Reflecting on the Nitty-Gritty of Pandemic Parenting

Was there anything good or was it only bad and ugly?

Yesterday was my son’s 11th birthday. In 2020, this was exactly one week after the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a global pandemic.

Back in 2020, our schools had just shut down. In theory, it was only supposed to be a few weeks but I had a feeling it would be otherwise. We had to cancel my son’s birthday plans and try to make him feel special with what we could at home.

On the day of his birthday, only a few days into remote learning, his teacher sent an early morning email encouraging the class to wish my son a happy birthday. She wrote, “I’m sure, somehow, he’ll hear us in his heart.”

I cried, thinking of everything my son was missing on his birthday. I knew that it paled in comparison to what other people were facing, and I’m sure some of my tears were due to general fears of the unknown.

It was the first of many, many tears I would shed over the course of the pandemic.

The early days

Our state (Illinois) shut down in response to the pandemic. Schools closed, businesses closed, only essential services were still operating.