Busiest pandemic ever
So much to do, nowhere
I started writing about this topic back when my kids were in school and classroom Zooms were something I frequently dialed into frantically. Now it’s break (shortly before summer e-camp begins) and for a moment I wondered whether this was still a thing — shortly before I realized we completely spaced on a 5 year old classmate’s walk-by birthday, a girl who sent in a video, per our request, for our own kid’s birthday. So, I still feel this conversation I witnessed between some witch friends of mine on managing your family’s calendar, but COVID:
I am having such a hard time keeping up with all the b-day drive-bys and kids Google b-day get togethers. I wish I could RSVP "decline" without feeling guilty. I look more like a douche than ever for not sending messages and showing up like seemingly every other parent has, particularly those parents whose own kids' birthdays are on the horizon. It's not like RSVPs to in-person parties from the before times, where I could just say "sorry I'm working at that time! Wish we could be there!" Now I feel very expected to show up to everything when I just cannot.
It’s certainly a privilege for a kid to have access to Zoom, and as witches agreed, it’s also a pain in the ass to manage your dumb kid’s stupid virtual calendar—
“Today I was setting up the boys’ simultaneous Zoom calls and couldn’t find the link to my 2nd grader’s —the tension was so high that I gave up. No more Zoom calls.”
“I have HAD. IT. with absolutely everyone in my orbit today, including my daughter's music teacher who forgot to tell us that what we thought was a one-shot band practice she had last week was weekly, or send us an invite, and then texted me like hello where is she? I'm on three deadlines and the number of times I've been interrupted today is in the millions.”
“I completely forgot to have my daughter go to a Zoom party, and then I booked a Zoom playdate with the kid, and completely forgot about that too. They eventually got together but I was like I cannot keep track of anything, I'm sorry sad birthday kid.”
“One of the dads last weekend drove around to everyone's house and dropped off favors for a Zoom party. I was like, ‘Oh god is this the standard now?”
“My daughter’s birthday was a couple weeks ago, and she asked for a Zoom party. I said no because I didn't want to do it AND because I didn't want to burden other parents who feel like me. I asked people to email / text me videos / messages from their kids IF they had time, and asked her teacher to have the class sing ‘Happy Birthday.’ She got some really sweet notes from her friends that we watched together. She felt loved and that's what mattered. And we're going to have a blowout next year.”
“I'm making my daughter do her twice-weekly karate class on Zoom because she needs exercise and it's good for focus, etc, but her teacher is such a type-A grouch who loses her patience constantly and messes up the tech and won't admit when she screwed up and it's so damn stressful to listen to, probably because I know I'd be exactly the same way in her shoes.”
“My 8 yo is a fucking terror and he hates being at home. Zoom meetings make him crazy hyper. Our Governor just said he might cancel school through next January.”
“Every time my 8 y.o. gets on a Zoom I instinctively cringe because she also just shouts shit, tries to get attention in the most annoying ways. I want to be like STOP BEING SUCH A TOOL and then I realize all the other kids are doing the same thing.”
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