https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 12 Apr 2026 15:16:43 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/roe-v-wade#post-2927219 Thu, 07 Jul 2022 22:08:04 +0000 winter_wonder 2927219@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@LadyDi: I'm with you, it's been so hard lately. I have to stop myself from thinking too far into the future and what life will be like for my girls in the future. 😭 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/roe-v-wade#post-2927201 Tue, 05 Jul 2022 14:16:30 +0000 LadyDi 2927201@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I keep thinking about replying to this thread but I just feel defeated! Ever since the Uvalde shooting I just feel like I don't have the words to express my despair for this country. I am generally not one to get bogged down by the state of the world but man, things have been tough lately. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/roe-v-wade#post-2927176 Sun, 26 Jun 2022 19:05:42 +0000 karenbme 2927176@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Aria: 💯, also Clarence Thomas would never overturn interracial marriage because he is in one and it’s clear that this Supreme Court is happy to bend “textualism” to mean whatever they, personally, want. Hand guns are newer than abortion and certainly weren’t around or considered when the second amendment was written, which were the arguments against abortion rights, but the court ruled we can’t regulate hand guns so 🤦🏻‍♀️ </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/roe-v-wade#post-2927175 Sat, 25 Jun 2022 22:39:21 +0000 Aria 2927175@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So much is at stake right now beyond the right to make our own medical decisions. Without action we will lose the right to contraception and so many LGBTQ+ rights. Clarence Thomas didn’t mention overturning interracial marriage, but other politicians have and it’s based on the same legal precedent. </p> <p>If you are enraged like I am and want resources for action, here is a good compilation of local abortion funds: bit.ly/RoeWYCD</p> <p>@emilyinyourphone has really good scripts for calling your representatives to take action that way (and that is useful whether your state allows abortion or not!)</p> <p>And I live in a blue state that is committed to the right to abortion, so there is a push to put it into the state constitution to make it harder to undo. I will be pressuring my local reps to do that. We can’t sit back and wait to see what happens. We know what will happen. And we have to be in it for the long haul. There are no quick solutions here unfortunately. </p> <p>Stepping off my soapbox now. I’m just so angry and scared.</p> <p>ETA: And we also have to continue working to actively dismantle white supremacy because it is very closely tied to the push to eliminate these protections. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/roe-v-wade#post-2927174 Sat, 25 Jun 2022 22:20:24 +0000 winter_wonder 2927174@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@karenbme @mrswin: I keep typing, deleting, and retyping replies. I just have no words. It is profoundly sad. I hope everyone uses their outrage to vote in November. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/roe-v-wade#post-2927173 Sat, 25 Jun 2022 13:37:18 +0000 mrswin 2927173@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@karenbme: I read a similar article after the leak of a draft opinion that there may well be significant repercussions for IVF especially in states where the laws specify that life begins at fertilization. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/roe-v-wade#post-2927172 Sat, 25 Jun 2022 07:03:32 +0000 karenbme 2927172@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I also read (on the internet, but from a credible source) that doctors in WI were advised yesterday to stop providing IVF services in preparation for a fetal personhood bill. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/roe-v-wade#post-2927171 Sat, 25 Jun 2022 07:01:11 +0000 karenbme 2927171@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@winter_wonder: it is completely insane. Women will die, lives will be ruined, miscarriages will (and are already being) investigated as murders and those of us who live in liberal states should trust Republicans when they say that the next goal is a national ban. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/roe-v-wade#post-2927169 Fri, 24 Jun 2022 19:59:01 +0000 mrswin 2927169@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@winter_wonder: I don’t know… based on Thomas’ opinion many things. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/roe-v-wade#post-2927168 Fri, 24 Jun 2022 19:41:54 +0000 winter_wonder 2927168@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrswin: and if this is taken away...what's next? :crying: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/roe-v-wade#post-2927167 Fri, 24 Jun 2022 19:40:48 +0000 mrswin 2927167@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@winter_wonder: As a Canadian while this does not have a direct impact on my life it makes me so sad for all my US friends and colleagues. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/roe-v-wade#post-2927166 Fri, 24 Jun 2022 19:30:01 +0000 winter_wonder 2927166@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Are we living in 2022????? What a scary and sad time to be living in the U.S. