So COVID-19. Wow.

Many of us are simultaneously working, teaching, learning, parenting, and disinfecting. Let’s be honest: if these are our frustrations, we are the lucky ones. It means we are healthy.

I desperately want to write about this global pandemic, but it’s so overwhelming and I don’t even know where to start.

So many topics are ping-ponging through my brain right now:

• Check my heart rate: I just read the news and I’m terrified
• Work, work, work because at least that’s within my (illusion of) control
• When fake news is deadly should there be manslaughter charges?
• Please Lord don’t let me make a viral Zoom mistake
• Childhood 2020: from red light, green light to so much blue light
• The world has a common enemy and we still can’t get along?

Sigh.

So how about today? Just today? Because anything more than today sends my brain spiraling.

I created an infographic about all the places our students can access ebooks while their libraries are closed. I shared it with all Anchorage librarians, but the best share of all came today when my 15-year-old son posted it to his Instagram story. Awwwww.

Sam also untangled a massive mess of dusty cords and set up our old Wii in the basement. This took a fair amount of AV troubleshooting, but he might regret his efforts. I’m a Wii bowling master, and he’s not used to his mom upstaging him in anything related to sports. (Digital sports count when real sports are cancelled, right?)

We haven’t played Wii for years, so I had to update my Mii now that I wear glasses (darn bifocal contacts didn’t work). I’m proud to say I’m still the reigning champion in our family.

The Wii setup created another project: a need for a shelf to hold the console, bin of remotes, disks, etc. Our basement is bare bones so everything was splayed about the concrete floor beneath the TV. Maggie rolled up her sleeves, sorted through piles of scrap wood, and got to building. She says her finished product will have three shelves and I can’t wait to see it! I was a little worried about her using power tools by herself while I was upstairs in Zoom meetings, but the girl has skills. I trust her.

We are slowly adjusting to this new normal.

Clark is still working in his new office each day, but many of his colleagues are able to telecommute. What a crazy time to start a new job! He says his office is doing a good job with social distancing, but we are still as cautious as possible. He showers and changes clothes as soon as he gets home every evening.

I’m working from home, with Zoom meetings starting at 7:30 a.m. daily. Educators in my school district are working long, hard hours to launch an online education program with only two weeks of training and planning. Teachers miss their kids and classrooms something fierce, and they are rising to the occasion.

Sam and Maggie miss their friends, but they have stopped asking if they can go visit. It’s no. Just no. They don’t like it, but they get it. The city and country is shutting down around them, so they realize the magnitude of what is happening. I wish they had the life experience to understand how unprecedented this is.

I hate to say it, but I think we’re in for a long haul. I’m not sure about tomorrow, but do I have faith in the doctors and scientists who are working fiercely to make it a better one for us all. So for today we choose to heed their advice and do our part. We focus on staying home as much as possible, making phone calls to those grandmothers we love so much, and dropping fresh eggs on a sick neighbor’s porch. We wash our hands and wipe down doorknobs, we play Yahtzee and walk the dogs. We watch enough news to stay informed, but not so much that we get terrified. We slow down. We focus on what we have and what we can control, and for now that’s each other. And today. Just today.