Motherhood in the Pandemic

In May of 2019, the Washington Post published an article in which they asked mothers to define “motherhood.” One of my favorite responses was by Malinda Ruzicka Carlson. She says:

“Motherhood is like that one dream you had when you were 16 where you have this big test at school in history. You study for weeks about the American Revolution, but when you get to your chair you find out that the test was actually in math. So now you’re stuck trying to figure out the square root of an elephant multiplied by the weight of a neutron star and it isn’t until after the test is over that you find out the answer was Purple.”

The point is that motherhood is not an easy thing. Then, you mix it with a pandemic, and it becomes even harder. This is a documentation of four mothers, Kait, Arika, Maria, and Cait, and their experiences with raising children during these challenging times.

“As a parent, you have to weigh how much you expose your children and how much you shelter them. With the pandemic, my husband and I chose to downplay the situation as much as possible to not frighten our kids.”

-Cait Denny

Kait Sykes pushes her son Bearett around on his toy Gator on the morning of Oct. 22, 2020. Barrett wakes up around 5:30 AM, so the majority of the day's action happens before 10 AM.

Cait Denny changes her daughter, Abigail's diaper. She uses cloth diapers and says, “When my friends were having to try multiple stores to find diapers and wipes during lockdown, I didn’t have to worry about it.”

Bearett Sykes "shoots" his mother, Kait Sykes with a toy gun on Feb. 6, 2021, at their home in Centerville, Ohio. Kait says, "COVID has caused so many problems in every way... financially, emotionally, spiritually, mentally...I have given up control of everything, but it has strengthened my faith in God, and I hope to pass that on to my son."

Arika and Landon's refrigerator full of notes and pictures. Arika writes notes to her son, Landon, each morning. Landon makes sure to keep her shopping list updated.

"...it's become more difficult in this situation. What is right, what is wrong? What is safe, what is dangerous? How much or how little to share about current events."

-Arika Wilson

Cait Denny walks to the bus stop with her children, Abigail (left), and Caroline (right). She tries to keep her children sheltered from this virus, and says, "My kids never showed any signs of being afraid of Corona, but the lockdown still impacted them greatly...My social butterfly preschooler cried over missing her friends or the slightest inconvenience...My middle daughter who had been potty trained for a year regressed so completely that I had to put her in pull-ups and start potty training from scratch."

Kait sits with Bearett as he plays an educational game on this iPad. Before COVID, Kait worked as a drug counselor. She has found the transition from a working mom to a stay-at-home-mom to be very difficult, she says, "I often struggle with feeling appreciated and confident in my role."

Cait hands a doll to her daughter, Abigail.

"It has become a common phrase in our house "because of the Rona." Why can't I go see Santa? Why doesn't my class go on field trips? Why doesn't this drinking fountain work? Why are they closed?"

-Cait Denny

Cait puts away Abigail's laundered diapers, Abigail cries because her mom will not let her take things out of the drawers.

Maria Joy reads to her daughter, Catherine, while dinner is cooking. Catherine has just discovered how to work "Lift-the-Flap" books. Sparked by Catherine's intrigue, Maria says, "It's so funny how they get so fascinated by the simplest things."

"It's hard to raise a human when you're still trying to raise yourself."

-Arika Wilson

Cait picks up the basement while Abigail plays next to her. Cait has approximately 3 hours in between the time she drops her middle daughte, Caroline, off at preschool, and has to go pick her up. During those 3 hours, she tri

Cait picks up the basement while Abigail plays next to her. Cait has approximately 3 hours in between the time she drops her middle daughter, Caroline, off at preschool, and has to go pick her up. During those 3 hours, she tries to get most of her housework and errands done with her 1 year old, Abigail.

Cait cleans raw eggs up off the floor.

"The blessings are always abundant. I'm forever thankful that we moved here when we did so we could be close to my mom and brother during the pandemic."

-Arika Wilson

Bearett Sykes watches videos on his iPad while his mother takes some time to socialize with her sister.

Maria tries to balance cooking a meal for her family and taking care of Catherine.

Arika enjoys her day off work by reading, Landon sits next to her working on his weekend homework. Because of COVID, Landon is enrolled in K-12, a tuition-free, online, public school in Ohio, and no longer attends school in person. Arika hopes that he will be able to attend school again soon, hoping that he will regain social interactions with his peers. Landon would prefer to stay online; he says he would rather not talk to people at school.

Cait plays with her two daughers, Caroline and Abigail after dinner.

Cait plays with her two daughters, Caroline and Abigail after dinner.

Maria lies on the floor with Catherine, taking a break from cooking and cleaning.

Cait turns on the movie "Frozen" for her children to watch, while she relaxes for the night with a beer.

"I try to look at most things as a blessing. It's not always clear in the moment exactly how, but it's our challenges that always seem to build our character the most."

-Cait Denny