Yesterday was really hard. We knew going into it that would be a busy day with my husband in meetings on and off and myself trying to carve in some time to teach all while occupying and entertaining our two lovely boys in our new makeshift home-office-classroom. We woke up with intention, powered through all the morning tasks and by lunchtime we were pretty proud of ourselves. Everyday of this quarantine I feel like we’ve been making progress in fine-tuning the parts of our days that seem to be the most energy draining for all of us and yesterday was looking to be quite a success. The sun had finally broken through, the end of the meetings was on the horizon and energy was building towards our imminent release from the demands of work. But then one meeting splintered into a secondary meeting which was now exceeding the time we had allotted and my window for freedom was becoming narrower and narrower. All I wanted to do was grab that microphone and demand that the powers at be show some respect and consideration for the mountains being moved in order to allow my husband to sit at his computer and participate in hours of meetings all day. Together we had created over eight hours of quiet workable time in our home and now they wanted more. I don’t believe that people who decide to have children or other types of dependants that may interfere with their commitments to work should be given special treatment. But before this pandemic, we had childcare set up and I did absolutely everything in my power to facilitate my partner’s ability to go above and beyond at work. Now the curtains had been drawn, and all the work and choreography that goes on behind the scenes is revealed. I didn’t grab that microphone but I did the next best passive aggressive thing – I unleashed my children and let the full enormity of their energy bombard whoever was on the other side of that conference call. I definitely wouldn’t say that I’m proud of it and the last thing that I want do is make things more difficult for my partner but part of me needed them to know the sacrifices that I’m making in order for them to get what they need. I can’t help thinking that I’m not the only person in this position right now. Yesterday felt like the first day of this new reality where as every day up until then felt like some weird vacation from real life. It should not be up to individuals like myself and my partner to demand change for how we structure work for the time being. I’m disappointed to realize that I couldn’t expect more consideration just on a human level but if it means that legislation needs to be passed or policies need to be addressed, something has to be done because nobody will be able to function this way.
While we were away 