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/follow-up-coronavirus-how-has-if-affected-you#post-2922804 Thu, 04 Mar 2021 22:48:57 +0000 Anagram 2922804@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This year has been a blur. That’s the only way I can describe it. Obviously, hindsight is 20/20, but last year for March-December, I just felt like I was in a perpetual holding pattern. Not making any plans, just wake up every day and get on the hamster wheel of parenting and working from home, sleep, wake up and do it all over again. Day in and day out. I guess not having an end date made it feel like Groundhogs day. Other people were like, getting fit, or learning. New hobby, and I (like all working parents I assume) have just been trying to survive. I barely remember the entire last year. </p> <p>We haven’t seen our parents in almost 2 years on my husband’s side, and my mom in over a year. This is rough, because they’re all retired, so we typically see each set 3-4 times a year. </p> <p>We’ve totally been lucky in that somehow we’ve managed to make it work. I think I pissed off my work greatly, but I’ve managed to work from home from March 2019 until now, and this is notable because I’m a teacher, and my school has been in-person this entire school year. But there were just enough kids who signed up for all remote, that I was able to get one of the remote positions (there were only 5) on the basis of my autoimmune diseases (I have lupus and sjogrens), but I’m officially getting my 2nd vaccine next week and am back to work literally 2 weeks after that. My district had been trying to get me to come back for a bit now. But I managed to get them to hold off until the official 2 weeks after my vaccine, even though they are working with a literal skeleton crew. </p> <p>And a note about that: in-person school workers are SPENT. They are not okay. This year has been......shit? Teachers are out for Covid exposures constantly—CONSTANTLY. We have gym teachers subbing in math class, and school librarians (me) teaching all kinds of things I am not qualified to teach. Because that’s what in-person school is right now. This week alone, there are 8 teachers out for either Covid exposure (2 weeks) or other serious illness (surgery, child surgery, cancer), and subs can’t be found so the remaining teachers are spread thin. They have to give up their planning periods and their lunch breaks...and their sanity really, for in-person school to even be a thing. So my heart goes out to all these teachers, who are constantly vilified by the public, but are working under horrible conditions. Who wants to go to work every day to do something totally different from what you were hired to do? Would you go to your office job and be fine with being pulled to teach 7th grade gym or 8th grade orchestra all day, when you have no background in either? And not for a day... I’ve been teaching random<br /> Classes for now an entire year. And so has everyone else in my building. Most days, I struggle to remember what I used to like about this job. </p> <p>Anyway. My kids are fine, and I’m grateful for that. They have grown academically by leaps and bounds. They’ve gotten to go to in person school (well....most of the time). They do virtual dance class, and virtual Girl Scouts, and are even in a virtual school musical. They get to see their friends every day at school. They never, ever complain about wearing masks and willingly wear them outside, at the park, everywhere. We’ve had 9 weeks of Covid related classroom/school closures. One of my kids’ school class has been out for 2 week periods multiple times because of positive Covid cases in the class—but Somehow, none of us 4 have gotten it (that I know of—we’ve all had multiple tests. We test whenever there any sign of sore throat or cough or whatever). My husband, who isn’t eligible for a vaccine now, lucked into a leftover vaccine. By pure chance. My mother is fully vaccinated, so we’ve already planned for her to visit us once my husband and I are a few weeks out from our 2nd vaccines. </p> <p>Speaking of my husband, we’ve had some pretty interesting Ups and downs. For a while last spring, it was like an extended snow day, and our marriage was probably better than ever. We even had daytime sex during the work day! But this winter it’s like, okay it’s a year now of only seeing each other. I’m honestly so tired of us both working from home all day in a tiny space, having our kids home half the time remote learning. Sometimes just hearing him eat an apple fills me with so much rage I want to leave my house and never come back. So, maybe going back to work will be good for me. 😂</p> <p>So bottom line, I have so much to be grateful for. Truly, I can’t complain because I know I’ve had it better than most people throughout this pandemic. And I can see light at the end of the tunnel now. But even so, I have moments where I feel like I’m hanging on by a thread, and honestly, I still teeter on the edge of wanting to just quit my job (rather than go back in person) every single day, mainly because—-we still have 3.5 months and a not-so-great track record of kids having to stay home from school because of Covid, even though they are in-person at school. And it’s impossible for my husband to work and homeschool 2 kids, and honestly, it doesn’t make sense for him to try because he makes 5times what I make. </p> <p>So I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll go back to work, and a miracle will occur and we’ll somehow make it to the end of this school year unscathed. But I’m also like, awake at night wondering how that’s going to happen when I know it’s not likely we’ll have 3.5 months of uninterrupted school time. </p> <p>So just like everyone else.... it’s a mess, but overall I realize I’ve been very lucky in many ways. Just hoping things get better from here. