In
April-May the world around us went to varying extremes of lunacy and denial as
deaths mounted and the economy faltered because of the COVID-19 crisis.
Education
The Rising Daughters™ were overjoyed to not go to school and by the absence of homework. Boards of education and politicians weighed options to determine if school would resume or not. The health and safety of the kids were always top of mind, but with associated fears of lawsuits and concerns about the learning hiatus’s impact on student intellectual development. It was uncharted territory for educators that resulted in limbo for weeks. Like millions of parents, we tried to step in and do what we could to keep our daughters on their learning track. We failed miserably.
The Rising Daughters™ were overjoyed to not go to school and by the absence of homework. Boards of education and politicians weighed options to determine if school would resume or not. The health and safety of the kids were always top of mind, but with associated fears of lawsuits and concerns about the learning hiatus’s impact on student intellectual development. It was uncharted territory for educators that resulted in limbo for weeks. Like millions of parents, we tried to step in and do what we could to keep our daughters on their learning track. We failed miserably.
The
teachers genuinely tried remote learning via Zoom and sent over projects that we
zealously promoted. The kids just weren’t buying it. Scholastically, the Rising
Family was soon rudderless. 
And
we drifted. Endless hours of TV soon lost its appeal. With no chance to
socialize with friends, Lady E. and M. soon turned on each other. The girls are
usually sweet as pie but hellraisers when provoked. They clutched each other
lovingly one minute and cursed each other the next. To quell these sibling
crises I’d banish them to separate rooms. If it was a physical altercation, I’d
break it up. Otherwise, after repeated incidents, I let ‘em fight it out. One
example: I’d just signed off working when I heard banshee shrieks from one of
the daughter’s room. They were clawing each other to get the same electronic
game. They screamed at each other, followed by outrage-crying at the nerve of
the other. Hitting ensued. Why were they so well-behaved for their grandparents
and their teachers during Skype or Zoom calls, but behaved like Veruca Salt with
us?
To
stave off these boredom brawls, we played games such as The Game of Life, Uno, Jenga,
and Aggravation. We also turned to creativity as an outlet. One afternoon, Marina
gave us “The Everything Show.” She charged admission. It was a hilarious
display of her eight toy dogs and three balls nicknamed Bluey, Greenie and Pinky
who had magically transformed into dogs. M. gave a funny opening monologue, then
provided drinks and finger food for the audience. She put a lot of effort into
it. We have her due respect during the 40-minute show and a standing ovation at the end.
The federal government ducked and weaved, but mostly stuck its head in the sand. Debates raged about safer-in-place versus shelter-in-place ordinances. Governors of different political stripes showed their real colors in obscure wording. It boiled down to the liberty/small government idea versus 'do-this-more for the greater good'/top-down decrees. Could we go out into society again? What personal countermeasures were necessary--facemasks or not, anyone? There was always the cultural component balanced against mounting infection rates and casualty figures locally, nationally and globally. But everything still felt remote because we hunkered in our bunker.
Endless screens and Zoom meetings. My colleagues and bosses all worked hard to adapt to the new normal of our industry and do our part to keep the company’s business going.
- Furtively
resumed dentist visits (braces).
- Warmer weather = BBQs in the backyard.
- Motorcycle day trips were the ultimate COVID-friendly escape.
- Dogsitting the neighbor’s dog, Bubba. We love Bubba.
- The unstated agreement among exhausted parents to let only the kids on our street play together (but with eagle-eyed attention to any symptoms).
- Warmer weather = BBQs in the backyard.
- Motorcycle day trips were the ultimate COVID-friendly escape.
- Dogsitting the neighbor’s dog, Bubba. We love Bubba.
- The unstated agreement among exhausted parents to let only the kids on our street play together (but with eagle-eyed attention to any symptoms).
- Online music festivals to raise morale
In
short, we all adjusted.
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