Ballad of the COVID-Weary Mom

She can’t believe it’s been almost two years

Filled with worries, stress, laughter and tears

The second anniversary gift is traditionally cotton

For nearly 700 days, it’s what she has put on.

With a bit of spandex on bottom, sometimes Lululemon

But slowly everything she’s bought has been from Amazon.

First TP, then pet food, then bathing suits, then steak

Jeff Bezos flies to the moon while our money flies to his bank.

She started the pandemic worrying week-to-week

One week she was furloughed, the next the workload would creep.

Jumping from Zooms, then Slacks, oh, this client uses Teams.

Everyone is more connected but more alone, so it seems.

Everything seems in flux – schools, work, plans and life.

She can’t remember the last time they even went out as husband and wife.

Going out with others is an ordeal, it’s exhausting even before you order.

“Inside or outside?” “Masks or Not?” “Let’s just do drinks, it’ll be shorter.”

How they got through a year of virtual learning, she’ll never be sure.

She worries that education gaps won’t be reversed.

They were finally back in schools, then they weren’t, now they are,

Then Santa delivered Omicron and it reopened the scar.

Some back to virtual, others get to go in-person to school

We’d all kill for the time our biggest pain was carpool.

Kids are resilient, that’s what the experts say.

But do we really have to prove it, day after day?

She thanks God for her girls’ text chain, her everlasting grace

Her friends all get it – it’s the same challenges they face.

“My nanny has COVID,” “My husband too” “We’re going back to the office”

?Getting hit from all sides is the common thread among us.

Surviving has been all she could do, but her work wants more

“You don’t have a commute now, an extra hour to perform!”

So the dishes and dust pile up, while laundry does too,

She musters her energy for Peloton but it’s more likely “snooze.”

She went back to the salon for haircuts but then Delta spiked.

Maybe a break was good, her salary was cut but everyone’s prices were hiked.

The world has gone bananas, she can’t figure out what’s going on.

Somehow everyone’s homes’ value doubled, or so says Zillow.com.

She thinks of the things that popped up in this time - some good, she agreed.

DeuxMoi, Yellowstone, books by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

But Houseparty, that app that was hot for a hot minute

Shut down after everyone just got tired of it.

She opens her Instagram and Facebook to scroll for a few

But group page posts’ comments seems to boil down to “I HATE YOU”

Social media and the news are like living in a house with parents fighting 24-7

It makes having a flip phone look like a little slice of heaven.

Nearly two years have gone by and yet still it seems

We’re living our lives in complete opposite extremes.

Some out and about with hardly a care and no mask.

While others spend their savings on N95s and Binax.

It’s like the world remembered, just on a whim,

Of how when she was teaching her son how to swim

She would pretend to stand still, but back up little by little

To show him he could get all the way to the middle.

Now she feels like the child, paddling with might

Trying to get through the day or at least make it ‘til night.

“Once Omicron passes-” “Fauci says-” “March will be better-”

She spends another night with a laptop, wine and a cozy sweater.

She knows that these tough moments make her value the better ones.

Sour times makes the sweet ones feel even more fun.

She just wishes she could get a reliable sign.

Of when she will be able to put COVID to the back of her mind.

Until then, she tries to keep calm and she knows she’s not alone.

There’s many in the same boat, days upon days not leaving home.

But she clings on to the hope that this latest wave will crest.

And life will return in a way that is lived best.

With people and travel and less anxiety.

Xanax is great, but peace of mind is a dream.

Here’s to those who need to hear this to muddle through:

“I’m doing my best, and you are, too.”