I Wore This Yesterday

I am a stay-at-home mom of three. My husband works full time. We reside in a Cleveland suburb, where we own a modest acre. We have flowers, a deck, a pool…

And, oh, we live in freaking CoronaLand.

CoronaLand is like the United States, only there are many, many rules to abide by if we want to stay healthy.

Think Zombieland meets The Croods.

There’s a highly infectious disease on the loose and everything fun is now bad.

Family, friends, and neighbors – bad.

Parties – bad.

Restaurants and bars – bad.

Playgrounds – bad.

For a self-proclaimed introvert, such as myself, staying home isn’t so terrible. I usually avoid social situations like the plague anyway.

But my kids, man.

Fortunately, kids come equipped with adaptability and resilience. They really don’t understand fully what they’re missing. Mine are only 8, 6, and 2 – so their world was already pretty small when this thing started.

Our local school district had just rolled out plans to get the kids back to learning in the Fall. Hubs and I have been excited to get them out of the house a bit and with other kids. We know how important it is for them to socialize outside of Fortnite and YouTube.

Our County Health Department has other plans.

School is now bad.

Looks like homeschooling will, again, be our normal.

Listen – I am no doctor or scientist, so who am I to say their decision is wrong? Honestly, I’m happy to take their guidance on staying safe.

But, I do worry about the lasting effects this will have on our children.

The point is:

I’ve been out there. I KNOW what I’m missing and I could really give a shit.

I’m in my 30’s and have tasted life.

Stay home all day and watch Netflix to stay healthy? – That’s my kind of prescription!

Social Distancing on any day of the year is one of my favorite things to do.

But the kids.

Our kids.

They’ve barely seen what the world has to offer them.

This.

This is what makes me sad for them.

Ignorance really IS bliss where my children are concerned. They don’t seem to realize all the things they’re missing out on. And thankfully so.

I count us blessed that our kids are young during CoronaLand’s founding months.

Older kiddos…Teenagers…That’s a different story.

Life just started showing them what it has to offer. Back in January, all those guys had thousands of open doors just waiting for them to knock.

Now, every door is locked, and who knows when they’ll open up again?

Ugh.

CoronaLand.

While my sweatpants and I are really enjoying ignoring everyone and everything, I still feel sadness for the kids.

Disappointment.

Stress of the unknown.

If CoronaLand stays CoronaLand for a long time, how do my kids grow up socially-adjusted, street smart, and all that important junk?

Then again, how do families who choose homeschooling under normal circumstances churn out adjusted children?

I guess what’s most frightening to me is all the unanswered questions. Especially for the ones I haven’t thought to ask yet.

We aren’t the only family going through this; so, I guess, at least there’s that.

Anyway – my professional mom opinion on CoronaLand:

It sucks.

Sorry, guys.

Wish I had more words of wisdom.