By Marcie Howerton, Student Submission
Coronavirus is making my hair fall out, literally.
Not because of reasons that you’d typically think of when a major virus is taking over the world in its entirety; nor because of disease, lack of hormones or some nasty side effect from a drug given to me by my doctor.
No! It’s falling out because I have two teenagers at home until April 6, and even as I sit here and write this post, I have very little faith that they’ll go back to school at all this year.
With one week down and at least two weeks off from school to go, I’ve tired myself of asking God why he’s doing this to me and what I did to deserve this – and why my hair, of all things?
While Thing One (a.k.a. Gunnar) and Thing Two (a.k.a. Reagan) were making bets on whether social isolation would last all summer – Gunnar saying “yes” and Reagan saying “no” – I had an epiphany: coronavirus, which I have not been exposed to that I know of, is worse than having kids home on summer vacation.
Coronavirus has taken away the little “breaks” that parents rely on during summer vacation, like summer sports practices and camps, graduation parties, weekends away with friends camping up north, and trips to Cedar Point. For the time being, coronavirus has eliminated these activities and my kids are home 24/7, without school, friends and sports.
The question of why my hair is falling out has been answered.
Now don’t get me wrong. I have great kids. They’re both A-students and neither have discipline problems. However, the lack of social interaction has caused them to latch on to the last means of human connection currently available: each other. I mean, why else would it be so hard for them to walk by each other and NOT make a face? NOT fake cough and say something under their breath? NOT play “Touched You Last?”
In a time when we’re being told to socially distance and isolate ourselves, why is it that my kids can’t keep their hands to themselves? Any other day, they purposely keep six feet away from each other.
So, how has coronavirus personally impacted my life? I have been pulling out my hair dealing with two teenagers who antagonize and push each other’s buttons to no end while they’re off school due to the virus. Though I’m losing hair and patience, coronavirus has been a reminder for me to not take time for granted.
Kids are just as aggravated and agitated as adults are by coronavirus, so rather than letting them get the best of me, I figured I’d capture the memories. Besides, the salon’s closed so the hair will have to wait!
