Kids Are Cool Unless They're Home While You're Trying to Work

I work mostly from home already, so the big change for me this week is having my family home as well. My daughter is almost 7. Her school was canceled last Thursday and will be closed for at least three weeks, though I expect the closure will last way longer. My son is 4. We kept him home this week and his school is closing on Monday.

You need to work, and if you have a partner, they might need to work, too. If you've got young kids, they're going to need nourishing activities or at least some attention sometimes. This is kind of like the, "Fast, good, cheap, pick two" exercise, because obviously, in our case, both parent's can't work, while also giving attention to the children. One good thing is I own an ice cream shop and we're closed so I've been far less busy and we can prioritize my partner's work schedule. One bad thing is I own an ice cream shop and we're closed so I don't have an income. Another bad thing is I'm used to being mostly alone in the house most of the week and that's not happening anymore, but that's another post. I'm grateful my family is healthy, my partner's job is letting her work from home, and we're extremely lucky we CAN manage through this while keeping the kids home.

I Can't Stop Hand-Washing My Clothes

In times of great anxiety, I find comfort in the mechanical, the onerous. That is precisely what hand washing laundry is, a tiny manual labor of repetition—like kneading dough except the reward isn’t a steaming, delicious loaf, but the ability to wear your clothes without offending the noses of everyone else you live with.

For every crotch and armpit I scrub with a bar of unscented hotel soap, I am able to let go of something, if only temporarily. I am able to think less about my aunt, a pediatric pulmonologist who will certainly be affected by what is to come. I am able to think less about my roommate’s boyfriend, who works in the ICU, and the anxiety she must be feeling, though I know she hides it.