After a year and a half of masks, hand sanitizer, spontaneous quarantines, and vaccinations…

I came home from Summer Camp with the kiddos on a seemingly normal Wednesday August to find my husband masked indoors. He had lost his taste and smell.

A rapid test from the INOVA Urgent Care, of course, came back positive. John was vaccinated and worked from home, but he had a work meeting out in Tyson’s, a small gathering of vaccinated friends, a small outdoor birthday pool party for the kids. They were all activities we thought would be safe before Delta reared its head and dissipated any thoughts of normalcy.

Luckily our townhouse is almost perfectly designed for quarantine. My husband stayed in the basement with little need to come upstairs, and the kids and I spent time on the upper floors with the doors and windows open. We lysoled regularly, never ate in the same space at the same time, and communicated via text so that any travel between floors was telegraphed.

The kids and my first PCR tests were negative. John’s symptoms were really mild, mostly brain fog and the inability to taste. We all felt excellently, if a little stir crazy, and looked forward to the end of quarantine.

On August 10th the kids got their second PCR tests. It had been six days since they had last seen John, and they were totally restless and energized. We went home, played with the sprinkler, baked cookies. Juliet had a fever of 102 about 18 hours later.

Conrad’s 4th birthday was spent apart from his sister, opening gifts in the master bedroom. Juliet’s PCR test hadn’t come back yet, so we could not stick her with John just in case it WASN’T covid, but the pediatrician had told us to keep the kids apart in case it was. Schrodinger’s Covid kept us wearing masks inside, yelling across the hall to make sure everyone had gatorade and snacks. I would never have left Juliet alone, but I wore a mask, rationed my time in between them, and washed my hands. We sent songs and announcements to each other through Alexa and, despite everything, giggled a lot.

Conrad was positive by Friday the 13th, eight days after the last time he had seen John. You would think I would be terrified. Maybe I was. But when the rapid test came back positive, all Conrad did was rush to the bottom of the stairs and scream “JULIET! YOU CAN TOUCH ME NOW! I HAVE COVIC!” She came pelting down the stairs and they laughed and screamed. They both demanded to watch a movie, since it was movie night, and asked if Daddy could come upstairs. I was the last Donnell standing, but I had been cuddling and watching over these little covid kids for days, it was really only a matter of time. So we all went upstairs, put on a movie, and contact sat with each other.

Everyone has to decide for themselves how their family quarantines. For us, with the Delta Variant, I found that quarantine within the house was a total waste of time. I don’t think the kids gave it to each other, and I don’t think they got it through the vents. I think that my mostly asymptomatic husband infected them before we exiled him downstairs, and the rest was history. Would I have gotten a breakthrough infection had I not been breathed on by two sick kids for days? Probably not. Was it worth it to cuddle them and make sure they knew I was there? Absolutely.

We were very fortunate. Despite the Delta Variant being much harsher on kids, my two had mild cases. Fevers, some coughing, a little fatigue. We have been monitoring them for any signs of long covid, and will continue to do so, but we are hoping that really was the worst. Given how some of our symptoms still linger, John and I were especially fortunate to be vaccinated.

I am lucky I had so much support from my work crew, my coworkers, my family members. I had friends drop off things at the door and sing happy birthday to my kids while they stood on the balcony. I got sent pictures from the last few weeks of summer, presents shipped through amazon, and so many messages of love and comfort it chokes me up to think about it. We sang karaoke, ate a lot of icees for our sore throats, and passed the time just being grateful we were together.

What we learned.

YOU ARE CONTAGIOUS EVEN IF YOU AREN’T OBVIOUSLY SICK. We quarantined the second we saw any symptom from John, and the kids had already been infected.

YOU COULD STILL HAVE BEEN INFECTED EVEN IF YOUR FIRST TEST WAS NEGATIVE. My kids were active, happy, and totally separated from their dad. Their first PCR test was negative, but they were sick within the incubation period. TAKE. THE. INCUBATION. PERIOD. SERIOUSLY. Take the quarantine seriously. You don’t know who you’re risking even if you feel fine.

WEAR A MASK AND GET VACCINATED. Breakthrough cases, strong variants, long-term exposure to asymptomatic family members, COVID-19 is not over by a long shot, and you could get sick. Making sure you’re vaccinated so you can stay quarantined at home is best for you and anyone who needs a hospital bed. GET YOUR FLU SHOT TOO. It helps to mitigate flu AND Covid-19 symptoms.

PROTECT YOURSELF. PROTECT YOUR COMMUNITY. PROTECT YOUR FAMILY.

I love you all. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask me, I’ll tell you anything you want to know.

LJ and Fam