April is stretched out before us. What should be a month of concerts, induction ceremonies, baseball games and year-end field trips is instead a month of tense waiting and the unknown. At first two weeks seemed like a vacation. When they tacked on the next two weeks, it started to get a little scarier, but now with a whole entire month (and maybe longer) on the horizon, it is downright daunting.

It’s safe to say that most of our household rules have been abandoned, particularly those related to screen time. From school to merit badge work to online workouts to FaceTiming with the other humans, the screen is our window to the outside world. YouTube and other apps have certainly not disappointed with the variety of offerings to keep little minds engaged when they end up being bored with parental shenanigans. My absolute favorite, however, (and E’s, too) is doodling with Mo Willems.

For those of you not familiar with Mo, he is the author of the children’s book series Elephant and Piggie. (He also wrote Knuffle Bunny and Pigeon books, which are entertaining, but not our favorites.) Elephant and Piggie have been E’s favorite forever. All his characters are simple cartoons, and they have simple adventures, but each one has a lesson.

What I love about his characters is that they are not afraid to exhibit their selfish side, or act a little childish, and they’re also prone to misinterpreting each other’s actions. In the end, whatever the confusion was is always resolved by being open and honest with each other, even when it’s sometimes uncomfortable or awkward to hear. I frequently feel like his characters speak to children who are sometimes not understanding the adult world they are trying to navigate.

After he talks kids through some silly doodle for the day, Mo always takes some time to answer his viewers’ questions. Some of them are silly, some of them are serious, but he is always genuine and honest when he answers. One day last week, one of the questions was why Mo decided to share these doodles. He explained how doodling helps him feel better when he’s worried or scared about something, and when he thought about it, he realized that if he was feeling worried and scared about the world right now, then other people surely were, too. So, he thought that if doodling made him feel better, that sharing it might make other people feel better, too.

It was one of those days that tears felt like they were behind my eyelids all day, and that was the comment that broke the dam. (Aren’t we all having more of those days lately?) Everything has been so crazy, from having to worry about a global pandemic, to having to adjust everyone’s schedules and balance school and work and try to keep things as normal as possible, to having to worry about whether we will go back to work or if we will go back to school, to deal with the sorrow of missed opportunities, without spending all our time wallowing, to just hoping that we can all emerge from this healthy and sane. Just hearing such empathetic words, and a sincere offer of help was a ray of sunshine on what was feeling like a dark day.

I know Willems isn’t alone in providing online entertainment, free of charge. It’s not just entertainers providing their services. The other day, I was pleasantly surprised to see a message that Verizon was adding 15 GB of data to my hot spot, which was great since we’re all sharing my hot spot for work and school and entertainment. I was even more surprised that they did this voluntarily, so not only was I thankful for the data, I was also extremely thankful that I didn’t have to spend time on the phone trying to navigate through customer service to achieve the same ends.

I don’t have to look to Hollywood or online to find generous acts of kindness happening every day. Many of my talented, crafty friends are busy making masks for our other health care professional friends. Local restaurants, which are themselves feeling the pinch of the shutdown, are still finding the ability to provide free meals to others who are in essential jobs. I was so happy to see pizzas provided for one of our local grocery stores. I have had to duck in and out of there a few times in the last weeks and it has been crazy and tense every time, and I have been so impressed with how the staff manages to be cheerful and helpful through it all.

Sometimes, it doesn’t even have to be a huge act to make a difference. Because of A’s heart condition, I have been getting more and more stringent about following every guideline and then some, but I had to make a large grocery run. Determined to shop intelligently, without hoarding, I had several lists going, and was mentally adding more items while I drove to the store. I arrived to discover I had forgotten my wallet.

Gone were my plans to avoid the crowds. Berating myself for exposing myself to more people, mad that I’d probably missed the early morning stocked shelves, and distracted, as I realized I was going to miss a meeting because of my carelessness, I was not in the best frame of mind as I finally hit the checkout line. Trying to unpack my cart efficiently, while maintaining distance was yet another feat that required concentration.

As she finished ringing up my large order, the cashier looked at me and said, “You know, it is going to be all right in the end.” Again, her kindness stopped me in my tracks. She then said, “I can tell you have a lot on your mind, but it’s really going to be OK.”

While I was out running necessary errands, I had the occasion to see a few other acquaintances, and although we all kept our distance, just seeing each other, smiling and exchanging a few pleasantries made a world of difference. It can be so humbling to realize how something we can’t even see has stopped the world in its tracks, but at the same time, seeing how kind and caring we can be, and how we can make the best of a bad situation can be all that’s needed to get us through what are sure to be some very long days ahead.

Liz Pinkey is a contributing writer to the Times News. Her column appears weekly in our Saturday feature section.