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/follow-up-coronavirus-how-has-if-affected-you#post-2922800 Thu, 04 Mar 2021 16:34:31 +0000 lindseykaye 2922800@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't know if I have processed what this year has been like. In so many ways we've had it "good". We have not had any family or friends lose their lives to the disease. No employment changes, we have secure and stable housing and income, we have the ability to elect for our oldest kid to stay at her private school which went virtual this year, and we were able to keep our youngest home while continuing to pay her home daycare provider for several months before starting her back just 1-2 days a week (still paying her old rate). I adapted OK to working from home which is shocking considering how I used to feel about it. At one point in late 2019 I was traveling for work about 30% of the time and that came to an abrupt end. Our girls are also closer than they ever have been despite their 6-year age gap thanks to how much time they spend together now. We have tried to "make the best of it" in so many ways. </p> <p>I'm also really really tired and sad. I haven't seen my parents since August 2019. My mom was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer just a month after that trip and it's never been safe since that time to go see them or for them to travel to see us. It fucking sucks. I have felt so incredibly guilty for not being able to support them better even though NOT seeing them is the safest, best way to do that. She has thankfully *just* been vaccinated and I feel better knowing she has that much more protection. I was ALREADY grateful she has lived this long after her diagnosis without even taking COVID into consideration, and I am that much more grateful now.</p> <p>Our city has done a wonderful job, but I live in a state that has done a pretty crappy job overall so we have never really felt safe. We have not been to a restaurant (inside or out) or on any sort of 'vacation' since things changed. We went to visit my in-laws a couple hours away back in September after testing, and hosted my brother and his partner in our yard for a few hours when they came up for a house-hunting trip. That is the extent of our time with family for the past year. We're going to visit them again in a few weeks for spring break and just stay home-bound, but in a different house. I'm still really anxious about it but I think the benefit of the kids getting to see them and for DH and I to go anywhere that is not our house is greater than the risks (or I tell myself that).</p> <p>I find myself very sad and rage-y when I see so SO many people in my community just going about their business. It is hard not to pass judgement and feel jealousy. I try to make myself feel better by remembering that all our precautions and sacrifices have been worth it, and have helped with what recovery and improvement there has been, but it's hard after so long. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/follow-up-coronavirus-how-has-if-affected-you#post-2922799 Thu, 04 Mar 2021 13:22:04 +0000 Littlebit7 2922799@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Its hard to even pick up specific things from the last year; sometimes it feels like events didn't happen. Or did they? What interactions were virtual? What was in person? I can't even remember. I remember the death; being unable to grieve the way you would like to is incredibly hard.</p> <p>DH is still working from home for the foreseeable future. Typical work for him is travel-heavy so unsure when that will resume. His field has been unaffected and for that we are thankful. We moved into our new place about 2 months before we were locked inside our house for 52 days straight (we counted); thankfully it has space, a yard, and an office for DH. I had debated returning to work PRN once the kids were both in school (that would have happened this year) but obviously that isn't happening. Even if I had reliable childcare, I don't think I would willingly go into a hospital system right now. Its selfish, but my family comes first.<br /> My kids have been in school in person the entire year minus a week or two here or there which has gone really well and I am thankful they can go in person, it has been so good for them. In those virtual weeks, I found myself wondering aloud SO many times how single parent households or two-working parking households were making it work. It seems impossible. It is impossible<br /> We've managed to get some things on the calendar as far as travel (driving, to "safe" places). So having something to look forward to is good. My parents and in laws were vaccinated. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/follow-up-coronavirus-how-has-if-affected-you#post-2922797 Thu, 04 Mar 2021 09:08:06 +0000 Lahela017 2922797@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This as sure been a lot crazier and longer than I ever thought back then!</p> <p>The good is that my husband works from home now and loves it. His quality of life is so much better. He had an hour commute each way before. Also, I have more time for some hobbies at home. I've been doing a lot more reading and knitting than ever before. I find both very stress relieving.