A Timely Analogy

My husband and I, along with our three baby girls under 4, are driving home from a week of a quarantine stay-cation at my parents’ cottage. We’re two hours in, and the 8-hour drive is already feeling long, no doubt. 102-day-old Naomi is wailing. Two-year-old Rose was just awakened by screams from her big sister, June, that she wants to play hide and seek. 

I get it. The drive is long. We’re all bored. We’re all tired. We want a change of scenery. We’re not feeling our best selves.

Among Rose’s new favorite activity of high-pitched yelping, June screams, “Get me out of the car seat so I can hide!!” I, the wise mother, calmly explain to her that she needs to stay in her car seat. She’s safest in her car seat.

June protests, “But I can’t play!!!!”

“Right, darling,” I say. “It’s a long and hard drive, but it’s not forever. You will be able to get out of your car seat once we pull over to have a car picnic. We’ll have to be creative about playing a quick game then.”

June says, “But I want to sit up there and drive with you then!!” Calmly, Dad responds, “We know you do, sweetie. We wish we could be by you, too, but it is safest for you to stay in your car seat. If you sat up here and played with the steering wheel, we could risk getting in an accident and hurting ourselves or others. You’ll be able to come out of your car seat soon enough.”

June sits back and starts to cry. She’s tired. She’s sad. She’s frustrated. She wants to get out of her car seat. Frankly, it feels that it would be easier to let her out at times. It certainly would be easier to pull the baby out to nurse while we travel. But we are the parents, and we know that the girls need to be buckled in for the long drive. The car seats will keep everyone safer. 

“Here, baby. How about you girls look through some books instead? You can choose Silly Sally, Brown Bear, Fruit, or Bear in my Chair. Which would you like?”

The girls each choose a book, and we continue on in a bit more of a peaceful state. They will be okay. Our situation is not perfect, but we’re all cooperating and working together as a team. When we work together, the long car ride is more bearable. We have to be creative, and we can’t always do our normal favorite activities, but we are safe. And we are together. 

The car seat is a means to getting to our end, our home, more quickly and more safely.

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Now, imagine that the car ride is COVID-19. The car seat represents wearing a mask, washing hands, and keeping distance. The hide and seek game represents eating at restaurants, hugging friends, going to the gym, rocking out at concerts. The books represent going on walks and hikes, eating family meals, coming up with new routines. My husband and I are the CDC and other experts in infectious disease, specifically trained in guiding others through this difficult scenario. Our home represents the end of COVID-19, ceaseless fear, social distancing, homeschooling while working from home, and missing our loved ones. 

If my 3-year-old can stay in her car seat during the trip— oh, and wear a mask in public spaces— then certainly you can wear a mask. The quicker we learn to work together for the goodness of humanity, the more quickly we will conquer COVID-19.