A Journal of the Pandemic #10

Just want to put a small spotlight on Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, a new comics script adventure I’m writing here. I’m officially halfway through. Obviously I’m not writing about it here like I did the last one, partly because it’s literally just a script page a day, and partly because most of what I’ve been writing on this blog lately is pandemic thoughts.

Speaking of which, I did indeed return to work last week. Worked every day, had a checkpoint with questions concerning possible exposure, my temperature taken, and requiring a mask. The mask thing is one of those hot topics. There are people (I can’t guarantee this, but they may be based in major urban populations) who think you’re being suicidally and homicidally reckless if you step outside your home without one. Everyone I worked with last week found their masks to be cumbersome. Probably everyone who’s wearing one these days thinks they are, sure. Who knows how common these things will be in the future. The Chinese have made a habit of it for years. Maybe we’ll see people turning to them instinctively here, too. But my colleagues weren’t just uncomfortable. They’d sneak them off given half a chance. Again, there will be people reading this in abject horror. That’s life now. But so is trying to reintegrate back into normal life. Life is strange now, and it’s not going to be normal again anytime soon. That’s something I’ve been slow to accept.

Work went well. The first day was easiest. We had two kids from our center that first day, and one of them went home within two hours and never came back. Apparently he cut a patch from his hair when he was home. Apparently later he messed up his ankle. There are doubtless many stories like that, kids doing things all day every day whose parents are staring at it with absolute disbelief, and no chance to look away. (Every kid is Kramer.) Previously I talked about this in terms of parenting. Some of our parents have adapted brilliantly to these new challenges, and I love that, and there’s probably a lot of that going around, and of course there will be those who aren’t doing as well, and we’ll hear less about that, or we’ll hear versions that don’t really reflect the reality of what’s happening, because they’re exaggerating or because they don’t want scrutiny on the results.

Anyway, I got to watch a baby who had really only just started with us, a young one, when we were getting ready to temporarily shutter. Seeing him again was weird because I had no real memories of him except circumstances. Turned out he was doing quite well in the month since I’d last seen him. Some challenges, but, certainly with one-on-one care, nothing that was overly difficult, and he could be incredibly lively and amusing! Yesterday we got our second baby back, and this was a cause for some concern, since she was previously known for being perennially upset. And that’s what it seemed she’d be again, but the afternoon was a miracle, and I was able, generally, to balance both of them in reasonable comfort for all involved.

I was supposed to work two days this week, but over the course of yesterday morning it expanded to four. But I’m not as concerned. It will once again be a pleasure to tackle daily baby challenges.