COVID-19 Captain's Log - Part 2
March 22 (continued) - They've added to the list of closures. No "services" (hair, nails, dog grooming), and all the playgrounds have closed. We hadn't been to a playground, but something about knowing that they wouldn't even be an option anymore felt like an enormous loss. I force myself to face the fact that I may have some post-partum depression, and maybe I'm feeling this a little more than "normal". I call my OB to discuss... aaand they are not accepting non-emergent appointments until May.
Ok.
My husband gets off at 5pm on Sundays from the gun store, usually taking about 30 minutes to close up. 5:30 rolls around, and I'm not concerned, they've been so busy lately. Then 6:30. Nothing. I am annoyed but, admittedly, I'm annoyed at everything lately.
7pm he texts me, "still doing paperwork" followed by a photo of all the guys in a row, bent over the counters, doing paperwork.
8pm, he finally gets home. I've already put away dinner, bathed the kids by myself, and am trying to get the baby to sleep. I'm not in the mood when he comes up and says "I have something to tell you." His voice is uncertain. He's not sure how to tell me what he's about to say.
Honestly I'm not sure what I was expecting, but here is what he told me:
Just before 5pm closing time, a group of 4 thug-looking people in their late teens/early 20s came in. 3 guys, 1 girl. One bought a firearm. Nothing notable happened during the purchase. Then shortly after, a loud sound resonated through the store. It came from outside, and the store is made entirely of brick (it's essentially a fort). Thinking it was a fender-bender, the owner ran outside, followed by 3 employees (including my husband).
It was the sound of a gun being discharged. A panicked girl sat in the car, and the owner went into savior mode. Approached the car and saw one of the guys struggling to hide something. He screamed "everybody get back, shots fired." Inside, the employees pushed the panic button to notify police and corralled the employees to the corner of the store. He noted that there was something in his lap that one guy was trying to hide. He kept asking to see it, and said "looks like a shotgun! Son I need you to stop moving. STOP MOVING!!!" He kept moving as if to grab the gun.
Then the first employee drew his gun, then the next, then my husband. They fixed their weapons on the car. One guy leaped out of the car and made a run for the nearby woods. The first employee to draw (ex-military) kept threatening to shoot if he didn't stop running, but didn't actually discharge his weapon.
The police arrived and took over. The weapon discharge in the car appeared to be accidental (per the police report) and he had purchased it in the store, and was trying to load it then and there (stupid). The guy that ran for the woods ended up having a warrant out, and was arrested. His friend was also charged with some misdemeanors (I think possession of marijuana).
My husband has never had to draw his gun. I was in shock. I was happy he was OK and horrified that he drew his weapon on a person. Tensions are so high right now, would that have happened a month ago?
Also, if the purchaser of the gun had a warrant for his arrest, how did an FBI background check come out clean? He purchased the gun in the store and a background check is run, without fail, on every single person that attempts to buy one. If that's not a scary sign of a broken system, I don't know what is. Then again, I wasn't there. Maybe one of the other people bought it for him (illegal, but it happens, and these people clearly didn't care about the law).
I forgave my husband for being home from work late, and stayed up late watching TV with him (lately I've been passing out the second my head hits the pillow). Meanwhile... my throat started hurting.
March 23rd - I wake up coughing, sniffling, and with a headache. Damn. I spend the day wallowing.
March 24th - Yo. WHAT is happening to me? I wake up with my head feeling like it's splitting in two, I have chills, and my legs feel like they weigh a thousand pounds. Around noon, I lose my sense of smell. I'm horrified. I've been alone since ... I don't even know when. My son has had a nasty cough but... it couldn't be, right? My husband wakes up with a sore throat, and is congested by the evening. He says it first "do you think we have... this shit?" This shit. We certainly have some shit. I take Sudafed like it's my damn job, and give my entire family vitamins/meds/water around the clock as well.
Should we get tested? We don't have fevers, but we've both had chills. But if we did have the dreaded "shit", nothing would change for me (I would remain home with the kids), but Anthony would need to miss work for much longer than just the amount of time he was sick. We called his doctor. No testing without all the symptoms.
March 25th - OK, I don't think it's "that shit".
I woke up feeling a lot better, mostly just congested and tired now. Mason's still coughing. Anthony spent the night with chills and then lay in bed until 11am. I think we have the flu - still not a fun diagnosis. I make pizza with Mason and try to get him to do a preschool worksheet. He colors it a bit, but loses interest.
It's hard to get a schedule going at home when there really has never been one. A routine, sure, but not a schedule of events and tasks. My homeschool currently specializes in home economics and physical education, with a minor in philosophy (my son's favorite question is "why").
Social media doesn't help, apparently every single mom on earth has a stockpile of craft supplies? I do not. I've always been a fan of alternative learning, and this is showing me just how -unique- (insane? wonderful?) my way of teaching my son is. The other day we got his toys and some paint, and we painted on them. "She has brown paint on her... NOSE! What does her nose do? How did she get the paint there? Is the brown paint mud? What does mud start with? What else starts with M?"
I guess I do a lot of applied logic stuff, instead of a fixed approach? I don't know guys, I'm not a teacher.