The beginning of Covid was sort of a blessing for us. I was pregnant, had a peaceful birth, got a little extra cash, worked from home which meant I didn't have to go on maternity leave and then was able to bring my baby to the office once we started back. It was oddly exactly what I needed. However, homeschooling was hell. Going back to school was traumatizing. We still haven't recovered. We also never tested positive, life still feels like a convoluted limbo.
My kids are grown so my parenting during the onset of the pandemic was mainly discussing what was unfolding. On the other side of parenting, my 91 year old dad died a non-covid related death the same day as George Floyd was murdered, May 25, 2020. My sisters and I spent months together clearing out his home in upstate NY and flying repeatedly during pre-vaccine days. I drove from NY to Alaska in the fall of 2020. The three of us are between 60-70 years old, so those risks were real and on our minds. It was intense on many levels - an emotional time. We are fortunate that we could do this together, grateful that we had the resources and could take that time together, and very thankful to have stayed healthy through that time. By being involved in my dad's end of life in various ways, I view my mothering of my adult children as a role model of respect for elders, meaningful closure, recognition of a full life and gratitude for my time together with my siblings through that process. The pandemic put it into a more precious context, in a time of so much loss worldwide.
I miscarried my first pregnancy two days before the pandemic was declared and had my baby in 2021 so parenting during Covid is all I've ever known. I'm grateful that I didn't have to learn to adapt to a new normal because I was learning it all for the first time anyway. It was hard though, without the proverbial village of support being physically there.
The COVID pandemic was more of a gift than anything for my family. It taught me to slow down and enjoy a quiet lifestyle. Before I felt like I needed activities and places to go all the time. Through COVID I learned I could just be at home all day and really really enjoy it. I'm still having a hard time relinquishing that lifestyle.
I forgot to answer the covid one...it wasn't too bad. Nora was out of school for 9 weeks. I realized that I didn't want to be a stay at home mom. We were nervous taking her places at first but we were lucky.
COVID ruined everything. We were too strict, too shut off from the world, and I am regretting it now. My children missed out on too much. They were healthy, yes, but missed so much. I might lose my marriage because of it, too. That's not my fault. I hate COVID.
I decided to homeschool while working 32 hrs a week remotely. I didn't go back to visit family for 2 years and missed my grandmothers funeral. A member of my work family died of COVID. My husband was home for three months straight for the first time in 11years. I tried to protect my son and in doing so put a tremendous strain on our relationship. Yelling and name calling became like white noise as did the pleas to sleep with him to help him feel safe. This is hard but can be normal. What wasn't normal is that I didn't feel safe and wasn't able to be with my safe people. I have been so lucky. But, during the heights of the pandemic I felt for the first time that my sons health, safety and well-being were at risk..as was my mental health. On the other side of this experience I have learned than my relationship with my son is resilient and so am I
I mothered more. First, I mothered my community by procuring healthy, local food & organizing to make it sustainable, just & delivered directly with dignity in a way that made those in need feel safe to those that asked for it, no questions asked. Then I took a break to mother myself & then I began to mother refugees, then soldiers in Ukraine.
I gave birth to our second child in May of 2020. My husband is a Physician and was working in a Covid Unit. A month before my due date I left our home in Massachusetts and went to Maine to be with my parents, to avoid a possible exposure from my husband. We received approval from the Maine CDC for my husband to join me in labor and delivery after he received two negative tests, though we knew timing would be difficult. He did make it and was finally allowed in just a couple of hours before our son was born. I was the only laboring Mom that night and we received the most nurturing and compassionate care imaginable. My husband went back to work just a few days later and we stayed behind in Maine, until we felt our new baby was ready to travel home. The isolation that followed was difficult. Yet at the same time, I will hold the memories close to my heart. It was just me, my two precious children, my dog - and my husband who went to the hospital everyday to take care of those that were suffering. His job felt like daily pin pricks to our bubble. But I cuddled my babies, we cried, and we kept moving forward. Today, when life is swirling around me, I miss those quiet moments, though at the time they felt impossible. There was no support system, but there was also no pressure from the outside world to do anything but survive. And we did.
I was that asshole human who embraced staying home with my girls and my husband, and being less busy at work for several weeks. We had enough money earned and saved to be ok. I know that was not the case for LOTS of people.
The stress and isolation of Covid pushed my daughter to a crisis level and I had to travel out of state during the height of the pandemic to bring her home and advocate and fight for her to receive the healthcare that she was unable to get on her own. We've taken on having a child move back in with us at a time when we were hoping to transition to retirement and downsize our living situation, only to be in a position of providing a home, and financial and emotional support to a grown child. Even though I want nothing more than to keep her safe and healthy, the emotional stress has taken a large toll as I continue to navigate this new and very unexpected path as a mother.
During covid I was in the NICU with my daughter for neatly 100 days. I had a complicated pregnancy due to a placental abruption so I stayed home and wasn't able to do much. Thankfully I had my husband and my mom at home to help with my son who was 1 at the time. It was hard not having opportunities to get my son out into the community for play groups, etc .both my kids have hardly ever been into a grocery store or restaurant. We have just started to do play groups and preschool in the past year. It's been rough the past few years. To add to the stress of COVID I'm immuno compromised because of MS. With 2 little kids at home all day every day with no where to go, it was very trying but we made it! We are still as careful as we can be and maintain certain skills that we acquired during the pandemic but I think they are good skills to practice for life.
Well when the pandemic first hit my whole life was turned upside down. My daughter's school shut down which meant I had to find childcare which was next to impossible. I worked until it was considered absolutely no longer safe and then finally stopped working. Then that meant I became mom,teacher and principal. It was so hard and hour of work turned into 6 hours of arguing and insisting. It seemed like I lost my job,my socialization and my sanity. Everything was so scary and constantly changing while trying to educate a strong willed child who was insistent "this wasn't home school it was a house with a book" it was so hard. Then she started with mom I'm bored and lonely and want a sibling. So I decided I would buy the puppy she had been bugging me to get for years. Then decided why not start my dream of homesteading that I never had time for. I built my coop from pallets for free, got my chickens,fruit trees berry bushes etc. I chose to focus on things around my house for sanity. It did bond my neighbors snd daughter. She would pick flowers for the elderly neighbors and do weekly lunch dates with a few. Things have gotten back to normal since thankfully. However every adjustment period along the way was pretty scary. The fear of sending her back to school was strong for me but she told me she was a social girl and needed to get back. I left the decision to her and I think she made the right one.
I found out I was pregnant with our second child five days into total lockdown in Madrid. I was able to spend so much more quality time with my then 18 month old and enjoy my second pregnancy as I couldn't go to work. The following year we decided to move back to the States, a crazy move on our part to change countries with two toddlers in the middle of a pandemic. Covid amplified stress, worry and anxiety, but also forced us to slow down and enjoy small moments of parenthood and gave us time with our kids we wouldn't have had otherwise.
Oof. Covid. What a bitch (derogatory). I am an able-bodied white woman - so, with that, I first have to acknowledge my privilege in navigating the pandemic. I was privileged in that I could work from home for a time period, that my son was able to stay with me, that, while I was certainly nervous about catching it, I knew it would most likely not cause my imminent death. My family treated it very seriously and stayed mostly isolated except for work and daycare for 2.5 years. And it took a toll. None of my usual outlets were there - no friend time - no play dates for my kid - no family trips. Motherhood is already a lonely space to occupy and the pandemic just made this almost intangible feeling a full on assault of the senses.