This week has been a Coronavirus pity party of epic proportions at our house.
Work and School is Difficult- I found out I wouldn't be going back to work until May 1st--leaving everything to online learning and continuing to homeschool children with little schoolwork from their teachers. Most of the time they are through their schoolwork in a couple of hours each day. Which makes it really hard for me to fill in the gaps when I've got a full day of work to complete.
Now that I have no secretary at work or peer tutor to help me, or when I have to help with a science project exploding in the kitchen I've opted for free help. My husband and dog have been great to fill in in their absence.
Reality is Setting In For the Kids- They are harder to get up this week, harder to get moving, and harder to get motivated. I know for them the reality has set in. My son is missing his entire track season. He just moved to his current school and started to make friends and get involved in spring and summer sports and the struggle has been tough. He feels like he is going to have to start all over again when he gets back.
My daughter is a senior in high school and she is really missing out on a lot of the events, concerts and trips that all culminate the end of her school age years. The reality was hitting her already that this year was going to be her last in many respects but now the reality is even more evident that she really is not going to be participating in a lot of the events that bring together the end of many years of the hard work she's put in. She and her friends are also concerned that graduation and other events may get cancelled. Everyday things are up in the air for her.
This thing has become more contankerous.
She is demanding more belly rubs and walks in exchange for her secretarial services. She also thinks she should be sufficiently spoiled with us giving her more walks, runs and hikes.
The hardest thing for us though has been feeling like this isn't the BIG one.
We've spoken about this before. Our family is no stranger to quarantines and staying away from people being sick but this to us doesn't feel like one of those Mission Impossible or James Bond viruses and pandemics they are trying to stop an evil villian or company from spreading throughout the world. It feels like things are changing all the time and what is being said is changing. I admit there is a degree of error in reporting and a virus can be a beast but this has been really hard for our family. Several of our senior friends and family have really struggled because they can't grasp why an entire nation and world would shut down for a virus that yes, is bad but how bad? It's serious but to me a pandemic would be more non discriminating to race, age and class and have much higher percentages of fatalities. I can't imagine how tough of decisions world and local leaders are making right now, especially in regards to the balance needing to be shown towards the economy, COVID-19 and educated health care leaders trying to stop the pandemic from spreading further. But it is hard to sit home day after day after day and see family members out of work trying to pay the bills, close family members being put on unpaid furloughs, and even healthcare friends being called off work because of the slowed economy. Most of us have been sitting at home now for a few weeks feeling fine. Which causes the anxiety and desire to go back to work to be even higher. At this point if my ex were still alive, I'm sure he would be wondering how he would be able to pay his bills and get insulin and other necessary medical supplies while balancing the need to work and still bring home a paycheck even with a chronic autoimmune disease. The hard part is it's growing more serious and the illness is becoming less of my worry as each passing day goes by. It feels like answers are changing all the time too. In the latest New York Times Post, it now recommends two months of social distancing. But all these recommendations come without strong data from China as it begins to reopen. Sometimes the hardest thing is feeling like there aren't a lot of answers because this is unprecedented and so new. That we're being asked to put our faith in those who lead. But it's hard when they can't even agree. It's been frustrating and overwhelming.
What are your biggest concerns right now? The pandemic? The economy? Both? Sound off!
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