Social Distancing

There are two people at our home who have accepted social distancing without question. Their daily routine has drastically changed. Beloved contacts and friends have been reduced to just the inhabitants of our apartment. And for our four-year old son and two-year old daughter, this is not a problem. 

In the past, my son would ask, “Is there daycare today?” Last week, for the first time, the answer was a definitive no. “No, there will be no daycare, no playgroups, no sport lessons, no swimming, and no going to work. We will all stay home.” He silently nodded in agreement. This was the answer he had been waiting for. Our new reality was simply accepted for what it was: more time together as a family. 

For the first few days, I wrote the day’s agenda on a small white erase board, just like I would do for my students in school. But the kids quickly dictated their own plan, which mostly revolving around Duplos, toy cars, and jumping on the beds. There have also been attempts at family workout videos, endless debate over who Grandma gave the packet of heart stickers to, a fall off of the back of the couch resulting in quite the shiner above the two-year old’s eye and muffin baking. 

Inside jokes thrive within our reduced social scene. “Boo Boo Butt” from “The Book without Pictures” is shouted as soon as the four-year-old wakes up in the morning and throughout the day. If fact, it is shouted any time a laugh is needed, like when one of them is being scolded for playing with water at the table.

My husband and I alternate child care, so that we both can work from home. But there is no way that we can be as productive as before.

Any non-kid focused activity is interrupted, several times. 

Sweeping the floor? The four-year old will pick that very moment to start sliding across the floor in his socked-feet. Watering the plants? There will be a fight over who’s watering can it is. Even though mommy had obviously purchased the watering can before both kids were even born. Writing an email? The two-year old will be sure to perch on your lap and add a few extra letters. And attending a meeting or conducting a lesson online? Both kids will show up in the background (even though you were sure that you locked the door!) and stare into the computer screen like deer caught in the headlights until they realize why they came in. They came in to tell you something urgent, but they forgot what that urgent thing was. Oh yeah, now they remember:  the garbage truck came by. 

This is the new reality. And while I thought I was prepared for it being a former stay-at-home mom, I am not. I can’t concentrate on my online lessons when two kids are crying at the door. My husband can’t attend all of his teleworking meetings, especially if I am teaching at the same time or if it is “witching hour” right before lunch or dinner and we both need to be on duty. But why fight it? 

My children aren’t asking about their daycare friends or their former activities. They are not even asking to go out. Ok, there was one request to go to Silly Billy, and I bet you can just imagine what kind of place that is. But besides that one request, home is where they want to be. 

Our kids want to help us make dinner, even though it will take twice as long and produce three times the mess. They want to have tickle fights with us on the couch. They want to set up the enormous camping tent in the middle of the living room to be right next to their parents, who are frantically trying to type an email or clean up after the lunch explosion. They want to know more than ever before what is that we do for work and why we do it. They want to plant seeds and watch them grow with us. They want to be with us.

They want us to be together as a family. And right now, we cannot deny them that.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Al_iHVCasGw1C_D1WM_UjhVFrCEGIh_p/view?usp=sharing

Click on the link to check out the kid’s workout video clip!