I read it all last night and this morning. I thought I had lived/read about/talked about all of these things already. But you're right. It hits different to simply see so many firsthand accounts together.
And: thank you for including a stepmom story. (Even aside from the pandemic, stepparenting is stranger and more isolating than I ever w…
I read it all last night and this morning. I thought I had lived/read about/talked about all of these things already. But you're right. It hits different to simply see so many firsthand accounts together.
And: thank you for including a stepmom story. (Even aside from the pandemic, stepparenting is stranger and more isolating than I ever would have guessed. I don't feel right in mom spaces/communities online or IRL. But I'm definitely not NOT parenting.) Anyway, navigating a shared custody situation in a pandemic was/is ... something. Your "bubble" necessarily includes people you didn't directly choose a relationship with, and who might have different ways of assessing risk than you and your partner. Is the other household going out? Masking? Social distancing? What do they think constitutes an exposure and would they tell us? What happens if the kid gets sick? Or a parent? etc. There are obviously a lot of similar circumstances that show up in the piece (needing to rely on family or friends for childcare, not getting to BE in a bubble at all because of work) but .. I don't know. It's a situation where the most basic stuff is already a negotiation. I think we did pretty well, so far, but the only way I ever saw anyone talk about it was on twitter, by chance. I don't remember seeing it come up mcuh in reporting.
If anything I wanted to look for more stories of stepparenting, but not a lot of people volunteered — it is SUCH a unique (and under-covered, I think) parenting situation.
I read it all last night and this morning. I thought I had lived/read about/talked about all of these things already. But you're right. It hits different to simply see so many firsthand accounts together.
And: thank you for including a stepmom story. (Even aside from the pandemic, stepparenting is stranger and more isolating than I ever would have guessed. I don't feel right in mom spaces/communities online or IRL. But I'm definitely not NOT parenting.) Anyway, navigating a shared custody situation in a pandemic was/is ... something. Your "bubble" necessarily includes people you didn't directly choose a relationship with, and who might have different ways of assessing risk than you and your partner. Is the other household going out? Masking? Social distancing? What do they think constitutes an exposure and would they tell us? What happens if the kid gets sick? Or a parent? etc. There are obviously a lot of similar circumstances that show up in the piece (needing to rely on family or friends for childcare, not getting to BE in a bubble at all because of work) but .. I don't know. It's a situation where the most basic stuff is already a negotiation. I think we did pretty well, so far, but the only way I ever saw anyone talk about it was on twitter, by chance. I don't remember seeing it come up mcuh in reporting.
If anything I wanted to look for more stories of stepparenting, but not a lot of people volunteered — it is SUCH a unique (and under-covered, I think) parenting situation.