This was a rough week. It would have been a rough week even without a global pandemic trapping us our houses and throwing all of our lives into turmoil.
The weather was dreary and work was a slog of learning new things that are unlikely to see the light of day or even be noticed.
Waltham's school system has started providing more structured learning. Bug meets with her class twice a week. Her teachers are providing some writing prompts and other activities. Next week they will be ramping that up by starting to do some actual instruction and providing work packets. This is a small blessing. Bug puts up less of a struggle when the work comes from her teachers. It also means less time we have to spend coming up with activities for her do. She actually admitted today that she misses school.
Her dance school is doing weekly lessons which also helps. It gives her at least one hour of structured exercise a week. One of the Mom's from her gymnastics team is also setting up some get togethers for the girls. Friday night they spent nearly two hours doing gymnastics and stuff over Zoom. Yesterday she spent like an hour doing gymnastics over some other video chat thing with another friend.
There are still constant struggles about the technology. She chafes at the fact that we don't let her access technology during what would normally be school time. She gets pissed when we limit her time on Tic Tok and Roblox. She doesn't like it when we try to coach her on social etiquette on phone calls.
Most of it is normal kid stuff. It is just that much more intense since her world is so small now. We normally wouldn't listen in on her conversations with friends, but now instead of happening at school they happen in the kitchen. We have an open floor plan....
The craziest part of it all is that I often have to be the peacemaker. Yes I am the most mentally unstable person in the house, the one with an actual, diagnosed anxiety disorder that requires medication; I'm the loner of the family who actually requires alone time to function well; I'm by far one of the most misanthropic, inpatient, and emotionally stunted people I know; I'm the guy at work that people don't talk to for fear of setting me off. Yet in my house, I am the one who cools situations down. The one who lets the child vent until her overheated emotional system cools back down to normal nine year old levels of rationality while trying to remind her that we are not evil and that she is not the worst child ever born and reminds the wife that she is doing a good job and letting her vent until she returns to a much more mature state of rationality while attempting to remind her that part of the reason the child picks on her so much is that she knows how much her mother loves her.
Let us not forget that I am also the one who is the most germ phobic and prone to health based hysteria..... After my experience trying to go for a walk last week, I was less than enthusiastic about attempting walks this week. Fortunately the rain, general gloom, and seemingly incessant demands between my job, H's job, and child, kept me inside for the most part. The creaky old bike is holding up pretty well. It only has two functioning gears, but we work with what we've got. I also discovered that pacing up and down the basement stairs for 30 minutes at a brisk pace is quite a workout.
I did actually go outside for walks twice this weekend. We stuck to the streets and steered very wide of all people. I will be wearing a face mask from now on and have been very consistent about changing my clothes when I come back into the house, putting the contaminated clothes in the laundry, and immediately showering. H thinks it is a little crazy, and I am not going to attempt to say it is, but we do what we need to stay sane. It also forces me to shower. Before yesterday, I am not certain when the last time I showered. It is also not really creating more laundry since I also am not sure how often I change my clothes anymore.
I found that doing calendar in the morning with Bug is a challenge. When everyday is an inside day, it becomes hard to remember what day it is....
We only had to venture out once last week to pick up some prescriptions. I made H disinfect all of the bottles and did, briefly, consider if taking the pills was worth the risk. None of them are for life threatening conditions - well maybe the anxiety is a life threatening condition I'm just not sure whose life would be threatened.
Deliveries and take out food are stressful as well. H does a heroic job of disinfecting things before they come into the house. Non-food packages sit for at least a day before being opened. Food packages are unloaded in dedicated spots, all items are thoroughly washed, and then placed in holding. Takeout food must be hot food and transferred from the delivery packages into clean plates with exacting care and then microwaved for at least 45 seconds before being consumed.
I have to give credit to my poor wife who takes the brunt of the child's wrath, is doing most of the shopping and cooking, and tries to meet my decontamination standards all while trying to figure out how to do her job remotely and using entirely unfamiliar digital tools. She is a direct service provider for special education students - not exactly a job that lends itself to "remote" delivery. Like every teacher in the state/country/world she is trying to relearn how to do her job on the fly under ever changing guidelines with no clear game in site. People all hope that schools will reopen before summer, but nobody knows if that is even realistic. At this point nobody knows if any summer camps will open, or if school can start in the fall.
She also has to deal with an elderly parent in a nursing home whom she cannot visit and whom she cannot call on the phone. She too is a people person and while doing Zoom hangouts with friends and Zoom meetings and texting and Facebook help, it is not the same as seeing people in the flesh.
I know that we will get through this and science will find treatments that make this disease less deadly and eventually even find a vaccine. I know we will all eventually adjust to a new normal. I know we will all get back to kayaking, hiking, camping, and mountain biking. We will see our friends and families again without needing a screen.
It will take time to get through the the darkness. Some good leadership would help. We are fortunate to live in a state with a Governor who understands this and can provide it. We are fortunate to live in a city with a Mayor that understands thins and can provide it. I have given up hope that the "leaders" we have elected to the Federal government either understand or are capable of providing leadership and feel for those who are not fortunate enough to have local leaders to guide them.
I thank all of the people: doctors, nurses, EMTs, fire people, police officers, public health officials, food service workers, scientists, public servant who toil away in obscurity to make sure things continue to run despite the darkness and chaos from the top.
Hopefully, when the sun comes out again and the dust clears we will learn from this and demand more from those whom we empower to lead our country.
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