OHHHHH(micron): Here We Go Again!

I have been looking forward to sending my kids back to school now that the holidays are over. We enjoyed our time together, but I'm ready for us all to get back into a purposeful routine in which I can enjoy a modicum of time to myself and a less-trashed house. 

Oh, Omicron, you sneaky little bitch. You almost ruined our first family holiday since the pandemic began and, due to the teenage stupidity of 14 and 17, gave us a post-Christmas scare. We required 14 and 17 to isolate in their room and mask in the shared kitchen and bathroom space; it was a long-suffered time between Christmas and New Year's. 14 tested negative on Friday morning; 17 went on a trip to Chicago with their exchange program and today -- their last day there -- their host tested positive for covid. Now 17 will quarantine (for a second time) with their chaperone until they're cleared, hopefully by their school's mandatory test on Tuesday. 14 and 17's school is using the test-to-stay model, which I'm satisfied with as the best of both worlds: the safety of avoiding covid and the sanity of my kids staying in school.

6's school is another story, in that they have not yet shared any sort of return-to-school protocol in light of the recent omicron spread. Usually the school holds classes outdoors as much as possible, but with the below-freezing temperatures that will not be possible upon return. Combine that with the small but vocal anti-mask contingency and I am not feeling secure sending 6 back at the moment.

Our entire family is vaxxed and we adults are boosted, but I have two major issues with this Omicron outbreak:

1. Even though this variant is supposedly milder for those of us vaccinated, going about business as usual will only exacerbate the spread and its deleterious effect on:

• those who are high-risk or unvaccinated
• healthcare workers 
• the already-diminished healthcare system, which will be unable to meet general public need during another serious outbreak

We need to be thinking about the greater good here and not just how contracting Omicron will affect ourselves and our immediate families. "I'll only get a mild case of Omicron" is a short-sighted and selfish response.

2. I've been recently diagnosed with a chronic auto-immune disease and am being treated with cancer drugs (immuno-supressants). I struggle with day-to-day caretaking of my kids and household chores as it is, the last thing I need is another chronic illness like long-covid as a result of Omicron or any other variant. I want to be able to show up for my kids and myself without any more roadblocks; I don't want to deal with anymore setbacks when it comes to my ability to parent or eventually go back to work. So, I'm not messing around with omicron.

I'm freaking out a little bit here because -- like you -- the last thing I want is to go into 2022 like we did 2021. Things were just beginning to look up: I could see friends, I went out for drinks once, we even went out to dinner a couple of times, my kids were back in school and relatively safe. I don't want to go back to the way things were, self-isolating and feeling like we're on top of each other day in and day out. I want time! I want space! I want quiet!

But wanting, hoping, wishing, does not make it reality. So please, act accordingly.