A Toddler & COVID-19: A 2021 Comeback Story
Mom-ing a TODDLER during a global pandemic…2 stars…would not recommend.
The COVID-19 pandemic really kicked my butt, y’all. When the lockdowns started, I was left @ home, working a new full-time role, with an 11-month old baby boy and a husband whose career doesn’t allow for babies in sessions (mental health therapy, so like, obviously). For folks out there who’ve never had an 11-month-old, it’s a weird age. They are old enough to be mobile (crawling and/or walking) which basically means you can’t put them down in one place, leave the room to do something, come back and expect them to be in said place. At the same time, they’re not old enough/independent enough to communicate clearly or distract themselves by watching Moana while you do a couple of calls. They are constantly on the move. Either they’re running or they’re asleep. The end. There’s nothing else. There are no other options.
I don’t even remember the Summer. That’s when the fatigue really set it. As a society, we collectively powered through the madness of what was expected to be 2 weeks but turned into 2 months and then a new normal of home being work and vice versa. And then BAM! The body keeps the score. We were exhausted. All I can really piece together from Summer 2020 was that I was always hot af/sweating (no air conditioner in our house), I smelled like a cow, someone was always crying (me or the baby), and I prayed constantly not to screw up my new job or my new baby. And even though Holston eventually went back to daycare in October, 2020 was just hard. In its entirety. But keeping my family safe, healthy, housed and happy was always my driving force. Also, I’d be remiss in this moment if I didn’t give a HUGE shoutout a16z for being so freaking flexible and family friendly while the world was in transition. I don’t know what I would’ve done without the my amazing coworkers and the constant acts of support and reassurance from the leadership. Unmtached.
With all of this in mind, spending time writing on this blog wasn’t even in the vicinity of a priority. I loved seeing so many friends and family members find new hobbies, get time to cook and work on new projects and businesses. But simultaneously, for many parents (especially those of young children), the exact opposite happened. Passion projects and extracurriculars fell to the caboose in exchange for Zoom school, distracted work parents and daddy daycare. At times, it felt impossible. Not complaining, these are just the facts. This is the life I chose. Sort of. lol.
But now, as the country revs back up and folks all across the world are getting their “Fauci Ouchies”, I’m excited to begin to get back to some of my favorite things that give me an outlet for my thoughts. It’s time to get this blog back popping! While VC is still an important part of my world and my work, I’ll be expanding the topic areas to include more tentacles of my interests. Over time, I’ll rebrand this whole shindig to just be meganholstonalexander.com to reflect the new spectrum of content. Nothing too crazy though, I’m not a professional writer. One of the reasons I’m a PhD dropout is because constantly having pressure to publish on my back isn’t a great situation for a person who can barely read. lol. I’ll write 4-5 times per year to just get my things out of my brain.
Thanks to all of you for sticking with me, reading the blog and requesting more when I’m away. Seeing it still pop up in tweets or as openers on phone calls warms my heart. I’m grateful for your support and the time we will continue to spend together.
Meg
P.S. It was a hard year, but man, what a beautiful beautiful beautiful year with my little family! First haircut, first steps, first birthday. Check out a couple of at-home adventures with my little perfect human below!
