#9 – august 25: moving in a pandemic (part 1)

Trying to sell a place while you’re still living in it is like living in a hotel and being the housekeeping staff at the same time. Every time we get a message from our realtor that someone has requested a showing, we are driven into a frenzy of cleaning and decluttering. Usually we get a … Continue reading #9 – august 25: moving in a pandemic (part 1) →

#8 – july 26: schooling in a pandemic

Back in May, as we approached the date for “phase 3”of “Restore Illinois,” I started a post about reopening, but never finished it. One of the questions I asked in trying to wrap my mind around what a reopening might look and feel like was: Will there actually be an “after”? Well, here we are … Continue reading #8 – july 26: schooling in a pandemic →

#7 – april 24: watching my children leave for another world

How much screen time is too much? Asking for a friend. Ha, ha, no, I’m asking for me. Our kids used to have reasonable limits – about a half hour of video games on weeknights, about an hour or two on Fridays and Saturdays. My favorite was screen-free Sundays, where they knew not to even … Continue reading #7 – april 24: watching my children leave for another world →

#6- april 15: this is not a war

It’s as if the war metaphors just write themselves, as if they are inevitable, the most obvious thing in the world. It’s as if we have no other language to describe what is happening than the language of war. We have workers on the frontlines, the virus is an invisible enemy we’re all fighting, battling … Continue reading #6- april 15: this is not a war →

#5 – april 6: therapy hamster

I had written about the experience of losing one hamster days before Christmas, and bringing home another nearly identical golden Syrian hamster for my son. Wooly 2 was a good first pet. C enjoyed feeding him every morning and being responsible for changing his water. If Wooly was awake, he’d stand on his hind legs, … Continue reading #5 – april 6: therapy hamster →

#4 – march 29: all the feelings

In the early days of the pandemic, when we all started cancelling plans, a therapist friend posted about having learned the importance of honoring all the feelings one is feeling about a thing, rather than judging them, or comparing them to others or to some abstract standard of how we should be reacting. Oh, so … Continue reading #4 – march 29: all the feelings →

#3 – march 21: we can still laugh

Friday morning, both our children reported having had bad dreams. My husband had to go to our younger son’s room in the wee hours to comfort him. We don’t have the news on and we try to keep our worry from them, but our kids are always listening and as most children are, they’re sensitive … Continue reading #3 – march 21: we can still laugh →

#2 – march 18: flattening the curve

“To live entirely for oneself in private is a huge luxury, a luxury countless aspects of this society encourage, but like a diet of pure foie gras it clogs and narrows the arteries of the heart. This is what we’re encouraged to crave in this country, but most of us crave more deeply something with … Continue reading #2 – march 18: flattening the curve →

What Happens in a Pandemic: Coronavirus Chronicles

#1 - March 15: social distance I’m beginning to lose track of the order of events, both nationally and personally, because the situation has been so “fluid” as they say, the information flowing fast from multiple sources and changing sometimes by the hour over the past month. But this was the week that my immediate … Continue reading What Happens in a Pandemic: Coronavirus Chronicles →