My Kid Does Windows

Discovering silver linings and pleasant surprises while sheltering in place

In the age of coronavirus, we’ve all had to adapt. Overnight, the office has become home, home has become school, and school has become the computer. Our routines have been obliterated, our creature comforts have vanished. It’s frustrating, overwhelming, and exhausting. But amidst all of the awfulness, I’ve been hearing the phrase “silver lining” quite a bit. It often follows a raging string of swear words, but it’s out there. My husband and I have certainly stumbled into some pleasant surprises as we shelter in place in New York City with our 10-year-old daughter. Here are some of them:

Cleaning: Before the virus, we had a housekeeper come to the apartment once a week. My husband and I work fulltime and this is an indulgence we decided was worth it. That said, we should have instituted some form of chores-for-allowance policy for our daughter long ago, but we didn’t. There’s no penalty if she doesn’t make her bed and no color-coded grid taped to the fridge breaking down who’s on toilet duty when. I dropped the ball on this. Sue me. But, all credit to Covid-19, we now have family cleaning day. My child has been mopping (which has always and still does just seem like pushing wet dirt around, but okay), vacuuming (she loves this, no idea why), and doing windows (her idea, but I’m all for it).

Movies: You know those kids who watched all 87 Star Wars with their parents when they were like two? Yeah, that’s not my kid. I can count on two hands the number…