I work(ed) in an NBA/NHL arena and I cannot fathom going back and spending so much time in a building with 20,000 people and swimming in crowds all day just to come home and think that’s normal.
I’m grateful my kids are two and are just hyped to get daddy daycare for the last six months.
Good gravy, man, way to smack me right in the feels. You're right, though, it's great to have optimistic news to share with the kids, and it's even better knowing that you're not just blowing smoke up their backsides so they stop fretting. 2020 has been a dumpster fire, but some really great people have managed to do some really great things.
I don't know that I'll ever not wear a mask in a Wal-Mart again, though, vaccine or not.
Right in the feels...My 2nd child, my daughter was born in Feb just before hospitals started cracking down. My brother's birthday was on the 14th of March and was the last time i went to a bar. My grandfather died in April, and i haven't been able to properly mourn. My 9 year old son has despised this year for many reasons and I can't blame him at all. And the Bears suck, the Cubs are back into rebuild mode... 2020 has been a shit year, but I have to stay positive that the world that they will live in will be better than the world we live in now.
Great piece, Scott! I feel similarly about my 11-year-old stepdaughter's experience with this whole thing. This is going to have a massive impact on her and how she interacts with the world. I don't know how it couldn't. Thankfully, my daughter is only 2 1/2, so she likely won't recall this time. She also has cerebral palsy, so we spend a lot of our time at home anyway. It did have an effect early on since we rely on in-home nursing care. It helps that my wife's company does Covid testing, so we all get tested regularly.
Your piece reminded me of Luke O'Neil's Last Normal Day series of pieces over at the Substack newsletter Welcome to Hell World. I wrote my own installment that he linked to a few weeks back: https://lyle.substack.com/p/my-last-normal-day
This hits heavy. I've had this exact conversation with my oldest (5 yrs). He had to start kindergarten online, and it's all he knows about school. I'm so worried he'll have to work against his first impression of school being like this.
A couple of weeks ago I was walking Morgan in the park near our house and I could see from a distance a bunch of kids on the playground. My immediate reaction was YIKES ... but as we got closer I realized every damn one of them had a mask on and was cheerfully climbing and sliding and yelling and cavorting without any worries at all. It brought me joy and a little bit of hope.
Hardest thing I’ve been dealing with lately is trying to explain to my kids how hugging their friends at daycare is both right and wrong at the same time.
My youngest is also 5, his birthday was in May. He can't remember "the time before Coronavirus" as his 7 year sister now refers to it. He can't even remember his grandparents house, going to church, or even the zoo. But we are at the point of making a list of things to do once we can, which is more than I would have even a month ago.
My wife got really upset in... probably May because she was taking a walk and a kid whom she thought was 3 absolutely lost his shit that she got within 20 feet of him. The kids' parents had been trying to explain what to do, but it's awfully hard to process at that age. Hell, for that matter, my 18 year old daughter, the extrovert's extrovert, got to college in August and spent the first several days in a state of constant low grade freakout about being around more than 5 people. (I would like to give a small dad shoutout to the Vassar admin and students for staying disciplined enough to have fewer than 50 positive tests among them between mid August and Thanksgiving BTW, always happy to not get the 'rona from indulging my nearly grown child.)
Fortunately kids are pretty resilient, although I'm sure the damage is not going to be evenly spread.
I am hopeful that I might be able to attend a sporting event or - imagine! - an indoor concert at some point in the next 12 months. That sounds a bit grim, but since I do both infrequently under normal circumstances, it's less "reminder of what I'm missing" and more "reminder that I should get out more"!
This ruined me 3 minutes before teaching a (virtual) high school class. Thanks!
My daughters are 5, almost 3, and 4 months. Every day that goes by I am worried more and more about the impacts this will have on them, as well as on my students and players. They have reacted so well, so much better than many adults, as you mention. I’m constantly blown away by their response and worried for what it will mean for them in the future. You absolutely nailed it, as usual.
Hits hard, man.
Is this what we’re gonna do?