</p> <p>The negatives are that my husband's twin brother, grandma, and grandpa all passed away. Only the grandma was actually from covid, but it's so hard not being able to be with loved ones during the grief process. My sister has also been dealing with some mental health issues relate to it all which is hard to watch and I don't really have a way to help. And the obvious one that we miss our friends and family that we haven't seen all year. My two year old daughter really isn't getting much socially..... I hope it doesn't have lasting impacts. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/follow-up-coronavirus-how-has-if-affected-you#post-2922792 Wed, 03 Mar 2021 22:31:42 +0000 karenbme 2922792@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Caly: That is awful, I’m so sorry. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/follow-up-coronavirus-how-has-if-affected-you#post-2922786 Wed, 03 Mar 2021 09:23:09 +0000 josina 2922786@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Caly: So so sorry for your loss :sad: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/follow-up-coronavirus-how-has-if-affected-you#post-2922785 Wed, 03 Mar 2021 09:07:44 +0000 periwinklebee 2922785@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Caly: I'm so sorry :heart: </p> <p>It's a bit hard to know where to start in answering this. </p> <p>The good: getting to spend a lot more time with my kids due to ongoing childcare disruptions and limitations; not having to commute, getting to wear sweats whenever I want... I also feel like it has actually been good for my relationship with DH, we decided we just don't have the energy to get upset with each other so we're not going to go there, and he's stepped up to help more at home given all the work created by the childcare and other disruptions. </p> <p>The so-so: Being absolutely utterly exhausted - while I'm very lucky to have a stable job, there were a bunch of covid disruptions that created a ton of work, and we've lost a substantial share of people to deaths and departures, but have a hiring freeze due to covid cuts. Combine that with limited childcare and it's been intense. </p> <p>The ugly: the suffering so many people have faced is so heartbreaking.. for me personally, advocating through an insane amount of bs to get a relative access to adequate mental health care has been the low point. Mental health care in this country can be pretty crappy, and i learned that many providers don't take depression seriously in older Americans without a history of severe depression. I won't go into details, but in short it blew my mind how much advocating and struggling it took to get this person the help they desperately needed (which ultimately involved inpatient care and ECT treatment). I think covid has ushered in a mental health crisis, and I wish so much we made it easier for people to get support. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/follow-up-coronavirus-how-has-if-affected-you#post-2922784 Wed, 03 Mar 2021 08:58:17 +0000 minimalistmom 2922784@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Caly: I'm so incredibly sorry. :heart: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/follow-up-coronavirus-how-has-if-affected-you#post-2922778 Tue, 02 Mar 2021 22:23:46 +0000 pinkb 2922778@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Caly: I’m so sorry about your mom ❤️</p> <p>We were in the middle of selling our home and moving 4 hrs away when it all started. I was laid off and DH was already not working. We sold our home and moved our family of 5 in with my parents and sister for 5 months. My mom has several health issues that are new and come with a lot of trauma, reason for us moving closer, so that kept us in all the time just to be safe. Had to figure out how to buy a home with no jobs, we did it! We had been homeschooling but just sent the kids back to school last week. Still no jobs, the market in our area is hard :( but trying to make the most of it all. Lots of family time. We have stayed healthy and all my family had as well. But I did have a friend who lost a parent to covid and several friends that were sick in icu and have recovered but now have other health issues from covid. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/follow-up-coronavirus-how-has-if-affected-you#post-2922777 Tue, 02 Mar 2021 22:16:18 +0000 LadyDi 2922777@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Caly: I am so very, very sorry for your loss :heart: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/follow-up-coronavirus-how-has-if-affected-you#post-2922776 Tue, 02 Mar 2021 21:09:06 +0000 Caly 2922776@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Pros:<br /> I now work from home permanently and am still employed. </p> <p>Cons:<br /> Covid killed my otherwise very healthy mom. She died alone 1400 miles away from us and I don’t wish that horror and grief on my worst enemy. Per her wishes, I had to make the decision to unhook her from life support and coordinate last goodbyes with my siblings and relatives. Her cremains were delivered to me by mail the day before Thanksgiving and my family has not had a funeral or memorial service. </p> <p>My favorite coworker was in the ICU on and off a vent for over 2 months before being released to go home. Now he’s back in the hospital for heart surgery. A close friends dad has been in the ICU for several weeks. This is just the most recent people in my life to he hospitalized from Covid. </p> <p>It hasn’t been the best year. