Parenting in Times of COVID-19, Part 4: Is It Over?

My daughter is now negative, while I have a nagging cough.

Last time I wrote, I was dealing with some rough chills and a bit of a fever. My wife was back from her trip by Wednesday night, but she went to stay at a hotel that night and Thursday night. (Our daughter tested positive on Monday.) In essence, I was still single-parenting into Friday.

One of the things I learned how to do well throughout this whole mess was prioritize. I had to prioritize the things that mattered, like feeding the child and making sure she showered each night and went to bed on time. Other than that, she could do whatever she wanted, even if she created a mess in the process. Also, while I tried working on some things from work, things that could wait until next week waited. Some emails were put into snooze, and others answered.

Thursday brought with it the rougher days of my adventure with COVID. I developed a cough that would not stop, and the body aches and pains were there as well. My wife and I worried I was developing pneumonia, so we decided to head into the hospital first thing on Friday if the cough got worse. Of course, this meant a sleepless Thursday night as I woke myself up coughing. Throughout, my oxygen level never dropped below 95%, per my Apple watch. (This was later confirmed with an actual pulse oximeter.)