When Cal came home in May we truly thought that the worst of the pandemic was behind us. It looked as though if we all just social distanced and stayed outside for small gatherings that by June the world that we knew it would return to normal. Then Memorial Day weekend hit and social media posts picturing large parties completely ignoring the six foot rule ran rampant. Shortly there after the number of Americans testing positive for COVID-19 became alarming and states started talking about lock down measures again. That along with the anti-mask protests and large political rallies made Doug and I realize that the predictions that were first forecasted were no longer in effect and we would have to continue our strict adherence to mask wearing, hand washing and social distancing throughout the summer months. The nice part was that we could be outside for most of this time period and quickly created an outdoor living space that we have all enjoyed.
The most challenging part for us parenting in the middle of the pandemic in the Heinisch home was how to adapt our lives to remain healthy while still letting Meg, Cam and Cal have some semblance of a social life. Cam adapted easily as golf season started for him n May which gave him an outlet outside of our home. Meg made some adjustments to her social calendar and avenues for small gatherings, but within a few days was was able to live within the parameters of our life at home as well. It took time for all of us to come up with a plan for Cal, however. Just the nature of his job as a bag boy forced him to come in contact with hundreds of people a week. Although most of it was outside and he wore a mask, he was definitely more at risk than the rest of us. His friend group at home wasn't as large as it was at IU, but early on we realized that the majority of them were not following the strict social distancing rules that we were. Thus, it was going to be even more challenging for Cal to live here and not put the rest of us at risk.
Over the month of June we talked about a lot of living ideas for Cal. His job at Plante Moran had been pushed off until January which gave him six months of living at home before then. Doug and I thought about renting a small place for him in town. He talked about returning to Bloomington for the summer. Cal even thought about living with a friend for a couple of weeks to see if the health crisis improved. After the 4th of July we realized that none of these ideas were viable options and I finally came up with a solution that we could all live with while still feeling that our home was a safe haven and virus free. We gave Cal a large part of the basement to live in that could be closed off by a door. We changed bathroom arrangements so that he was the only one using his and we asked him to come and go out of a separate entrance from the rest of us. We even went as far as to vent the house differently so that we were not sharing air space and provided meals for Cal ourselves eliminating his use of the kitchen. His mini-fridge and coffee maker were moved to the basement as well. All of these changes would allow Cal to come and go as he wanted as if he lived on his own. It also reduced the amount of cleaning that I would have to do. It was such a relief to all of us to finally come up with a solution as we have loved having him home for the summer. Now evenings like last night - celebrating Cameron Adams' 23rd birthday with a mini-bar crawl in Syracuse - could happen with our only worry of who would pick Cal up when it was over (of course following the CDC safety protocols of masks, open windows in the car and less than a fifteen minute drive.) The pictures Cal shared on social media last night showed how happy he was to spend an evening with his longtime friends and I was happy as well as I noticed that the boys even stayed outside as much as possible to eat, drink and celebrate Cameron's birthday.
No comments:
Post a Comment