March 2020 will not be forgotten anytime soon in our country.
For my kids, it will be known as the year a virus cancelled our vacation plans to Universal in Florida. Of course, there is much more to this virus, but kids think in simplistic ways. My boys, 11 and 10, will remember this pandemic for two things – ruining our vacation before it started and causing schools to close unexpectedly for a long time.
Right or wrong, up until last Thursday, we were still planning on driving to Florida for a week-long stay. As the news intensified last week and the government announced serious changes and increased restrictions on crowds, we decided the night before we were to leave it was best to cancel the vacation. It was not a difficult call in the end.
When Pam and I made the decision, we immediately called a family huddle. We had to tell them the dangers of going away at this time. We knew they would be upset, but I was pleasantly surprised by their reactions. Prone to the dramatic, Beckett does what he normally does, questioning why God would do this to us. He then quickly said, “I am fine with it, I don’t want anyone to die.”
For his part, Carson was clearly disappointed but smiled as soon as he learned the trip being canceled did not mean he now had to go to school.
Given what has taken place over the last week, it was the right thing to do. The day after we decided to cancel our plans the amusement park shut down indefinitely followed by the associated amenities. Further restrictions were put in place on a daily basis by the federal and state governments. It was no time to be traveling.
At one point this past week, Pam and I got the kids together again to let them know this is a time in their lives they will never forget. It’s an unprecedented time with far reaching ramifications. This virus has led to youth, college and professional sport seasons being postponed and likely canceled, the longest unexpected closure of school I can remember, jeopardized the livelihoods of many families and caused the biggest disruption to daily life I can remember.
While trying to explain the magnitude of the situation, we told the boys there are moments in history you will always remember. I will never forget where I was when the Challenger space shuttle exploded on Jan. 28, 1986 (sitting in a Salisbury classroom) and the second plane flew into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 (at my desk in my office).
Though this was not a single shocking event, I think my kids will always remember the time their parents had to tell them the vacation they had been looking forward to for months had to be canceled as a result of a virus.
Additionally, they will never forget the long period of time when everything was closed. Their favorite restaurants were shut down with no open date in sight. There were no arcades, trampoline parks or movie theaters to frequent during their days off. There were several trips to the beach, but there aren’t a lot of kids who enjoy long walks on the beach as much as their parents, no matter if footballs and soccer balls are involved.
There have been strange feelings all week about this new life forced upon us. There have been many questions we have not been able to answer from our kids. We don’t know how long this whole quarantine and social distance thing will continue. The rub for all of us is the uncertainty.
For the most part, we are focused on ensuring the boys’ lives are largely unchanged. Aside from the occasional request to go somewhere that we can’t, they are enjoying their time off. We prefer to keep things simple for our kids. They don’t need to know all the layers to the current world crisis.
In Beckett’s case, he needs to know he is off for spring break this week and will be working through assignments from his school next week. Some sort of virtual learning is in his immediate future.
For our spectrum child, Carson needs to adapt to a new routine. School is not his favorite place in the world, but he doesn’t mind the work. He was to be missing the entire week of school for our vacation and had assignments to keep him busy this week. He also has some online tools to utilize from home. If school remains closed longer than initially expected, the challenge will be creating a daily routine that’s manageable for us as well as him. There was a lot of trial and error this week because of work.
Once the vacation was ended and the reality of no school for a couple weeks set in, Pam and I immediately focused on how to juggle work and the kids. If we weren’t going to be going away, we needed to save our vacation week for a traveling opportunity. Therefore, we needed to work. Taking turns shortening our days worked this week. It might not next week.
We just kept telling ourselves to take it day by day. It’s likely the safest daily mantra for all moving forward.
