Everything's Inevitable
Omicron’s Net
I was getting started on a “normal” blog post, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, I’m squeezing in this post. An aside to help me collect my thoughts and address some of the stress that I’m going through. If the title of the post and this section isn’t making it obvious enough, Covid19 has finally surfaced in our house. It appears the reports of Omicron’s contagiousness were no exaggeration. Despite our myriad protocols and preventive measures, my son came down with Covid19 last week. To be fair, he is too young to get vaccinated. Fortunately, it hasn’t really affected him much beyond one day where he was clearly not feeling 100%. He never had a fever – the extent of his symptoms have been a stuffy nose. If that’s the extent of it, I’d take that any day of the week. I am writing this on our way to my second PCR test. Given our son’s positive test, our daughter’s classroom subsequently closing, we decided another round of testing would be wise. To that effect though, I haven’t felt anything in the way of symptoms that would have made me think twice. I’ve had some nasal congestion here and there, but there is also a weather pattern happening right now that causes those same symptoms. Hard to say.
Dealing With It
I should have started with this, but here’s a quick recap of the events of the past two weeks. Late on January 3rd, we found out that our son’s classroom would be closed for 2 weeks due to a covid exposure. Fine, we can handle the juggle with two of us and one kid at home. The three of us went for tests on Thursday, the 6th. Due to the surge in testing, we didn’t get our results until the morning of Sunday, the 9th. The week was pretty busy and kids’ behavior was all over the map. Everything from super tantrum on Monday to not-so-bad at times. As mentioned, we found out about our son’s positive Sunday morning. Later that day, we found out that our daughter’s room was also going to be closed. What. a. day. At that point, we began preparing ourselves for a week with both kids – something we haven’t had to do in about a year, I think. On top of that, we then spent the day trying to sort out what we could even do with a covid-positive child. Fortunately, due to his lack of any distinct symptoms, we feel fairly comfortable with outdoor activities where crowds are minimal. Also fortunate is that our kids are pretty good about wearing their masks when asked to do so. This week has been pretty tough to manage, so I have been looking into what sort of pandemic leave is available at work. That would allow me to not burn through my vacation or sick time this early in January. It does appear that there are 40 hours (1 week) of pandemic leave available, so I made the request to use it for this week. Thank goodness my new boss is great and has been very understanding throughout this whole situation. My hope is that we are through the worst of the pandemic after Omicron does its thing. I’m sure I’m not the only one who hopes that, of course. We’re doing the best we can, and at this point, I’m almost relieved that we’re taking our turn with this disease now. It seems to be minimally damaging to the vaccinated as well as young children. It could be a whole lot worse. With any luck, the kids will go back this coming Monday (Jan. 17th). That also happens to be Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and both my wife and I have that as a holiday for work. I am looking forward to that scenario in a big way.
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