Lockdown Journey

Life sometimes takes strange turns. We were in India, enjoying a get together with family members. While coming back in Pune-Delhi flight, I realized that something is different. There were very few passengers, most of them with masks. After coming back to US, a friend asked, are you coming for party or are you in quarantine for 14 days? That made me realize that I should pay attention to my surroundings. It struck me that something big is happening. All of sudden, things changed to Work from Home and School of Home. Just in that one week, things changed, changed with uncertainty. Suddenly all classes stopped or moved to Zoom classes and lockdowns were declared. 

All of a sudden a life started with no classes lined up in the evening, no parties or get-togethers over the weekend. There is a lot of spare time now. A mom who likes to cook when she gets time changed and the first thing that now comes to mind is cooking, cooking and cooking. So now our family is spending most of time in the kitchen, trying new recipes almost every day. From baking to traditional Indian food, snacks to a variety of desserts and  home foods. 

The month of April was our daughter’s birthday for which she wanted/dreamt of a magic show with all of her friends. Now what?  How to explain to an 8 year old? Why won’t her best friend be there? As parents, you always want all the happiness for your kid. We tried our best to make her birthday special. We baked three cakes, five handmade greeting cards and a handkerchief with her name stitched on it. We hid it in a chocolate ball, which she opened by pouring hot caramel. All day, every hour, we wished her for birthday. She had a Zoom schoolmate party and an evening Zoom party with close friends. We had a walk in the community. It was a day very well spent. She loved it. That day, we realized that kids really don’t want a big party. Small honest efforts make them happy. She liked things made by hand, no fancy gifts needed. 

One starts thinking of creative ideas when there are limitations. To separate weekends from weekdays, to have excitement of a weekend, we started with basement camping on some weekends. We built a tent in the basement. Then we prepared a special dinner for the camping night. We played board games in a lantern light to feel the camping, storytelling and much more! Now we eagerly wait for weekends and look forward to doing something different every weekend. We discuss and decide on a special dinner menu too for the change. 

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One important thing we try to make sure is not to change the daily routine. Even though we are at home, we make sure that breakfast, lunch, dinner should be at the same time every day. That helps life a lot. 

Although this time is going well, we for sure are eagerly waiting for this journey to come to an end soon!!


शिप्रा अथणीकर
Naperville, IL
Assisted by – प्रसाद आणि प्रिशा अथणीकर