She wrote her name on my to-do list
Most of the time, I am able to bento box my time in such a way, that by the end of the week, I have done everything. But with so many things on the go, it doesn’t take much to knock me off my routine. For me, I was suddenly inundated with work that my pandemic home life balance fused into a never-ending day of work, work and more work. Saved for getting up to eat and using the bathroom, my daughter and I were often in different rooms on different computers. Her on her on-line school, and me on eternal Teams calls. It’s easy to lose track. When there’s nothing else to do, we wind up doing more of the same. Then at the end of one day, I noticed that there at the bottom of my list, my daughter had written her name. I felt like an awful dad.
Being cooped up during a pandemic is no fun. Months of social distancing, months without dining and retail therapy, we’ve all run out of outdoor places to go and indoor things to do. I resorted to ripping the groceries list in two so I can make two trips to double my social interaction! It was tough to come up with new things. But at the end of the day, my daughter didn’t want to do anything special; she just wanted to hang out. So our pandemic activities centered on two major themes: old things in new places and new things in old places.
Doing the old things in new places. We hopped in the car and decided to grab some take-out lunch….in the next town. My daughter and I drove 50km to the next town to take in new scenery. We chatted and listened to music. It was like a road trip like we used to take, only this was a mini one. The drive there took nearly an hour. We ate (in the car) and walked around. Then eventually make our way back. All in all, it was a great four-hour lunch. We did something ordinary but got to spend time together and got some fresh air.
We’ve all run out of outdoor places to go and indoor things to do. When there’s little else left to do, we wind up doing more of the same.
Doing new things in old places. With movie theaters closed, the quickest way to get new content is through streaming (unfortunately this meant more screen time.) We were able to discover hours and hours of family friendly video content. Specifically, Disney+ has been a savior. Not only is the regular Disney vault available, PIXAR, Star Wars and Marvel and all the new spin-offs were clicks away. There’s also National Geographic and even STAR movies! It’s become my one and only subscription and I get new content in our living room every week. Pandemic notwithstanding, we’ll do this anyway!
Although it wasn’t 5-star, white glove treatment, going to a new place for a familiar burger or stringing Christmas lights in the bedroom to watch a movie changed things up and broke the monotony of pandemic life. Kids love routines, but they also need variety. I do too. And regardless how you spice things up, your kids just want to hang out with you.
At this age, their childhood is nearing the end and a few more years from now, they’ll want to hang out with their friends. Capture this moment of forced quarantine and make the best of it. I’m glad she wrote her name on my to-do list. Even when I forget, she remembers. While everything has changed and will keep changing, I hope she and I never will!
