Another post about mom-life during COVID-19 pandemic. Since it has reached all aspects of my life, this virus has become the topic of moat of my posts.
I have learned something about myself through all if this. And I know that I am not alone in feeling this way-I am not meant to be a mom in a quarantine lifestyle.
At first, I looked to Pinterest and other social media outlets for ideas on things like family projects, elementary school ideas, recipes, and ways to make chores fun. I tried most of these things, but none ever turned out as they appear on Pinterest. I found myself looking to social media for ideas on how to run my house and make everything fun for my son. It did not take me long to realize that this is just ridiculous.
I am not the crafty quarantine mom. We made salt dough and did a family handprint. While the handprints turned out ok, coloring in the handprints proved to be more challenging than I thought. I am neither artistic nor crafty, so this will probably be my last family project for a while.
I am the family dinner quarantine mom. Even though my husband still goes to work every day (he is an essential worker), we have rediscovered the value of sitting down to dinner every evening in our dining room. Not every dinner is a 5-star Sunday meal, but we sit down as a family and talk with each other. No phones, devices, or television at the table; just family conversation. But how I would love to be able to go out to dinner one night soon!
I am not the creative activity quarantine mom. There is probably more screen time than there should be in normal circumstances. The majority of my son’s schoolwork is online, play dates have become virtual, and we are watching more movies than we had before. When we do get outside (I live in upstate NY and the weather is chilly and rainy), we make smores, draw on the driveway with chalk, or wander around the yard. I have a chore chart where my son can earn money. That is about the extent of my creativity. Boredom is frequent in my house, but isn’t that a good problem to have?
I am the yoga pants and no make-up quarantine mom. I feel sorry for my husband. He is lucky if he sees me dressed and groomed for the public eye.
I am not the quarantine mom with patience and a smile on her face. I feel trapped and isolated most of the time. There is little alone time in our house; it usually comes only after my son has fallen asleep for the night or if I wake up early in the morning. I cannot relate to those of you out there who have all of this newly found free time to read, write in a journal, clean or remodel, sleep, binge TV shows and movies. So for those of you without school-aged children in your house, keep all of your awesome free-time to yourself. While I cherish the time with my son, I am sure that I am not alone in wishing for an empty house, even just for a few hours.
In conclusion, I am not a quarantine mom. I long to go out to dinner. I want my son to go back to school so he can see his friends. I want to visit with friends face-to-face. I want to go to the store without a mask on. I want to travel and vacation freely. I want the restrictions to be lifted and life to return to normal, most of it at least.