My son Aaron and I are used to certain things. I’d like to say that the virus has brought us closer together and we are BFFs now, but the truth is we are driving each other crazy.

We like to keep a schedule and when that gets messed up, it gets confusing. I usually take Aaron, who is 8 years old, to a lot of fun places when there is no school.

Now, most of those places are closed, even his favorite — the playground.

All the electronics, Netflix, Hulu and YouTube can only entertain for a short while.

Getting Creative

Aaron has a ton of energy, and if he doesn’t have a way to release it, we are both not happy. Since the weather is absolutely beautiful, we go out at least once a day. We try to go as much as possible to the track field for exercise.

Aaron decided that there is nothing cooler than learning to bike ride as fast as possible. He made a friend at the park today and taught her how to ride much faster on her bike. They rode together more than a mile around the track field.

Aaron is also getting really good with basketball. He does a lot of cool tricks. He wants to be a famous basketball player when he is older.

We are also being creative with building magna tiles and doing art projects.

Support for Us Both

I always relieve stress through reading, so I read every night and also during the day, if I have time. I like reading thrillers.

Luckily, Aaron and I have a support system in place. We have family and friends. We get a delivery of food every two days from a food program and our good friend is always having her husband drop off food for us. We are so lucky that we have these people to love and care about us so much.

Aaron’s teacher said it would be a good idea to end each day by rating our mood and discussing why we feel that way. We do this when he is getting ready for bed. He tells me if he had a good day or a bad day, rating it from 1-10. If he had a bad day, we try to see how we can fix it the next day.

‘Mommy, I Love This’

I love Aaron more than the entire universe. He’s getting older, smarter. Aaron is also super funny. He thinks that “irony” is an “iron knee.”

Aaron just started a small Zoom group with a few friends, which is run by the school counselor. He protested like crazy that he didn’t want to do it. He hates going on Zoom.

A few minutes ago, he looked back at me with a smile on his face saying, “Mommy, I love this.” He is now virtually raising his hand and enjoying a conversation with friends. This makes me super happy.

Looking Ahead

Summer is going to be a whole new experience. Usually, Aaron attends camp, but this summer camps are closed. There is no way that virtual camp could be as good as real camp. Aaron misses being with his friends. He misses his teachers. There will be no swimming pools to cool off in, no playground, no sprinklers, no water balloon fights.

What will things be like when school begins again? Will it ever be normal again? I don’t know, because nothing like this has ever happened before.

I look forward to Aaron going back to school, parks being open again, and shopping becoming easier. Aaron says he looks forward to having a big barbeque with lots of friends and food. He wants to have a proper birthday party next year, since this year we couldn’t do anything. He wishes camp was open and he can’t wait to go back to school.