COVID-19, 5 weeks and counting

All things considered, we are hanging in there.

Annika, by far, has the most difficult transition. 17 year olds are extremely social beings, and Annika had already established her much loved routines (driving to school with Efie, seeing Clara(s) at school, soccer practice with her teammates, weekends out with Maria and other friends, etc). So the paradox is that during this time is that we all get to see Annika much more (although not as much as one might assume, given we are all remaining at home 24×7), which is great; and she gets to see us so much more, which isn’t so great.

I wish I could persuade Annika to be less judgmental, more open. In 5 weeks I’ve likely taken a 90 minute hike/walk (from the house, through the woods, along the Glasenbach, extremely soothing) around thirty times, and Annika hasn’t gone once. She’s incapable of measuring the value of 90 minutes out of the house against 90 minutes with me. Andrea and I have done aerobics 5 days a week, compliments of Cisco via a virtual class, and Annika has done none. She dismisses it entirely, which I understand if life were normal; but it’s not, so she’s choosing to what? Spend another hour in her room, another hour on her phone, another hour contemplating the madness of this situation? It’s obviously healthy but I long ago lost the ability to persuade this lovely lady who used to adore me. I obviously worry about her mental health (she’s no more or less vulnerable than every other person in the world) but I’ve concluded that I have to tread VERY carefully as I’m more likely to set her off than to help her release and forget. It’s such a bummer to not have any ability to positively influence someone I love so much.

Niki and Britta are doing much better; they are 12, after all, so very resilient. They immerse themselves in one primary thing, tire of it after 3 or 5 or 7 days, then move on. First it was ping pong, then games (backgammon, cards, rumikub, etc), then playing at the Glasenbach creek, then baking, then swimming…but after 5 weeks they are slightly noticing the repetition, but still I think they absolutely prefer this to what they had. They miss their friends and school and German immersion…they certainly miss Mimi and Opa…but they REALLY like staying up late, sleeping in, not having to run here and there following the schedule Andrea jammed tight with activities, cramming 5 days of homework into ~2 days and then relaxing a ton.

While Annika definitely is not going back to school – she knows it’s over and I’m sure that’s difficult to process – the belief now, absolutely subject to change, is that the schools may start to open in ~3 weeks. No idea how that might work if it does happen; the regular schedule ends the school year on July 10, so there are still nearly 3 months of school left so I can certainly see them returning at some point.

As for me, I’m still so happy to be seeing so much of the girls. I’m certain I’ve spent more time with them these 5 weeks than I have the last 8 months combined, so it really is a gift. I’m able to get my work done as needed, do an hour of aerobics each work day, take my 90 minute hike 5-6 times per week, and drink way too much mocha coffee.