It’s my good friend’s birthday today, and so he is the inspiration for me to write. (I don’t mean that he inspired the specific words. This isn’t an homage. Mostly I mean that I wasn’t going to write, but it being his birthday makes me feel like, well, I really should write. It’s like a gift to him!)
Regular activities are starting to pick up around the household. Soccer, gymnastics, and marching band practices are happening near daily. The oldest is at the beginning of working through her college decision. Standardized tests are frequent. Spring sniffles are also bringing about Covid tests. All negative so far!
It has been a bit of a challenge to adjust to the arrival of prior reality. While we haven’t enjoyed the isolation, we have enjoyed the calm. The obvious response is DON’T OVERCOMMIT YOUR CHILDREN OMG!!!1!! We keep a close eye on their commitments. This seems like a reasonable level. It’s just that our boundaries are pushed even at a reasonable level.
It will probably feel good when we get to see those soccer and gymnastics teams play. To see them play while in the vicinity of other humans. Hearing the marching band’s music will likely be emotional.
Each normal thing we resume post-pandemic is going to have this hesitancy for us. It will be hard. We will be overly cautious on some things and overly reckless on others. We will try to consider those likelihoods as we step into each situation. We will make mistakes. We will keep the lines of communication open as we navigate.
What even is normal at this point? With luck we’ll begin to discover that in 2021.
A Friendly Game of Soccer by Anthony Falbo