Pandemic Motherhood Diary, Entry #3: The Family Bubble Was Bound to Burst

By Melissa Menny

This is the third entry in our series on the experience of raising two “pandemic kids.” Read entry 2 here.

My toddler has a habit of looking out the window whenever dad comes and goes. He spots daddy pulling into the driveway and prepares for his entrance. In walks my husband, who is greeted by a jumping and jovial miniature him.

It’s adorable, but all I’m thinking about is that my husband’s paternity leave is coming to an end in the next few days.

My husband, who is a teacher, recently paid a visit to his campus to prepare for his return to the classroom. He was greeted by mask-wearing students who crowded him for baby pictures. They have missed him.

I on the other hand am feeling the inevitable stomach churns of a worried wife and mom who dreads hearing about COVID campus cases on a regular basis. The four of us — me, my husband, my two-year-old son and the newborn — have been tightly closed in our bubble for the past two months. The only time we have left it is to grab necessities from the closest stores. Everything is routinely wiped down, clothes properly discarded, and then back to our nest.

It has been a peaceful mirage. The four of us just existing in our space and enjoying each other makes the reality of today’s world seem temporarily unreal.

Next week my husband returns to work. My toddler knows that if he does not wake up to daddy, he is either at the store or at work. It’ll be my first full day alone with our two boys. Although my focus will be on them, I will also be trying to quiet the little noise in my head that worries about my husband’s well-being. This is our normal and I am incapable of numbing myself to it.

Melissa Menny is an author with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism. She is a poet and a writer in all aspects. When she is not working, she enjoys painting, music, and spending time with her husband and two sons.