Why I Am Grateful for Social Distancing During Coronavirus
“Ugh,” I thought to myself when I found out my child was going to be home from school for three weeks. Then three weeks turned into four months, and I realized we would be settling into a new daily reality. Despite my initial reaction, I have found many reasons for joy and gratitude during this time.
We are staying safe and healthy at home. I am so glad I get to stay at home with my son right now. I feel great respect and deep concern for workers who have no choice but to leave their homes. If I were unable to work from home, I would be fearful every day, not just for my safety, but for my family’s. What if I were to transmit the coronavirus to a member of my household, or fall ill myself? Who would watch our child? My husband is working from home exclusively right now, but that doesn’t mean he is available to care for our child’s constant needs throughout the day, and we can’t ask our family to watch him without risking the spread of COVID-19.
We started recycling. There is a recycling center in our town. It has been here for years, but we never took advantage of it. Then one day I found a large, empty box, and we began filling it with recyclable items. We were surprised to see how much accumulated in just one week.
We planted a garden for the first time since our now-six-year-old was born. We had one every year for the six years prior to that, but once our child came along, we didn’t have the time, energy, or inclination to plant and cultivate it each spring. This project began partly as a means to occupy our time and partly as a science lesson for our son. He helped his father build the garden, and then he helped me plant the seeds. Now he waters the plants each morning, and every day we watch excitedly as the seedlings begin to sprout.
We are spending less money at the grocery store. I resisted ordering groceries for pickup because I like to comparison shop and select my own purchases. When ordering groceries for pickup became our safest option, I found that we were spending less money overall. Sure, we may be paying a little more for a dozen eggs or a gallon of milk, but I am only ordering what we need for the week and avoiding impulse purchases in the store.
We spend more time talking to friends and family than before. We had a Zoom meeting with extended family in another state that we rarely see. Prior to quarantine, we would not have thought to schedule a group video chat. Our son asked if he could see one of his friends, so I scheduled a virtual play date with his mother.
Our son resisted the writing assignments that came from his school. Getting him to focus on them was a daily battle of wills. He did, however, express an interest in writing letters to his grandparents, cousins, and aunts he had not been able to see. I asked his teacher if he could do this in lieu of his assigned writing worksheets, and she enthusiastically agreed that this was a suitable alternative. Our relatives loved receiving them.
We are spending more quality time together as a family. I asked my son if he misses school or would rather be at home together. He put his arm around me, replied that he’d rather stay at home, and my heart melted. The memory card in my phone is rapidly filling up with all the pictures I have taken to capture the fun and special moments we are having together: daily walks through the neighborhood, playing hide and seek in the yard, snuggling up together to read, board games, dancing in the living room.
Has our time together been stress-free? Not at all! I have yelled at my son for running around the living room while he was supposed to be concentrating on his schoolwork, gotten frustrated with the increased amount of mess around the home, and wished every day for just one hour of uninterrupted time before I fell asleep. We are relying on Netflix, YouTube, and Nintendo to survive, and I don’t feel guilty about it.
In spite of the challenges, though, our family has thrived during this time of quarantine. We have learned to work together in a completely different way than ever before. I have enjoyed watching my son grow and learn under my tutelage, even if I can’t match the expertise of his college-prepared and decades-experienced teacher. I will miss the chaos, listening to my son sing, and all the extra times a day I hear “I love you, Mommy.”
