social distancing moms - Boston Moms

I am not designed to be a stay-at-home mom. I don’t have the patience. I don’t have the energy. I don’t have the desire. 

I miss my job. I miss my students. I miss my lessons. (I don’t miss the grading.) I miss my normal, pre-COVID-19, regular, busy life.

Don’t get me wrong. I love being home with my girls and spending this extra time with them while they are growing up. I love hearing my little one grasp new words and my older one develop into a real person. I am sure that 10 years from now, when they are 14 and 11, I will think back to this day wistfully, when I was forced to stay home in order to avoid getting sick, and remember it with fondness rather than exhaustion and anxiety. I am grateful my family is healthy. I am lucky my family is healthy.

But this is hard for me. I work better when a schedule is imposed upon me by life’s obligations. I am not a schedule-setter by nature. I tried. That first Monday home, I turned on Amazon Prime and started our day with Cosmic Kids Yoga. Then we did some crafts, some letters, and some numbers. Then we ate lunch. And then I was exhausted and out of ideas, so I gave my oldest her tablet and put the little one down for a nap. And that was the first day. Each day since has been a free-for-all, somewhat-scheduled, mostly loosey-goosey, screen-time-reliant blur. I no longer know what day it is, nor do I truly care. Because in the end, does it really matter if it’s Monday or Thursday at this point?

To make matters worse, each time I open Facebook, I see Happy Hallie over here homeschooling her 15-month-old and limiting her 5-year-old’s screen time to 45 minutes per day. And I look over at my girls, happily watching “Elmo in Grouchland” for the third time today (by demand of the little one) and think, “At least they’re still alive, healthy, and not trying to rip each other’s hair out.” For now.

But this has taught me something. There is not one type of mom. There aren’t even 10 types. Or unicorn moms, or helicopter moms, or whatever fancy name type people want to use to label moms. There are just moms.

For some moms, this is the greatest, most wonderful time for them because they are home with their little ones and they are thriving at meeting their every educational, dietary, and social need. And then there are others who are scouring the internet for ideas for how to educate a reluctant 11-year-old. And then there are some who have completely given up, because even though they are home, they still have to work and they don’t have the ability to devote time to both their jobs and their child’s remote education.

And last, there’s everyone in between, just trying to get by. And regardless of who we are on any given day, we are all doing our best, and we are all OK.

Sarah Casimiro
Sarah grew up in Rhode Island and now lives in West Bridgewater, making brief stops in Quincy, Fall River, and East Bridgewater, along the way. She made the leap from Rhode Island to Massachusetts way back in 1999 when she decided to pursue a teaching degree at Boston University. She chose her career in 1987 and is currently teaching high school English to 10th and 12th graders, fulfilling a 6-year-old’s dream at the age of 22, a proclamation that often brings forth snickers from her students. She became a mother for the first time in 2016 to her daughter Cecilia, then doubled down in late 2018 with the birth of her second daughter, Adelaide. She currently lives with her husband, Jason, their dog, Nanook, their cat, Moxie, and five chickens. They share a home with her parents, who live above them and also provide the most amazing childcare for Ceci and Addie. Sarah couldn’t live without her family, her insulin pump (shout out to other T1D mamas), and Starbucks iced chai lattes. She could live without angry people, essay grading, and diaper changing.