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/follow-up-coronavirus-how-has-if-affected-you#post-2922772 Tue, 02 Mar 2021 16:17:14 +0000 ShootingStar 2922772@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This past year has definitely been the craziest of my life. Last February (2020) we put our house in MA on the market and decided to move to FL to be close to my parents and for the weather. Our house sold in about a week and the first weekend in March we took a trip to look at house and decided to make an offer. About a week after we were under contract everything shut down.</p> <p>The weeks after that were awful. March in MA was cold and snowy and there was nowhere safe to take the kids. We kept having problem after problem come up with selling/buying. Our house also had multiple freak things break. Like, one day I came home to find water pouring out of the kitchen ceiling. Luckily into the sink, lol. I was dying at all costs racking up to make sure the closing went through. Then we had all sorts of trouble actually getting to FL. Our flights kept getting cancelled and I was positive I wouldn't make it driving with our two kids plus a dog that hates the car. I had multiple panic attacks and breakdowns, and was positive we were going to get covid and die on the trip. </p> <p>But we made it and it's been an incredible change for us. It's amazing having so much great weather. We also have our own pool and a bunch of community amenities, including a really nice playground. We go on walks, we swim, we play tennis, we can even go out to eat (infrequently) thanks to being able to eat fully outside. </p> <p>We don't see my parents as much as I expected. My dad is a cancer survivor and we had to be really careful not to infect him. Before moving I had visions of date nights where I'd drop off the kids and come back for them the next morning, but obviously that hasn't been possible. I also imagined family dinners and mother/daughter pedicures, and we haven't been able to much of those things either. But we have been able to see them and hang out outside. We even had a great Thanksgiving dinner all outside and swam in the pool after. </p> <p>On the plus side DH and I had been given the go ahead to work remotely full time, and it's honestly been amazing having everyone working remotely too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/follow-up-coronavirus-how-has-if-affected-you#post-2922766 Tue, 02 Mar 2021 14:08:34 +0000 KT326 2922766@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The transition to working from home, virtual learning and trying to keep a 3 year old entertained was tough. I broke down a couple times. But once the 3 year old was able to start back at daycare in July it was so much better. My 3rd grader has been distance learning, but after winter break he was able to start going in-person 4 days a week (only a small number of students in each class have been going). If all goes well in the next couple weeks our district could move to the next hybrid phase. </p> <p>As for me, it sounds like WFH is going to be the norm now with maybe 1-2 office days a month. Even though my commute wasn't that long, it has been so nice not having to drive anywhere. Daycare and elementary school are both within a mile of our house. We haven't seen any family in over a year though. My mom used to watch my kids for a week a couple times a year, I miss it so much! I never realized how much that time allowed me to recharge. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/follow-up-coronavirus-how-has-if-affected-you#post-2922745 Mon, 01 Mar 2021 13:04:44 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2922745@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Rereading my first comment on that thread was really eye-opening just as to how much things have changed. I wrote that I wasn't worried about getting Covid but that changed big time - I had gotten very scared of it once we started learning how severe it was and that it was affecting breathing, which has always been one of my worst fears. I also wrote that not having social contact would be excruciating for my daughter, who's very social, but she has actually fared really well through all this. She has been virtually learning since late April, and will likely finish out this year virtually (unless schools reopen widely, which I don't anticipate at this point in the year, they just now started phasing part-time kids in). We've had very minimal contact with others, only just some play dates with friends who mask and also isolate, and she's handled it all really well overall. We definitely took the extra cautious route to everything so we've been home, only doing nature-based/outdoor activities, only takeout, haven't traveled. etc. We haven't seen our families since November 2019 but we're getting close to everyone being vaccinated now (I'm the last one) so I'm hoping we might be able to gather for my daughter's 8th birthday in June. My family has had Covid - my parents and brother - and thankfully fared well so I guess they have an extra boost in addition to the vaccine. No one on my in-law side has, and we managed to avoid it as well. My BIL is expecting in April so we'll have a new baby and I'm trying to stay hopeful that things will keep improving and will allow us to send our daughter to camp, which we skipped in 2020, and to see our family. