We had started to hear early rumblings about the Corona virus in early March. Around the 5th or so, my director asked me what did she think we should do from a technology standpoint if we needed to very quickly move students to remote. I had never even considered this. We started brainstorming some ideas. On March 7th, I saw a bunch of my girlfriends for dinner. We didn’t even mentions Covid. On March 12th, I saw several of them again when I attended a pretty large in person conference at a convention center. 😳 The thought of that now is terrifying. My boss asked me if I could come back to the office early. We were making the announcement that we needed to move to remote. It was all hands on deck.

On March 13th, our world’s changed forever. It stopped and it has yet to begin spinning again. It was the last time I saw most of my colleagues and friends without a screen or mask separating us. It was the last time I ate lunch in our staff lounge with my co-workers. It was pre-Covid. And now we cannot go back.

A 2-3 week pause of gathering our students together still has not completely lifted. Our staff is teaching partly in-person and partly remote. My office which can house up to 20 others, is usually just me and maybe one other person if I am in the office at all. I wear a mask all day and battle headaches all night on the days I do actually go into the office.

I was pregnant at the time. I was scared. My appointments were mostly moved to telehealth for a while. I didn’t leave my house except for appointments and no one came over. Theo was born into a Covid world and that has determined everything from the people who have met him to the childcare he is provided. Pandemic babies are a thing. They are babies who haven’t experienced anything yet. They have spent their little lives completely separate from…everything and everyone. And their moms had only the support of those they trusted enough to let into their homes when we were keeping everyone else out. It’s been a lonely time.

We voluntarily pulled our kids from daycare on March 17th. George has yet to return. McKenna attends a hybrid kindergarten program through our school district. And Theo has never met another baby friend. Theo and George are each other’s only playmates most days.

It’s been a year of togetherness and isolation. Of fear and anger. Of rest and fatigue. This year has been that once in a lifetime event which will define multiple generations. And we are all ready for it to be over.