Thank you Josh Gad, aka Olaf, for reminding us it’s okay to feel sad right now

Leave it to Olaf to make us feel all the feelings.

Josh Gad—the actor who plays Olaf in the Frozen franchise and father of two—is helping parents out during this difficult time, reading to kids virtually on Twitter nightly at about 7:30 p.m. He calls it #GadBookClub and it’s meant to be a time for parents to take a break.

He’s holding it together when talking to our kids, but his Instagram page shows him crying while talking to us adults about the state of the world, and he’s reminding us it’s okay to feel sad right now.

He told his 1 million followers, “It’s important for everybody to understand that we’re all going through so much uncertainty right now. We’re gonna get through it. And it’s hard and I’m emotional because I hate seeing our kids deprived of their normal lifestyles and not being able to understand why all of this is happening so quickly.”

We couldn’t agree more. With school closures in place all over the world and social-distancing keeping kids away from playdates and dance classes, birthday parties and school plays—it’s hard not to feel devastated on their behalf. And even though we know it’s for our collective safety, it can be tricky explaining that to any child, especially to our little ones.

Our kiddos will be feeling a variety of emotions—and so will we—so it’s important to show up for each other in any way we can right now. Josh, and many other people around the world, are consistently reminding us that we’re all in this together.

And that we will get through this. Together.

He ended his video on an uplifting note by saying, “I’m also emotional because of all of the incredible things that so many of you out there are doing on a daily basis. And I know it’s a struggle right now for so many people. And I just wanted to say I love you all and I’m thinking of you all and we’ll get through this.”

Hearing about the kind and generous acts going on around us—from various companies offering free trials of their services to seeing posts about virtual birthday parties and classroom Zoom calls, from viral stories about strangers shopping for elderly folks who can’t right now to artists and singers going live on their social channels to keep us entertained—has us feeling hopeful, too. It’s truly amazing to watch so many different people come together to contribute to the global fight against the coronavirus, in our own ways.

We’ll admit, this “new normal” feels strange right now. And sad. And uncertain. And confusing.

But watching people connect and help one another—genuinely understanding where each other is coming from—is beautiful in its own right, too.

Right now, I’ll bet we’re all feeling as though we’re on an emotional roller coaster, which is normal in times of crisis. It’s okay, mama—there’s nothing to be ashamed of. We say so, and so does our buddy Olaf. ☃️