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/follow-up-coronavirus-how-has-if-affected-you#post-2922717 Fri, 26 Feb 2021 22:33:51 +0000 am110613 2922717@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I feel so isolated right now. I keep up with friends but I think none of us want to complain too much because we’re relatively privileged. Appreciate people being so candid about how tough it’s been. Even though we haven’t been directly impacted just the huge burden of worry, research, planning over everything has been huge. I always forget that and then wonder why I feel so exhausted and burnt out. I do feel like my husband and I have been forced to work through a lot of tough stuff in our marriage and as individuals. I think we’ll come out of this stronger. On a larger level I can’t get my head around the horrific loss of life. I worry about all the kids who have lost a year of school and may not catch up. I hope there is a way we can come together as a country after this is all over. It is such a struggle not to be cynical about that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/follow-up-coronavirus-how-has-if-affected-you#post-2922716 Fri, 26 Feb 2021 17:46:55 +0000 minimalistmom 2922716@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I honestly don't even know how to answer this...I live in California which has been shut down, opened up, locked down, opened up. Our cases have been crazy (but are getting better.) My husband and I have both been working from home since March and our daughter finally went back to daycare in January while my son has done distance learning from home. I live in an area where people think this is blown out of proportion (despite our numbers.) We have taken this very seriously. I haven't seen certain friends since March and I went a year without seeing my sister, and 6 months not seeing my parents (despite living down the road.) I haven't been in a restaurant, store, etc. My husband and I are both required to report to work in March, but my son has nowhere to go so I will be taking a leave. I experienced some of the worst anxiety in my life. Daily panic attacks about dying. I got an appt with a psych and got on some meds and feel much better. My husband just got his first dose yesterday and I hope I am following suit soon. I can give you a summary but how AM I? I don't even know how to answer to be honest. I feel like I have aged 5 years. In the end, we have our house, jobs, food etc but I miss life so, so very much. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/follow-up-coronavirus-how-has-if-affected-you#post-2922715 Fri, 26 Feb 2021 17:40:20 +0000 julie31 2922715@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The last year still feels surreal.</p> <p>The 4 of us are still at home all the time. DH works from home. I am self-employed and I just stopped looking for new work so I could care for the kiddos. I am grateful we can afford me not working but I miss the mental stimulation. My industry has been really badly impacted by COVID so between that and my not working for more than a year, I'm not sure what my career will look like when I get back in the game.</p> <p>DS1 (6) will go back to school in April, but only 9 hours a week. The rest of the time, he will have asynchronous (=parent-directed) learning. DS2 (4) will go back to preK in September.</p> <p>The dreary weather is not helping my mental health. I also don't know when I'll be able to see my folks. We have no local family so we haven't seen anybody in 1.5 years. My parents live in a country where the vaccine rollout is REALLY slow - at this pace, I may be vaccinated before them. And the borders are closed anyway. So I couldn't go home if I wanted to right now. If we can't go again this summer, it will be a blow. I can't imagine my kids going 3 years without seeing my parents in person. Kids change so much at that age, it makes me sad to think my parents are missing out on so much.</p> <p>At least nobody close to us has gotten sick. My mom got a scare this week. It was a long 24 hours to wait for the test results. Negative thank god. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/follow-up-coronavirus-how-has-if-affected-you#post-2922714 Fri, 26 Feb 2021 16:04:55 +0000 JennyLayneAZ 2922714@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Wow. Well I apparently didn't comment on that thread last year, I think I was in a bit of shock at everything happening. I gave birth to DD2 at the beginning of April, which was scary. I was lucky to be able to have DH with me, but no visitors and he wasn't allowed to come back if he left.</p> <p>Having a newborn during lockdown wasn't so bad. I'm not sure much changed from how we would've behaved normally anyway, except, no visitors. But, after the newborn time wore off, it did become harder to stay home all the time. I feel bad for my kids, they don't get out much and the baby has some serious "stranger danger". </p> <p>DD1 has remained in daycare throughout everything. DH and I are both "essential" - we both work in different areas of construction. Quite honestly, she's been the healthiest this year (she's almost 5) than she's been since she started daycare at almost 2, so, the extra precautions have been great lol</p> <p>We have been lucky enough to remain employed, and covid free.</p> <p>I miss going places. Things here are open, and have been for months, it just doesn't feel....I don't know, comfortable, I guess? In the last month I've eaten out 3 times and it makes me feel really nervous (all have been for work :meh: ). </p> <p>I still worry all the time. My dad got his first shot (he works for a school district), so I'm happy for that. But my mom doesn't qualify yet and she's not sure she wants to take it (don't get me started) and she's the one I worry about most out of anyone in my family if they/we were to get it. I am personally ready for my vaccine. If it were open to the general public in my state, I'd jump to get it. </p> <p>I don't know, I feel like I'm rambling now lol I need a vacation. </p>