I’m Starting to Give Up on Post-pandemic Life
“Today was great!” my 7-year-old exclaimed recently when I came home from work. By cosmic standards, her day wasn’t that special. She went to the playground, where she finally mastered the monkey bars. She visited the history museum—or at least its gift shop. She got “really big” nachos. She went to the kids’ art studio. Two years ago, visiting a museum and a nacho joint was so common, it wouldn’t even have registered. What did you do today? Oh, nothing. But our standards are no longer cosmic.
“Today was great,” she said, and my wife’s eyes welled up at her enthusiasm. So much had been missed already—a quarter of our daughter’s life lived in shadow. She learned to read and ride a bike. She ceased to be a little kid and became just a kid—in appearance, ability, and aspiration. And as of the end of November, she’s “fully” vaccinated. It
