Mike Julianelle, the 40-something father of two behind @dadandburied, is our go-to friend when it comes to parenting advice. He tells it like it is and gives us a good laugh along the way, and especially right now, that's just what we need. This month’s question: How do families survive the home stretch until summer?
“We’re all going crazy. Every sunny, warm day is followed by three lousy ones, and my kids need to get outside—and away from me! How do we survive these next few weeks before summer without losing our minds?”
—Marcus, Staten Island
Honestly, Marcus? I DON’T KNOW!
We’ve been stuck inside far more than we’re used to. Parents have been working from home; kids have been schooling from home; some of us have even been teaching from home. We’re all dying to get outside and back to normal life.
If we lived in California or another warm locale where social distancing outside is easy, maybe we’d feel differently. Unfortunately, we live here, where winter has been long and brutal and enjoys rope-a-doping us with false hope well into spring! We’re all going a little mad—especially our kids. (Not that you can tell; kids are already insane…unless it’s just my kids. Please don’t let it be just my kids!)
Thankfully, spring is here and so is the vaccine!
You’ve done what you needed to do in order to survive. Maybe you’ve kept the family together with weekly game nights. Maybe you’ve stayed sane by Zooming with friends. Maybe you’ve allowed the kids to melt their brains with video games so you could have some adult time? Guilty as charged!
Whatever coping method you used, you’re surely completely sick of it by now, and also probably completely sick of your kids. I think we are all dying to get a lot further than 6 feet away from our kids. And we’re so close (to being far from our children).
Take heart that change is coming. Use these sporadic sunny days to take a walk and yell at your kids outside, and if you’re vaccinated, visit other vaccinated people. Keep ordering take-out and delivery, keep maximizing your Netflix account, and keep letting your kids play Fortnite or Doom or Double Dragon or whatever they play these days.
Hang on for a little while longer, Marcus, and soon enough the weather, and the vaccine (and herd immunity!) will give us all the protection we need to start getting together with friends again, to start getting away from our kids again, and to start living life again—if we can remember how!
