Three Weeks In: Almost Losing It, Regaining It, an Anniversary and Making ESL Videos in the Garage

We’re halfway through week three of this shelter-skelter situation. N is now set up in the garage and we have a rectangular metal outdoor planter that has moved to the spot next to the garage door. I leave chai tea early in the morning and then eggs around nine. We are lucky RH is too young to realize JoJo runs off to the garage to be with Mama right after her breakfast. If RH knew Mama was home, this whole thing would be much harder, as N’s work is always time-sensitive and RH is too young to understand boundaries and logic.

With Aaron and Bijan, we bake muffins. We walk in the places that are not yet blocked off or closed to the public. We learn how to take turns. We scream with voices that are definitely not inside voices. Thank goodness for dogs. The public must walk them and so green spaces still exist. And thank goodness for our dogs these days.

RH is exploding with language and enthusiasm. I’m lucky I get to witness so much of it again after all these months of preschool and my commuting to Daly City and night teaching in Berkeley. She’s ready to “walk the neighborhood,” holding JoJo’s leash, copying the urges of her friend. “Walking the neighborhood”…