Piggy & Bunny and the Stay-At-Home Plan

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  Piggy & Bunny and the Stay-At-Home Plan – cover page

Inspiration

I'm a third year pediatric resident at the University of Minnesota, and had just worked a long shift in the pediatric emergency department. Back at home quarantining alone, I was thinking about all the kids who have been affected by the pandemic, including my sweet nieces, Amelia and Sophie, ages 3 1/2 and 7 months. They're separated from their dad right now so my sister can help care for my mom, who is going through chemotherapy treatments. I wanted to do something to comfort them, so I decided to send stuffed animals—a pig and a bunny—to each. Then I thought I’d write a poem to go along with it. Pretty soon I was digging some old yellow paper and watercolors out of my desk to make some drawings for the poem, and Piggy and Bunny were born!

Challenges I ran into

It definitely turned into a bigger project than I was expecting when I started! I laughed about the materials I was working with... the watercolors must be at least 30 years old, and the ink bled when I started painting. Still, it was satisfying to work on something creative outside my work at the hospital, and to feel like I was making something special to comfort my nieces.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

When I read the story to my nieces over Zoom, my niece Amelia cheered at the end, and said "Yay! Let's do another!" We all laughed. I was so glad she liked it, and have since shared the PDF with my social circles online. It's been so wonderful to hear about friends and family sharing the story with their children, patients, virtual classrooms, homeless shelters, and others dealing with this crisis.

What's next for Piggy & Bunny and the Stay-At-Home Plan

I'd love to share Piggy & Bunny more widely, and hope that everyone can find some comfort in its main messages: It's okay to be sad. Reach out to those you love. Find joy. We're going to get through this, together.