We don’t yet know how this all plays out, but one thing is certain: we are never going to forget this time. To make absolutely certain of that, I think three weeks in is an appropriate time for me to put down some notes on what exactly life is like right now so that I can one day better describe to my three-year-old, one-year-old and newborn just what they were unknowingly living through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For my family, this quality quaran-time has been surreal long before it even started for anyone else. Our own social distancing began when our son Sammy was born on February 27,<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> and started in earnest for everyone else in Chicago while we were visiting my in-laws for a week in southern Indiana. We were in a pseudo-lockdown before the government even proscribed one, so returning home to a city that had followed suit was a strange and somewhat depressing turn of events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I remember the night we got home–two days after all restaurants were told to close–I went to pick up Potbelly’s. Even for a late Thursday evening, the streets were empty of traffic and parked cars. I called ahead to make sure the store wasn’t closing early and the employee told me that she hadn’t had a single customer for the past two hours, but would nevertheless be staying open. As I drove home, I saw handmade signs in many restaurant windows encouraging customers to order takeout and directing them to newly established curbside pickup spots. Our world had already changed dramatically while we were out of town, and Illinois hadn’t even received the Shelter in Place order yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So then all hell broke loose and we were told to stay in our homes unless we absolutely had to venture out for food, and only those whose jobs were deemed essential could go to work. Having been deemed parental<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span> by my employer, I was supposed to be on paternity leave until mid-May anyway, soaking in the fountain of youth by holding my newborn son, playing baby dolls with my daughter until I truly believed I worked at a daycare and shooting hoops in the basement with my son until I qualified for the Little Tikes NBA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once the virus hit, however, this director of communications was called back into duty on a more regular basis out of necessity. After drafting a few need-them-now emails, announcements and press releases, I started attending the 9:30 a.m. all-team meeting via Microsoft Teams. This has remained a regular part of my day<\/span>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, but my coworkers have been great about helping me set some boundaries and take advantage of the benefits of paternity leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If I’m being honest though, my breaks to meet digitally with my colleagues and contribute to work things have been a welcome interruption and–oddly enough– a break<\/em> from the somewhat endless feeling of these quarantined days at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Sammy was born, Theresa and I decided that she would handle the overnight feedings by herself<\/span>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span> and I would wake up in the morning to take care of the older kids while she slept in. It’s worked pretty well for both of us, but it’s not without its challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My already deep respect for my wife and all stay-at-home parents has grown three sizes lately. When you wake up every day to the prospect of 13 hours tending to three children under four, it feels both a little daunting and a lot thankless. It’s not that I don’t love my kids or appreciate the chance to spend this time with them. In countless ways, we have come to know and love each other so much more, even just in this short quaran-time period. The reality is that each of these kids is almost constantly relying on the adult in the room to provide them with attention or sustenance or discipline or…or…or…<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you add in the special ingredient of no preschool, no library trips, no family grocery store outings<\/span>5<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, and no outside babysitting help, it can really make you feel like you’re living in Groundhog Day<\/em>. And you start to wonder why Bill Murray was contemplating suicide when he <\/em>was just stuck at a bed and breakfast the whole time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Presented for your perusal and my future recollection, here is a typical day of La Vida Lockdown:<\/strong><\/span>6<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n