But, actually. We are legitimately back to how life was before Covid hit and this sh*t is still running rampant. What the hell, parents. Like… what?
Alright. So, let’s break this down a minute here. I am the most selfish mother in the world and I literally skip out of the school play yard because I’m just maybe a touch TOO excited that I don’t need to:
- Homeschool;
- Figure out how to work WHILE they e-learn;
- Deal with their meltdowns when I take said electronics away aaaaand;
- DIVVY UP 500 MILLION SNACKS PER DAY.
I am feeling the freedom and I couldn’t be any happier. Sort of.
Except the reality is, we are literally living and breathing in one of the largest social experiments of our lifetime. I’ve kinda sat back the last couple weeks and have been honestly blown away with the amount of anger I’ve seen and the genuine lack of empathy and understanding as we all try and navigate through these dark, murky waters. Like, come on people… none of us know what we’re doing during our first pandemic. There are no right answers and we’re in the trial and error phase of humanity. Teachers are doing their best, parents are doing their best, business owners are doing their best, and the list goes on. We’re living in a world where one sneeze can literally change our day-to-day functions and you can’t deduct that it is, indeed, a cold, until you rule out Covid. Talk about pressure on us as parents, especially those working parents… let alone solo and single, working parents.
So, let’s touch base on the common cold for a minute, ok? We have to screen our kids (and ourselves) before heading into work or school and hell to the yah for being proactive on this but you can no longer sneeze OR cough anymore without basically being told you have the plague. No sis, it’s just allergies. But, let’s jump through rings of fire to produce a negative Covid result for a re-entry back into civilization. PS. I’m all good with staying diligent and doing our part but let me have my moment because we all know at SOME point, I am going to be required to have my entire brood tested and the thought of having my 5-year-olds tested gives me general anxiety. Don’t even get me started on the Covid testing protocols right now. Nightmare.
I work a number of jobs that have me interacting with the general public in every age and I’d be a liar if I said my anxiety wasn’t slowly starting to creep back in. It truly does blow my mind that we went from zero to a hundred REAL fast. School’s back, work’s back, extra curricular’s are back and our brain function is running on straight fear. I don’t know about you- but I feel like I could definitely use a bit more support as we all try and navigate this pandemic, while attempting to keep our economy running AND doing our best to stay healthy.
I’m probably the biggest keener when it comes to washing hands and wearing a mask. I even wear it when I’m teaching dance and panting like a full-grown bulldog as I do all the jumping jacks with my kids (safety, my friends, safety) but I’m new to all this and a million bucks says that I’ll forget to send my kids with their trust masks to school. Okay, I’ve already done this but I’m willing to bet I’ll do it again. I’m scared, though. Our bubble went from no one to a lot overnight and if I think about it too much, I’ll throw myself into a panic attack. I’m in a huge debate with myself over being super diligent and strict with who we come into contact with and also maintaining a childhood for these kids. But, this is intense, y’all and none of it is convenient. I guess what I’m trying to say here is to keep practicing empathy and be a pillar of support for each other. I can speak firsthand from a single mother point of view and let everyone know that this is all no walk in the park. I can’t afford to take days off but I know the time is coming in like a massive storm. I’ve always been the one who has felt guilty when sick and have been known to come in while fighting off a stomach flu- dumb, I know- but it’s what I knew. I know I need to get ahead of myself here and make a few freezer meals so I’m not scrambling on days where we will undoubtedly be waiting at a testing centre ALL day and get a good chunk of cleaning done so we all have a disinfected and sterile home to come back to… but who am I kidding? I’m one friggen person with a to-do list the size of the CN Tower. But, generally speaking- none of us know what’s to happen and none of us know how to really handle this. Keep being kind and empathetic to everyone’s particular situations. You never know what’s going on.
Cincodemumyo 