#StayathomeMom

I’ve been working from home since last week. I like parts of it. I get to spend more time with my real boss–the two-year-old human who runs things around here. When I speak to my other boss on the phone she doesn’t have to know I haven’t brushed my teeth and I’m still in my pajamas. I don’t have to go on the subway, which, for those of us who had to deal with it every morning, was never anything anyone wanted to ride even before coronavirus.

I like it when Boo Boo scampers in to investigate what I’m working on. He sidles up to me on the couch when I’m on a conference call and whispers to me when he hears my boss on speaker phone. Today I tried to get him to speak in my place during roll call. My toddler is a prolific babbler but he got stage fright and went mute.

I know he is confused by what’s going on. He has not seen his friends, but he has seen a lot more of mommy. For two days in a row he did not take a nap. He is not used to seeing me spend so much time on the computer, but he is very intrigued by it, and has made every effort to investigate the screen and keys as much as possible. I understand, but don’t appreciate, how intrigued he is by my computer. He also like to doodle on my notepad. Still, I couldn’t ask for a better work interruption. And, I can tell myself that I’m a stay-at-home mom and I’m fully employed! Hashtag work/life balance!

But I gotta get out. I miss my co-workers. It’s strange to not hear them call their mothers, making sure they got off the bus okay, or talk about pole-tossing or whatever high-intensity training they do at their Crossfit, or talk about what the actual fuck is going on with the primaries. Ya know, water cooler stuff, only we don’t have a water cooler. We have a filtered water system right next to the sink.

When not in the office I’d normally I spend most of my work week in the field in different parts of the city, for at least long enough for me to absorb a little bit of the area’s distinct flavor. It’s a good job for me, an extrovert (with introvert tendencies) who likes to bounce around a lot. Some people’s jobs have them attached to their desks on an invisible leash with nothing but their digital clock to measure the passing of the hours. For them shelter-in-place is an upgrade.  I have more legroom at my office than I do in my New York City apartment. Which is why I’m so hashtag blessed that there is a park a just a couple blocks away. And yes, I go there.

Last week my time inside was a blur, and this week is worse. Daily excursions to the park are the only things that help mark the passage of time. That and podcasts. Monday was the day Boo Boo met another kid and they danced together while his father and I stood twenty feet apart. I also listened to a science podcast about coronavirus. Tuesday was the day we kicked around a ball in the soccer field because none of the big kids were there. And I listened to a science podcast about poop. Wednesday was the day we pet a big white German shepherd named Ghost, a name that, surprisingly, was not at all inspired by Game of Thrones, which the dog’s owner had never seen. That was the day I listened to the podcast about genealogy. Thursday was the day Boo Boo and his friend had a hard time sharing their toy trucks, and I listened to the podcast about ice quakes. I already forgot about Friday.

We’ve been running to Boo Boo’s best friend more often at the park. His mother and I stopped hugging each other in greeting, but we are just as glad to see each other. Can I say with a hundred percent certainty that we were exactly six feet from each other at all times? No, but I can say we tried to stay away from others, even though we were glad to see them too. I was glad to see the other children at the park, doing laps on their scooters. I was glad to see the teenagers playing soccer, the handball folks populating the handball courts that are always empty in the winter and fall. Everyone but the basketball players seemed decently spread apart, and no group seemed to comprise of more than ten people. Boo Boo and his friend always played on the grassy slopes of the park, where it’s less likely for us to make contact with anyone.

As of Sunday we have been banned from meeting up with anyone outside our immediate family. Today I had to ask Jer-bear what day it was. I thought it was Tuesday. Nope, he said. Wednesday. We didn’t go to the park on Monday because it was raining, but it stopped yesterday. Boo Boo asks about his friend every time we go. I don’t tell him that we’ll see him soon, because it just might not be true.