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Marriage and Matrimony in COVID Madness

My life has been very tumultuous since 2008. In a million ways…including my marriage. With all that history, my husband Matt and I were destined to be awesome in a pandemic. In the first few months he did so much to help around the house. After years of working out of the house, my husband finally got to see how much work was involved with motherhood, mentoring and building a successful business.

At one point this past year my husband even told not to do the laundry anymore, and he would do it instead. That NEVER happened in the 14 years of our marriage! That told me a LOT about how much he was understanding. I loved having him around.

I started a new job (morning host on 96.5 KOIT in San Francisco) a week before the pandemic hit. Despite the pandemic, I went in everyday for the first month. Eventually, I had to work from home to do my part to “flatten the curve.” 

It’s been a difficult time BUT my husband has been absolutely amazing with his love and support.

In the summer, we were able to hire a sitter to get our boys out of the house while we worked. As we headed into the fall (the busiest time of the year for me) I wasn’t sure how it would pan out. Virtual learning was an epic disaster. It affected my 12-year -old like we never would have imagined. My husband and I leaned in on each other to help our kids through the struggles they were going through.

Through it all, the past year has forced my husband to shed his decades long workaholic habits. Before the pandemic? He would leave at 6 AM and return at 6 PM. We barely connected in between. Now? His work has changed. A lot. My husband is in sports radio and without sports in the Bay Area and around the country the whole industry took a hit. And he is still working on getting things caught back up—but now he does it at home.

In the past year, I’ll bet I have spent thousands on trying to get our house set up with little corners of “peace” for my family to get their work done.

I have had my own detached studio for years so I had my place, but it was always a torturous experience trying to get my kids to stay quiet in the living room while my husband talked on the phone all day. We got mad at each other. We got mad at the kids. We got mad at the dog, the house, the cars, the everything.

Now we’ve made it through the winter, and now it’s spring. A year later. And we’re STILL working at home. My kids FINALLY got to go back to school a week ago. Although it’s only been a few days, I can see how much returning to school was imperative for the future of our kids. Lemme tell ya, for my marriage too.

I guess my point of my story is to remind you that if you’re going through it, you aren’t alone. This is HARD stuff. Trying to coexist 24 hours a day seven days a week is not normal.  Especially if you mix in virtual schooling. It’s great if you can work it out, but it’s not normal. We’re meant to have human interaction outside our family. It’s how we cope.

But, we’re finally at a point where I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. I know that this too shall pass. Start putting pants on friends. This world is just about ready for us again.

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