Yesterday was so strange. Our kids slept late as did we. Normally we grab bagels Saturday but that felt unnecessary. We are social distancing and so I made bacon and eggs. Then by 9 the first big decision. Should we let the kids go to their tennis lesson?

Tennis we ultimately decided is a great sport for social distancing. No touching and the required 6 feet of distance from everyone. So out we headed like usual…but nothing was the same. The kids could feel the tension. I replaced coffee in my cup holder with Purrell so as soon as we exited we could protect ourselves. The tennis center had its own protocol in place with all doors propped open so no one had to touch. Ray, the kids coach made some jokes and gratefully accepted some Purcell. Then a few mins of normal while the kids played.

At home again we faced another decision. Should Hayley our 10 yr old go to fitness class? She desperately needed the outlet and the time with friends but at what cost? The class was moved outside and so she went. Erica, my wife drove her grateful for the normality a carpool conveyed.

We ate lunch as a family. Often we’d eat out on a Saturday like this but of course not now. I tore through my home office which day to day has become a storage room and playroom and never a place I work. I decided to try to reclaim it to prepare for Monday’s WFH. An hour later I could see the desktop again,

The family decided to go for a long walk on our bike path. It was glorious and normal and a beautiful day. Everyone calmed down a bit. Caroline our youngest girl was jumpy. Every unfamiliar natural sound freaked her out. It was helpful – letting Er and I register how high her tension level was. She’s the kid that’s most sensitive to us, a mirror for our terror. On we walked and better we felt. The fear was always with us. Er asked a random couple to take our picture and then fretted she’d let a random touch her phone!

The promised turnaround point was our local Starbucks at Country Pointe. Starbucks mid-walk felt like an easy promise. We went in carefully with Er excited to wash her hands after the phone incident. Everyone ordered and we laughed bc Landon wanted to sit and devour a full bagel. The longer we lingered in the store the more fraught it felt. Friends from our pool club came in and we did the Awkward air kiss and talked about our fears.

At home post walk we found a group of neighbors outside playing and chatting. This is the hardest part of social distancing – how close is too close?? We let the kids play begging them not to touch each other or to interact too much. It was sad and terrifying. We came home and drank.