracted COVID-19, I have been in very close touch with two people— my dad and our sitter Ruth. These are the two people that I saw besides Mike and the girls since I believe I got the virus on March 11th. I saw Ruth briefly on March 12th and my dad on March 17th. I’ve been talking to both of them every single day to see if they are feeling okay. For those of you still leaving your house for anything but the essentials, please understand how incredibly guilty I felt when I thought I might have passed on the virus to someone else unknowingly. Self isolating is about way more than protecting ourselves.

Thankfully, that 14 day window has closed and both of them are fine.

To drive that point home, Ruth sent me a photo of her daughter Arami. Her rainbow says “everything will be okay” in Guarani (the native language of Paraguay), Spanish and English. 

Here are a few more rainbows sent to me from all over the world…

Please create your own rainbows and put them in your window for everyone to see. It’s a small thing, but the world needs more messages of hope right now. Especially from our kids.

If you post it on Instagram, hashtag #everythingwillbeokay. Use #mommyshortssquad if you want to give me permission to share!