OntheWilderSide

COVID 19, The Coronavirus, has become part of our daily lives.

Like so many other people, I have decided to start writing and blogging again, as a result of all of my feelings and all of the time I have.Some things that have changed for me, due to the current crisis and quarantine…

So far, two of my friends have lost relatives. And, it is so sad to think that there cannot be a funeral at this time.

My mother and father are very “holed up” a few towns over. So, I can’t see them as much, celebrate family birthday parties, or take my toddler to see them.

I am not able to take my toddler to library classes or any special events.

I am not able to take my toddler to the Long Island Aquarium or the children’s bouncy play center we used to frequent.

I am stuck in the house a lot of the day with a bored toddler, trying to create activities and tasks, but also trying to create structure for our day and meaning for our daily life.

[For resources for supporting your toddler during quarantine, please see bottom of this post]

We have learned to do several kinds of video chatting, to try to catch virtual glimpses of family and old playmates. It works a little to feel connected. Though, at 2-and-a-half, there will be a few times during the call when she gets confused and asks to go to people’s homes. Sometimes crying.

Grocery shopping is frightening, even though we don’t take the toddler with us anymore. And, it is worse when there are ridiculous people with too many masks and gloves and vibes of utter fear.

I have become so desperate and needy for human company, that I pounce on any neighbors I see outside with very long, shouted conversations from across the street. When the local utility company sent a man in a van around to change our meters, I talked him up like he was a long lost friend.

One thing that has remained the same — but intensified to a frightening extent — is my love for pizza. Sure, our family used to have pizza one or two times a week, because there is a Sunday through Wednesday special. And, who doesn’t love a break from cooking? Though now, I think it is like pizza 3 times a week, and dinner on Fridays. And, if I go in to pick up the food, I gush over the owner and thank him over and over again for staying open.

I really can’t believe that I can’t buy paper towels and toilet paper, but I can buy pizza. At least that is something to be happy about.

Stay safe. Stay home (except to get fresh air on walks or outings to the park, using careful, social/physical distancing.)

Kind Regards,

Kimberly Wilder

Resources for families with toddlers during this COVID-19 crisis and quarantine:

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County
http://ccesuffolk.org/
(Cornell Cooperative is where I found the other links below.)

“Parenting in the time of coronavirus and social distancing”
First Things website

“Five Tips to Make the Most of Video Chats”
Zero to Three website
The Zero to Three website had a wealth of information about very young children. A lot of other articles that say they address children and the Coronavirus seem to be aimed at four-year-olds and up, or even just school age children. I was so happy to find this site to help with questions relating to my two-year-old. It is very difficult to keep a 2-year-old interested in a video chat.

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