How I nearly died during the Covid 19 pandemic. Dad 90% at home during covid-19

I was inspired by an article in the New York Times last week that was about all the people who were writing about their experiences during the Corona pandemic.  There are now several sites set up in the US recording peoples' lives during the pandemic. Some just telling how they feel and their emotions.  Others more.  Most of the stories seem anxious, angry, or sad.  
 Though I have lost all my income during the month and a half and my children have school at home and that takes a lot more of our time up and more money taking care of them and watching over their work, in fact no one even caught the common cold.  Thank God my wife still had her job.  But  I can't say it has been an emotional time for me. I already have a couple posts up documenting daddy 90% at home during this time, so I will just write about this one day I had..... where I nearly died. 

Well, part of the problem was that I did not get a good night sleep.  I very rarely do.   But get this, I

got woken up at 5.10 am  by an alarm that sounded like a rooster crowing.  And then you hear "let me sleep, let me sleep"  over and over until it is mixed with the morning doves coo, which is warped to say, "let me sleep, let me sleep".  This going off every minute.  No kidding. At 5.15am!  Whose mind is so evilly creative? 

At 8am I am making tea and eggs for my daughters.  I guess I should have guessed by the bad 5am start that I might end up dying today.  Who thinks that near death can strike any day. 

It's not that I had to get my youngest daughter connected on a voice over company to her teacher quickly before her class started at 11am.  I did, you know.  Ha, and my wife calls me computer illiterate.  The adrenaline gets going even for stupid things like that.  Is that the fight or flight mechanism also? 

Its not that I had to get the lunch prepared AGAIN and I had no idea what I was going to make.  So I fell back for the nth time on my beloved melted cheese sandwiches, version 3.  And that worked too.  My older daughter said, "daddy, I am so hungry for lunch, please make me 7 cheese sandwiches".  She ended up eating 4. 

It's not that I had to clean the house, or at least the dishes and bathroom, because there are some household chores that have to be done every day.  They don't get done by themselves.  And if you don't do them, chaos sets in very quickly especially in a small house. 

It's not that I had my own work to do that I didn't get to. 

It's not that I was playing a really strenuous game of two

Not my daughter but both play 2sq

square (pictured twice) with my youngest daughter which we played for nearly an hour.  The problem was that I did not believe that, ME, the four square champion of the school yard when I was ten years old with Paul K could no longer play like I was ten years old!  That really confused me.  But it wasn't that. Even though I felt that something was wrong and I couldn't walk straight and I felt a little unbalanced afterward.

It's not that right after that it was getting to six pm and I had ignored the dog all day and she needed exercise too.  I was throwing the plastic chicken, her favorite toy, back and forth to her and running after her and playing tug of war with her growling with the plastic chicken in her mouth.

 IT WAS THAT I realized that I was way, WAY TIRED and it was EVERYTHING all together now.

I had to sit down on the bench and rest.  I felt that I could have a heart attack any minute.  It just was all too much for me.  Here it comes...?    


It's not that I am out of shape, although I should work on that bulge called a tummy. 

Imagine that.

It is that it takes a lot of energy to be a father. 

Imagine that.

During Corona it has taken even more energy.  

Imagine that too.  I wouldn't have. 


A morning dove flew overhead and starting cooing "Let me sleep, let me sleep". 
No kidding. 

I have gotten my house albums in order now.  This is Tribal UK 037.  The DJ Vibes B2 track "out there dub" is fantastic.  From 1995, incredible.  Still one of my all time favorite tracks.  

I was also inspired by episode 39 of the Dick van Dyke show in which Mary Tyler Moores' character had an especially trying day at home as a parent.  You could just as well have substituted daddy in that role.