Post-Pandemic: Easy Ways to Try for Normalcy

After a year of lockdown in our American city, everything is opening up and there is a hopeful feeling that we can reach a post-pandemic stage, with the virus behind us. Yet, nothing feels quite normal to me.

While life is not exactly as it used to be, it feels hugely liberating compared to a year ago. We are returning to modified versions of our normal activities. And that means spending more time with the grandkids!

New Way to Entertain: Small Gatherings

One way we are reaching for normalcy is entertaining family and friends. We started with outdoor luncheons for family, since it was safer than indoors, and because while we were vaccinated, our children weren’t.

Our first family get-together was at Easter with lunch on our deck. Each household sat at a separate table, and all wore masks when not eating. I set out two buffets: one for each household.

We celebrated Mother’s Day outdoors, too. Our son and daughter-in-law were still waiting their turn to be vaccinated.

This past weekend, Miss T was able to have a few friends for a birthday party at a playground. Pre-pandemic, her whole class would have been invited. Still, a small party limited to just a few kids must have been thrilling, compared to last year’s virtual birthday celebration.

We hosted a family birthday dinner on a separate day, since keeping it small meant we couldn’t be invited to the playground event. I made cupcakes that looked like Chinese takeout from the book, “What’s New Cupcake?“.

Steve and I have begun inviting friends to our house, but where we might have asked two couples to dinner pre-COVID, we’ll now just do one couple at a time. All our friends are vaccinated, but we will ask if they feel more comfortable to have lunch outdoors, rather than dinner indoors.

What We are Comfortable Doing, Post-Pandemic

Everyone will have to make their own choices regarding what they feel is safe in interacting with the grandkids, depending on who has been vaccinated, the general health of everyone involved, and comfort level with school COVID practices if the kids are in school.

Here are some of the things we feel comfortable doing with the grandkids:

• Sleepovers at our house
• Taking kids to the playground; kids wearing masks and hand-sanitizing afterwards
• Resuming Friday night family dinners, now that all the adults are fully vaccinated
• Picking up the kids from school and bringing them home for a snack every Friday

This Year’s In-Person Camp Grandma

Last year, I started a virtual Camp Grandma for then-seven-year-old Miss T. We did craft projects remotely, spending hours together via FaceTime. It was a structured, six-week program held every Friday.

This summer, neither child will be going to camp because of COVID concerns, so I’m planning a Camp Grandma for each of them on separate days. Each Camp Grandma session will be a half day, once a week, at my house. Depending on how it goes, we might ramp up to more days or hours.

iPad and TV are verboten at Camp Grandma so it will take some effort to keep the kids educated and entertained. Camp Grandma is also about ensuring that kids have success with our camp activities to help them to feel confident and capable.

My plans for Miss T include sewing projects. She has a rudimentary background in sewing, having already attended several in-person and online sewing classes where she stitched up a dress, blouse, and skirt.

I also want to teach Miss T to cook. Currently, she makes baked goods with parental supervision. I think it would be good to learn to make a meal, to be self-sufficient.

For Little N, I’d like to work on his handwriting skills, word recognition, and help him to stay focused on projects. I also want to teach him to make healthy snacks; he’s such a picky eater and I want him to enjoy food.

More about Camp Grandma in a future post.

Staying in Touch at Other Times

One of the silver linings of the pandemic has been the closeness I’ve developed with Miss T, having spent so much time together on FaceTime during last year’s virtual Camp Grandma.

Although we see each other at least once a week, when she’s bored at home, she’ll FaceTime me. I’ve begun reading to her to keep her entertained.

Because she loves candy, I downloaded Charlie and the Chocolate Factory from the library. The reading level is 5th grade–three grades above hers–so it’s not a book she can read readily herself. Of course, I could borrow the audiobook or stream the movie for her. But these other methods of delivering the story do nothing to enrich our personal connection.

Miss T enjoyed the book so much, she’s asked me to read it again.

Are We in Post-Pandemic Times?

For the U.S., signs look promising that we may be moving toward a post-pandemic stage, but I tend to be a little wary. For much of the world, the pandemic isn’t in retreat. We can only hope and pray we won’t see a resurgence of the virus in the fall, that the rest of the world will be able to combat this scourge, and that families will be together at Christmas this year.

In the meantime, while there’s a window of hope in the U.S., I’m continuing to try to strive for normalcy in my life.

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