An Honest View of My Life During Quarantine

This article started out with me trying to share the ways my family has been keeping our sanity in the midst of quarantine. Soon I realized that wouldn’t be a very honest article. We are keeping our sanity, but only just barely. The news we hear day after day only wears us down more. By sharing my story, I hope I can help other moms feel that they aren’t alone.

Here’s an honest look at my life in quarantine.

My daily life has been upended by COVID-19. I used to spend every day alone with my son, while my husband worked and my daughter went to school. Now, we are all together in the house every day. For better or worse, we are forced to live this way.

I actually do view this as a blessing in some respects. My husband lost his job due to the coronavirus outbreak which explains why he is also home with me every day. This time that we are all spending together is so precious, and I’m so thankful that I have the opportunity to grow closer to my family. Something that could have hurt us really badly actually ended up being one of the best things that has happened to us. I feel fortunate to have the family that I do and every day just reinforces that feeling again and again. 

I am trying to parent in the midst of COVID-19 anxiety, both on my part and from everyone else in my family.

I find myself worrying constantly, even if I ignore the news like I have been doing. What if we have it? What if we will get it? How sick would we get? The questions are endless and there are no real solid answers right now. Maybe that’s the hardest part- all of the unknowns. When will we go back to normal? What is the world going to be like after this? Will we ever go back to the way things were?

I know my children have their own questions too. Just the other day my daughter asked me, “When is the ‘coronavirus’ going to be over?” My stomach sank as I explained to her that we are not really sure when this is going to end. My goal is to let my daughter know that she is not alone, that we all want so desperately to get back to normal too. My hope is that if we stick together and focus on loving each other through this, we will withstand any bad news we may get. 

When I read that schools will not be meeting for the rest of the school year, it made my heart sink.

My daughter was so proud to be a kindergartner and enjoyed her class so much. We grew close to her teachers as they helped us get my daughter out of special education. It feels like that relationship has been abruptly cut off. How will this affect my daughter emotionally or academically by the time she gets to be in a classroom again?

I’ve made it my absolute mission to teach her at home and to create special memories while she is learning. She has actually amazed me because she is doing work for first grade even though she is still considered a kindergartner. She’s been breezing through our workbooks and I am in awe every day of just how smart she is! This gives me so much hope for the future, whatever it may entail. 

Above all else I want you to know that you are NOT alone. We are all struggling to find time to take a shower, wearing the same clothes for multiple days, letting the dishes pile up, cleaning up the toys for the fifth time today. We are all doing our absolute best to preserve the mental and physical health of our families while trying to maintain our own as well.

My prayer is that we would not feel isolated but instead that we would feel peace, because everyone else is going through this quarantine life alongside us too.

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