Life During Lockdown Part 1: Quarantine Has Brought Me and My Family Closer Together

Photo by Nicole Rabkin-Bekker: “An empty Manhattan street, and possibly a future Playbill cover sample for ​Bye Bye Dirty ​(2020), Broadway’s next musical, sponsored by Lysol (though I’d say it’s more of a soap opera).”

I used to be distant from my family, but due to the coronavirus, we've been spending a lot more time together.

By TARAH NUMAT

Before COVID-19, families were used to the same routines everyday, routines where they didn’t have the chance to sit back and hang out with each other. Quarantine has become the opportunity to make up for that lost time.

My family used to start our weekdays around 5 a.m., getting ready for work and school. My parents and younger sister usually got home around 5 p.m. I had extracurricular activities, so I got home around 6 p.m. We ate dinner, and my sister and I did our homework. Then: shower, sleep, and repeat the same thing the next day. Our lives became so routine that whenever we were given the chance to relax, we couldn't even believe it. 

Everything is different now. I haven't been to school since March 13, 2020. Since then, I have developed a new routine. I wake up around 11 a.m., eat breakfast, greet my parents, and start online school. I usually take my first break around 2 p.m. At first, I’d fill my free time with snacks, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, “The Vampire Diaries,” and books. But recently, things have changed a bit.

My father is naturally a busybody, so he loves learning new things. Just recently we found a sewing machine in our garage, and we fixed it up and taught ourselves to sew. It was one of the hardest things ever. We spent two days on the kitchen table trying to get it to work.

Unlike me, my dad is very patient and he likes to analyze everything. Over the course of a couple of days, we started to spend more time with each other, getting to know what we both like. I learned a lot about his childhood, especially his relationships with his siblings and his mom. He really likes to tell stories. Sometimes they’re interesting, and other times I nod my head to make it seem like I'm paying attention, but for the most part they’re very entertaining. 

My relationship with my little sister has gotten stronger, too, because of the coronavirus. We’re stuck in the same house all day, so we kind of have to get along. I remember at the beginning of remote learning, she was crying because she accidentally deleted her work. I had to explain to her how Google Classroom forms work. Eventually, she got the hang of it.

Recently, we have been watching anime together. So far, we’ve binge-watched six series. Her favorite was “Hunter x Hunter” while I really enjoyed “Attack on Titan.” On days where we’re feeling energetic, we attempt to exercise. It's a hard task, but we really motivate each other and laugh about the workouts. We also try to watch a Disney movie every night, but there aren't that many movies that we can both agree to watch, so we tend to go on Netflix and look for action movies.

My relationship with my mother has also gotten stronger throughout these last few weeks. It's kind of hard because she's a nurse, and once she arrives home, she quarantines herself, but we make it work. I try to watch movies with her, but she usually ends up falling asleep. I always ask how she's feeling because a lot of people are losing their lives around her, and I just want to make sure she's okay.

Overall, there are some good things that quarantine has to offer, you just have to make time for it and put in the effort. Our busy lives tend to interfere with the relationships we have with our families, but now is really the chance to change all that.