The Mother and Daughter, by Anna Farber
Ingrid and her daughter have been sleeping in. By the time Ingrid is out of bed in the morning her five-year-old daughter, Edda has already made herself breakfast, is doing art and creating school work.
This isn’t usually an average day. Ingrid is a single mother in Middlesex, Vermont and is one of the thousands of people who has had to stop working in order to protect herself and her daughter from Coronavirus.
Ingrid is a pottery teacher and potter at a studio in Middlesex, VT. Since the Coronavirus outbreak, she has faced challenges.
Ingrid in her studio at home
“All the galleries are shut down,” Ingrid said. “So I have no place to sell my work”. Since the studio has shut down, Ingrid has no choice but to do pottery from home. She has a space and a kiln, but it’s not that easy.
Since Ingrid is a mother to a five year old, she hasn’t been able to be productive with her pottery work. Since her daughter’s school has shut down, she spends all her time with Edda.
Edda with her seeds
“I haven’t been working since I came home,” Ingrid said.“I have had to deal with Edda and day to day things”.
Edda is only five and in preschool so she doesn’t have school work. So while she can be home and play, Ingrid needs to make sure she is keeping her daughter healthy and still learning. “I’m supposed to entertain and educate a five year old,” Ingrid said. “I also have to feed her meals all day long and constantly.”
As a result of Edda being so young, she doesn’t understand the whole social distancing thing. “I’m trying to set up facetime calls for a five year old.” Ingrid said. Ingrid is able to stay connected to her friends by phone and in person if she stays six feet apart. But it is much harder for her daughter to understand and follow the rules.
Ingrid has decided to start seeds in her house. Every few days, Edda goes out to the sunroom and waters the seeds. In the spring the pair will plant them in Ingrid’s garden.
Although Ingrid and others in the community are distressed about social distancing, not everyone is sad about having to stay home all day. Ingrid’s dog, Sasha has been able to get lots of love and play from Edda, with whom she has a strong bond.
Ingrid said dogs and other pets “might be the winners in Coronavirus 2020”.
The Eighth Grader, by Anna Knauss
For eighth grader Eva Rossmassler, spring was supposed to be lacrosse season, school with friends, and the long-awaited eighth grade DC field trip. After the news that Vermont schools will not resume this year, that last glimmer of hope we all held that school might recommence was crushed.
Eva lives in Middlesex with her parents, ninth grade brother Tae, and dog Roo.
Eva with her dog Roo
Like students across Vermont, she is adapting to this new lifestyle of quarantine, social distancing and spending a lot of time with her family.
Eva and her brother Tae on a walk
This also means jockeying for her share of the wifi. Her brother has to do his homework, her mom has to teach science to eighth-graders at Harwood from afar, and Eva needs to do her online schooling.
Eva reading a book for an English assignment
“You know, there is definitely some tension in the house,” Eva said, laughing. “My brother and I get on each other’s nerves quite a bit, over everything.”
Covid-19 has drastically changed Eva’s routine, now she wakes up at 9:00 or later; it used to be 6:00 o’clock in the morning.
“I check my email and google classroom and finish all of my school work in the morning, so it is done with,” Eva said. “The rest of the day I have free.”
Eva spends a lot of time talking to friends virtually to pass the time. “We are all just really bored,” she said, “so we Facetime each other a lot because we can’t hang out.”
She also has developed a new passion for deep cleaning everything in her house and having “bake offs” with her brother.
“We made cupcakes,” Eva said. “But we don’t know how to bake so it never turns out well.”
