Quarantine with seven Orjansens

Vaniesa Orjansen

Puzzle my family and I built together.

All schools in the United States of America have gone on distance learning.  Being on distance learning means that students and teachers are not allowed to go back to school (well, teachers can go back but a lot are choosing to work from home).

With distance learning there have been two weeks of nothingness; these two weeks are meant to help the education system and individual schools determine how to do school from home.  Not only have students and teachers taken on quarantine by storm, but because of the governors “Shelter in Place” order, many other parents are also working from home.  So my whole family is at home, working to figure out this new normal.  

My father is doing the worst so far.  He is not able to go back to work which is making him feel as if he is not able to provide for his family, and it is putting him under a lot of stress. He also reads a lot about the Virus on the internet and that’s making him even more worried and panicked about the situation.  He goes on walks to help him clear his head.

 

 

 

“

Being unemployed stinks.

— Dad

My mother is doing pretty well.  She is not the type to be hysterical in sticky situations such as this one.  She is holding the family together and making sure we are sane and not turn on one another. She finds a lot of activities for us to do and fun family stuff to keep us active and not stuck in our rooms all day. She also joins my dad for his daily walks.

My sisters are doing well but the youngest one is in her 8th-grade phase, so she is in her room a lot and barely comes out; this is not necessarily a bad thing, but with two more weeks of staying home like we are, I fear she’s going to run out of Netflix shows to binge.  She told me “It’s weird being stuck with you all the time.” 

My 17-year-old sister is also in her room quite a bit, but she does come out for activities like playing basketball even though they aren’t her favorite.  She watches movies with us as well.

My brothers are not doing well. My little brother has turned the downstairs living room into his room because apparently his room is not good enough. He is taking all our rations. I fear soon it’s gonna be all men for themselves at the rate he is eating. He plays a lot of video games with his friends so there is much yelling that comes with it.

There have been a few nice days so on those days he goes outside, plays basketball or even just goes for walks with Mom and Dad. He has stated that he will run away if he can’t see his friends soon, so we will see what happens when the time comes.

Myself, on the other hand, I’m going crazy. I have done activities such as painting, basketball, walks, drawing, and shirt making. I am to the point where I stay up late at night just so I can sleep during the day so I am not bored. 

As a family, we have come up with many ways to keep ourselves entertained so we don’t end up fighting and arguing. We have a big puzzle in the middle of the living room.  We have movie nights where we watch a few shows as a family. We also cut off all of my little brother’s hair because we were bored. We are figuring out how to keep ourselves entertained and safe so we don’t put ourselves and others in danger of the virus.