Happy Mother's Day From NYRR
Early on in our quarantine, parents at NYRR gathered in a Microsoft Teams chat room to talk each other through the experience. Jenna Pantin, NYRR's senior manager of internal communications, diversity and inclusion, asked mothers on staff to send her our experiences parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic. These excerpts were collected there and are published here with permission. They have been lightly edited for clarity.
"Having an infant, 3-year-old, and husband who is an essential worker (an oncology nurse) has been stressful during this pandemic, but we have been finding joy and laughter where we can during this unprecedented time. This includes hearing my toddler ask to call HIS “work friends” (aka MY PR team) while pulling out his toy laptop. I love seeing my baby’s chubby-cheek smiles bring amusement to my coworkers, and appreciating moments like dancing to The Beach Boys’ ‘I Get Around’ while doing Active at Home’s Home Balance Fun (PDF · 39 KB) activity."
—Lauren Doll, PR
“I am so lucky to be a stepmom to two incredible girls, Delia (11) and Melanie (9). I’ve been in their lives since October 2017, and I could not ask for two better children. I love them as if they were my own. What I appreciate most about them is how caring, positive, and genuine they are. They have the most amazing personalities and light up any room they walk into, which is something we could all use right now. I am so proud of how they have adapted to this new normal. Happy Mother’s Day to all!”
—Meaghan Kennedy, Event Development & Production
“Working at home during a pandemic with a toddler has been challenging, at best, and hair-raising, at worst. But my son (he’s 2.5) has really started talking during this time, and it’s been a treat to get to hear what is going on in his head. Mostly it has to do with trucks and construction vehicles. Every day we visit a construction site down the block to say hello to the digger there. It gets us a little bit of daily exercise. He rides his tricycle down, looks through the fence. We talk about what the digger has done that day, then we say good night to it and see ya tomorrow. I wrote up a little book about him and the digger for him so he’ll have a way to remember this very strange time in his life!”
—Lela Moore, Marketing
“As a mom of three boys, life is always moving. Right now, we have been forced to stop moving and focus on being together as a family and staying safe. All while doing our jobs and managing a new e-learning model. Things are a little crazy at times, but we manage to make it work in our small apartment. Unfortunately, we have lost a few members of our community early on due to COVID-19. It has put into perspective what is most important during this time: Staying safe mentally and physically.
We have made the best of this time by taking the time to talk to each other, have more full family dinners, and starting a Friday family game night with no electronics. It has given us our most significant accomplishment, the ability to keep on laughing together. In this new normal, we are taking the time to pause and be together. Soon, our kids wouldn’t even want to hang out with their parents anymore.”
—Alba Howard, Event Development & Production