I Envy Your Isolation.

Lots of people on social media are talking about how they’re trying to keep themselves entertained and/or focused during this period of quarantine or social distancing. I’ve seen accounts of people meandering away from work to doodle funny pictures, or sing out on their balconies to their neighbors, or livestream themselves dancing, or any number of things to combat the sudden decrease of social interaction thanks to the spread of the coronavirus.

And man, I really wish I had that problem some days. I’m in another category of people during this outbreak… the work-from-home parent who has to keep their child from going stir crazy.

Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with my son, but my wife isn’t working from home and that means it’s just me. and. him. for the next three weeks, at least. Some couples are home together during this time, meaning they can tag-team childcare to a certain degree. Not me. It’s just me. and. him. All day. I adore my boy, but man do I wish I had the spare time to livestream a dance-break or doodle something for myself.

And it’s not like I’m not doing my best to come up with ideas for us. We go for walks. We play in the backyard. We play No Man’s Sky together. We read books. We use his activity books. We watch movies. We make up games with his toys. We do exercises together. But there’s no one thing that occupies his attention for a great span of time. It’s all of those things, for varying amounts of time, every day non-stop. The bonding time is wonderful but holy crap it’s exhausting.

Things could be much worse for us, I know. I’m moaning and groaning here today instead of actually “crying out for help,” but even bitching into the void counts for something these days. Maybe I’ll livestream that with my boy the next time we’re strapped for something to do.