Most of my COVID-19 blog postings have been moanful, because blogging is such good therapy, it has been in the pissed-off or unhappy moments that I turn to writing. But there have been some good effects of this pandemic.
Son XYZ was going through the very natural and normal process of becoming a grown-up by no longer being a Mama’s Boy. This is done by being dismissive and irritated by me, by grooving into that space that is never nice, is approaching nasty, but is not quite insubordination. My boys are 6 years apart, so I have been to this rodeo before; this time was not as upsetting to me, as I really didn’t take it personally.
Nonetheless, home became a hostile environment, and our reprieve was that we were both mostly out and about.
As soon as self-isolation became real, smart Son XYZ took no time at all to chill out. He did the calculation in his head and realized that I was basically the last and only person in the world he could hang out with, and he doesn’t do confrontation at all well, so the path was clear.
This global pandemic lockdown induced niceness has been a gift to us. Son XYZ has just graduated from University, and will soon be launched into the world, so this may be the very end of our co-nesting.
It is a gift that this parenting phase will end on a relaxed note. The bond of self-isolation buddies is pretty intense and is now part of our history. :-)