KEEPING IT REAL • HASHTAG MOMFAIL
Quarantined with Kids By Jamie Johnson
I
am writing this in late April, so by the time you read it, we might be out of quarantine. At least I hope so.
If we are still in quarantine, I hope
yourself. But the versions that have less
life experience and teeny tiny attention
my kindergartener wants to be a ninja
spans and no emotional regulation.
and will jump off of anything he can
climb with no worry of breaking bones.
Close your eyes. Take a deep breath.
that this article brings you a little joy
Exhale. Open your eyes.
and you can see the end in sight.
are wrestling on the rug covered in dog
Covid-19 has really rocked our
The house is still a disaster, the kids
One day, I won’t have to worry that
One day, I won’t have to mute my
Zoom call so that I can yell, “You can’t eat ALL the skittles for
worlds — literally turned them upside down.
breakfast, just one pack!”
So many people have
One day, I won’t get to
taken this time of slowing
play hide and seek from my
down as a sign that we
kids and sit in the bathtub
have been too caught up
drinking beer because THEY
in our crazy lives. That
NEVER LOOK THERE!
it’s time to chill out and
learn how to knit finally,
so many Nerf guns that I
or do a 5,000 piece puzzle.
One day, I won’t load
start to get little blisters on
Maybe grow a bonsai tree
my fingertips. Then get hit
or watch the birds eating
with the exact foam bullet I
from the bird feeder while relaxing in your sun room
loaded.
with a mug of hot coffee.
babies to bathe and little
Then
there
is
the
One day, I won’t have
boys with boo boos to kiss.
fraction of us that are probably reading this article. This
hair and you haven’t washed your hair
article in a parenting magazine. Those
in so many days you lost track.
quarantined with kids is just that. A
of us that are quarantined with kids.
Being quarantined with kids is no
doesn’t work magic, but sometimes you
little sweet and a little sour.
joke. Quarantined, working from home
just have to stop and take a deep breath.
while teaching your school-aged kids
Along with the whiff of a toddler’s
and changing diapers is possibly the
diaper that needs to be changed.
best way to test the tiny bit of patience I
do have.
one day.
now weave baskets while blindfolded.
So, this is for all you parents that
Closing your eyes and breathing
This is what we are going to MISS One day, I am not going to have to
It is all sweet and it is all sour. Being
So if you are reading this and we
are still in quarantine, I hope you are enjoying it as much as you can. I hope you have picked up a new hobby and can Just joking, all I hope is that you
have spent the last six weeks trapped
yell at my kids that we can’t go to the
haven’t lost your mind yet. You got
in the house with tiny versions of
emergency room.
this!
OP
JAMIE JOHNSON is a full-time working mom to two little boys, wife to Logan, and part-time writer. Her pieces have been featured in HuffPost Parents, Motherly, Today Parents and PopSugar Moms. You can follow her blog at HashtagMomFail.com!
18 OWENSBORO PARENT
. June // July 2020
