The Shuttering of 2020 - A Blog

Day 3

Today, the reality of this new world set in. The kids will not return to the school building to complete the eleven weeks left of this school year. Their school district is gearing up for an online-distance learning plan. I have no idea when my husband and I will return to work. We sit side-by-side in our home office working throughout the day. The cats and the dog sleep at our feet and the kids entertain themselves with movies and YouTube videos. I wonder when the insanity of cabin-fever and sheer boredom will set in.

Last week, my employer implemented a mandatory work from home policy. We are not to return to the office until further notice. I’m fortunate this is an option and I can continue working. The same occurred to my husband. Last week, my two teenagers were on spring break. This week they did not return to school and in keeping with social distancing and the six-foot rule, we’ve limited all their social activities. My fifteen-year-old told us he ‘actually’ hates us because we will not allow him to go to friends or have friends over. My thirteen-year-old is anxious to begin online learning. I never thought I would be homeschooling my kids. Sort of.

Each generation has a defining moment, a significant event that changes the charted course of its cohorts’ lives and futures forever. As many schools close for the remainder of the year and COVID-19 runs ram shod across the US, it is this. This is the defining moment of their lives. The case count ticks up while global stock markets plunge and severe weather events ravage parts of the country. Countries shutter their borders and across the globe governments instill travel bans. The news reads like a bizarre post-apocalyptic novel. But this is reality.

This is The Shuttering of 2020.