The COVID Dad…Day Two!

Over the past few days, I have had a few people ask me if I was going to resurrect my Dad Blog. Who knew it would take a pandemic and being thrown back into being a stay at home dad to make it happen.  I have failed to anticipate many things as a parent. Now I can add parenting through a global pandemic to the list.   

It's hard to describe what it's been like watching events unfold over the past few months. Perhaps like watching a slow-moving freight train coming at us while being stuck on the train tracks. Of course, alongside us are our children, just 6 and 11.

So now we are on Day two, of the "work from home" edict dropped by our government and thankfully supported by a reasonable and caring employer.   My wife is required to be in her office, at least for now, working in essential government services.  Through it all, we keep repeating the mantra; this is temporary, we will all be okay, this too shall pass.  And then, we turn on the news or open Twitter, and the serenity evaporates, and the anxiety returns.

What do we do? Well, we put one foot in front of the other. We limit our access to TV/Radio news. Yes, we need to be informed, but we need not obsess, and we have to choose our news sources carefully.  Fear-mongering links to unvetted websites and so-called experts deleted forthwith. We came through day two quite well, I only truly lost my shit after the 2^nd trip to the golden arches to pick up the promised junk food lunch, to be told by DD6 that she had changed her mind and no longer liked her choice.  That didn't end well. I did better with all the furniture being rearranged in the basement to make a fort, and the 17 requests for snacks, usually while I was on the phone. 

I did get lulled into a sense of solitude and peace during an extended period of quiet, with DS11 zoned out on his PS4 and a remarkably quiet daughter.  When I finally snapped out of it and asked that dangerous question: "Hey, what are you doing?" I got an interesting answer. "I'm just painting, dad!" Those are four words that will send any dad into a low-grade panic. Fortunately, there was some paper involved, and collateral damage was limited to a $20 coffee table and some bathroom towels. But it serves as a great reminder that kids don't raise themselves, don't supervise themselves, and self-entertainment is risky at best…when you are six!

All these child antics are annoying but manageable, and even amusing at times. But underlying it all is that knot in the stomach that I suspect most parents are experiencing right now. We are in an unprecedented global event. We can't just pack up and move to Costa Rica to get away from this, even if we wanted to. It's everywhere, and there is no running away from it. Not only do we worry about the health of our children and our own health. But we worry about our friends and co-workers. It's an event like this that is a reminder of how many people have underlying health issues, compromised immune systems. We worry about elderly parents. We worry about when it will be safe to visit parents and our kid's grandparents without putting them at risk? Is it a few weeks? A few months? A year? 

How do we plan? Is school canceled for three weeks or until September? How long does "social distancing" last? Will this be over by July? Should we cancel summer vacation plans? We worry about jobs, ours and our friends. We worry about what the economy will look like when we come out the other side. So many questions, so few answers? 

So what do we do? We get up each day and start again. We show up for work, even if that means an office in the basement. We take the dog for a walk. We stop at the playground and challenge the kids on the swings. We chat with neighbours from across the driveway.  And above all, we remember to be grateful, and not just for the unlimited internet….