Day 63: Waiting for Grandma and Pop-Pop
Sunday was an exciting day in the Schneider Haus. Pretty much every day since this whole thing began, the kids have been asking when we can see Grandma and Pop-Pop. And every day we'd have to do the usual parental dodges of saying things like "Oh, soon," and "we'll see."
Every time I say "We'll see," which is pretty often, I get a little reflexive choke in my throat because it was something my dad used to say to us all the time. It was the stock response to a wide range of questions, ranging from typical kid nags like "can we get candy at the store" and "do I really have to do chores," all the way to the absurdities he didn't care to address like, "Do you think Destro would beat Starscream in a fight?"
The choke comes both from the little kid inside remembering that often disappointing response and also from the grown up who now totally understands why he said it all the time. Any parent can attest to the fact that the day is basically just a long stream of random requests and nags, and sometimes the best you can do is hold off the torrent for a few seconds while you try to get something done.
Food is of course always one of the big ones, and we're trying to limit snacks, so Henry is already asking at 9:30am if it's time for lunch yet, and he spends pretty much every second between 3 and 5pm demanding to know what we're having for dinner.
I digress, but the point here is that our kids are pretty persistent. And boy has their desire to see their grandparents been at the top of the persistence list. We of course do not blame the kids and we miss their grandparents too. So a few weeks ago we had a conversation about the prospect of getting together.
We are, as I've yammered on about at length in this blog, definitely on the cautious side, so we came up with strategy together to live by the same strict quarantine mask and social distance rules for the recommended 14 days so we could all get together. We were all very excited and the kids were bouncing off the walls when the day finally arrived.
Grandma and Pop-Pop were coming over in the mid afternoon, and the last hour was driving Amelia crazy. And by the transitive property, it soon was also driving me crazy, because literally every minute, she would ask "How many minutes now?!?" This gives a glimpse of her overall mood in the final stretch.
But the hour did in fact pass, and Grandma and Pop-Pop arrived. Hands were washed and then hugs were had. It was a beautiful afternoon so we hung out in the backyard. They were the first human beings we've seen since this all began, so it was a very nice visit, and the kids were thrilled.
We had some grilled shrimp and pasta with vodka sauce for dinner, and enjoyed each other's company until evening. It was very nice, even if it felt a little surreal talking to other adults in person.
At one point, we were recounting tales of the past few months and Shannon mentioned a story I told on this blog about two weeks ago about Henry's search for a tiny toy camera. What struck me in that moment is that I had completely forgotten about that. And I need to say, not only was it only two weeks ago, it was also a really joyful, special moment.
We are all dealing with so much every day right now, it's easy to get sucked into the forward momentum and lose the little moments like that. It reinforced for me exactly why I started writing this blog. I love that people are reading it, but that is frosting on the cake. I'm doing it so I don't forget. So I can look back and remember things like that. Because I know my own crap memory well enough to know that if it isn't a cartoon theme song or commercial jingle from 1983, the chances are I won't remember it.
That's the long way around to encouraging everyone to do something to chronicle this time for yourself. Take pictures, write in a journal, or just open a Word document and write a few notes or memories from each day. Speaking from experience, I can tell you it helps create a little personal sanity and I think you're going to want to remember those little moments.
Now that I've completed my commercial for journaling, I'll conclude the day's chronicle by saying we had a nice dinner and a nice visit with Grandma and Pop Pop. It was time to say goodbye, and the kids immediately asked when we could get together again. I of course said, "We'll see." Dammit. Just knees slipping out.
Like everyone right now, we are trying to strike the proper balance between being safe and smart and also living and starting to stick a toe out into the world a little. It's a weird, scary and confusing world out there. We still have a long way to go, but for now are thankful for time we had and will continue to take it one step and one day at a time.
Every time I say "We'll see," which is pretty often, I get a little reflexive choke in my throat because it was something my dad used to say to us all the time. It was the stock response to a wide range of questions, ranging from typical kid nags like "can we get candy at the store" and "do I really have to do chores," all the way to the absurdities he didn't care to address like, "Do you think Destro would beat Starscream in a fight?"
The choke comes both from the little kid inside remembering that often disappointing response and also from the grown up who now totally understands why he said it all the time. Any parent can attest to the fact that the day is basically just a long stream of random requests and nags, and sometimes the best you can do is hold off the torrent for a few seconds while you try to get something done.
Food is of course always one of the big ones, and we're trying to limit snacks, so Henry is already asking at 9:30am if it's time for lunch yet, and he spends pretty much every second between 3 and 5pm demanding to know what we're having for dinner.
I digress, but the point here is that our kids are pretty persistent. And boy has their desire to see their grandparents been at the top of the persistence list. We of course do not blame the kids and we miss their grandparents too. So a few weeks ago we had a conversation about the prospect of getting together.
We are, as I've yammered on about at length in this blog, definitely on the cautious side, so we came up with strategy together to live by the same strict quarantine mask and social distance rules for the recommended 14 days so we could all get together. We were all very excited and the kids were bouncing off the walls when the day finally arrived.
Grandma and Pop-Pop were coming over in the mid afternoon, and the last hour was driving Amelia crazy. And by the transitive property, it soon was also driving me crazy, because literally every minute, she would ask "How many minutes now?!?" This gives a glimpse of her overall mood in the final stretch.
But the hour did in fact pass, and Grandma and Pop-Pop arrived. Hands were washed and then hugs were had. It was a beautiful afternoon so we hung out in the backyard. They were the first human beings we've seen since this all began, so it was a very nice visit, and the kids were thrilled.
We had some grilled shrimp and pasta with vodka sauce for dinner, and enjoyed each other's company until evening. It was very nice, even if it felt a little surreal talking to other adults in person.
At one point, we were recounting tales of the past few months and Shannon mentioned a story I told on this blog about two weeks ago about Henry's search for a tiny toy camera. What struck me in that moment is that I had completely forgotten about that. And I need to say, not only was it only two weeks ago, it was also a really joyful, special moment.
We are all dealing with so much every day right now, it's easy to get sucked into the forward momentum and lose the little moments like that. It reinforced for me exactly why I started writing this blog. I love that people are reading it, but that is frosting on the cake. I'm doing it so I don't forget. So I can look back and remember things like that. Because I know my own crap memory well enough to know that if it isn't a cartoon theme song or commercial jingle from 1983, the chances are I won't remember it.
That's the long way around to encouraging everyone to do something to chronicle this time for yourself. Take pictures, write in a journal, or just open a Word document and write a few notes or memories from each day. Speaking from experience, I can tell you it helps create a little personal sanity and I think you're going to want to remember those little moments.
Now that I've completed my commercial for journaling, I'll conclude the day's chronicle by saying we had a nice dinner and a nice visit with Grandma and Pop Pop. It was time to say goodbye, and the kids immediately asked when we could get together again. I of course said, "We'll see." Dammit. Just knees slipping out.
Like everyone right now, we are trying to strike the proper balance between being safe and smart and also living and starting to stick a toe out into the world a little. It's a weird, scary and confusing world out there. We still have a long way to go, but for now are thankful for time we had and will continue to take it one step and one day at a time.
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