We’re gonna make me ugly cry in bed?
I work(ed) in an NBA/NHL arena and I cannot fathom going back and spending so much time in a building with 20,000 people and swimming in crowds all day just to come home and think that’s normal.
I’m grateful my kids are two and are just hyped to get daddy daycare for the last six months.
Good gravy, man, way to smack me right in the feels. You're right, though, it's great to have optimistic news to share with the kids, and it's even better knowing that you're not just blowing smoke up their backsides so they stop fretting. 2020 has been a dumpster fire, but some really great people have managed to do some really great things.
I don't know that I'll ever not wear a mask in a Wal-Mart again, though, vaccine or not.
Right in the feels...My 2nd child, my daughter was born in Feb just before hospitals started cracking down. My brother's birthday was on the 14th of March and was the last time i went to a bar. My grandfather died in April, and i haven't been able to properly mourn. My 9 year old son has despised this year for many reasons and I can't blame him at all. And the Bears suck, the Cubs are back into rebuild mode... 2020 has been a shit year, but I have to stay positive that the world that they will live in will be better than the world we live in now.
Great piece, Scott! I feel similarly about my 11-year-old stepdaughter's experience with this whole thing. This is going to have a massive impact on her and how she interacts with the world. I don't know how it couldn't. Thankfully, my daughter is only 2 1/2, so she likely won't recall this time. She also has cerebral palsy, so we spend a lot of our time at home anyway. It did have an effect early on since we rely on in-home nursing care. It helps that my wife's company does Covid testing, so we all get tested regularly.
Your piece reminded me of Luke O'Neil's Last Normal Day series of pieces over at the Substack newsletter Welcome to Hell World. I wrote my own installment that he linked to a few weeks back: https://lyle.substack.com/p/my-last-normal-day
This hits heavy. I've had this exact conversation with my oldest (5 yrs). He had to start kindergarten online, and it's all he knows about school. I'm so worried he'll have to work against his first impression of school being like this.
A couple of weeks ago I was walking Morgan in the park near our house and I could see from a distance a bunch of kids on the playground. My immediate reaction was YIKES ... but as we got closer I realized every damn one of them had a mask on and was cheerfully climbing and sliding and yelling and cavorting without any worries at all. It brought me joy and a little bit of hope.
Hardest thing I’ve been dealing with lately is trying to explain to my kids how hugging their friends at daycare is both right and wrong at the same time.
My youngest is also 5, his birthday was in May. He can't remember "the time before Coronavirus" as his 7 year sister now refers to it. He can't even remember his grandparents house, going to church, or even the zoo. But we are at the point of making a list of things to do once we can, which is more than I would have even a month ago.
Hearted. Shared. Great column, Scott!
My wife got really upset in... probably May because she was taking a walk and a kid whom she thought was 3 absolutely lost his shit that she got within 20 feet of him. The kids' parents had been trying to explain what to do, but it's awfully hard to process at that age. Hell, for that matter, my 18 year old daughter, the extrovert's extrovert, got to college in August and spent the first several days in a state of constant low grade freakout about being around more than 5 people. (I would like to give a small dad shoutout to the Vassar admin and students for staying disciplined enough to have fewer than 50 positive tests among them between mid August and Thanksgiving BTW, always happy to not get the 'rona from indulging my nearly grown child.)
Fortunately kids are pretty resilient, although I'm sure the damage is not going to be evenly spread.
I am hopeful that I might be able to attend a sporting event or - imagine! - an indoor concert at some point in the next 12 months. That sounds a bit grim, but since I do both infrequently under normal circumstances, it's less "reminder of what I'm missing" and more "reminder that I should get out more"!
This ruined me 3 minutes before teaching a (virtual) high school class. Thanks!
My daughters are 5, almost 3, and 4 months. Every day that goes by I am worried more and more about the impacts this will have on them, as well as on my students and players. They have reacted so well, so much better than many adults, as you mention. I’m constantly blown away by their response and worried for what it will mean for them in the future. You absolutely nailed it, as usual.