Mask Anxiety

 I have been spending a not insignificant amount of money on masks for the fam. Harry and Jack wear NIOSH medical respirator n95s-- a new one very day. I also wear these to lecture, although lecture is only an hour, so I can reuse the same one a few times. Ben also wears them to meetings, and he, too, can wear a mask more than once in these cases.

In my building and around campus, I wear KN95s, as does Ben. Harry and Jack wear these any time they are inside anywhere that's not school and even when they hang out outside with friends.

Dorothy and Cooper wear KN95s on the deck at swimming and dive, at dance class, and when they play outside with friends, run into the library, etc.

Now here's where the anxiety comes in: It is sometimes hard to source these masks because everyone is buying them for their sneauxflakes. The kiddie KNs and the medical masks are both occasionally difficult to track down and always expensive. The adult KN95s are more plentiful, but you have to make sure you are buying legit masks (SAME WITH THE N95s). It's not as easy as filling a cart and checking out, especially when you figure in shipping delays, back order situations, etc.

BUT YOU GUYS. I am both the only person in my family who has a sense of how much money and work this all is AND the only person who KEEPS TRACK OF MY GD MASK. Like, every time I open a car or van door, I see the cupholders, door pockets, and FLOOR littered with rare, expensive masks, and it makes my head explode.

Finally, Ben and I talked about it, and I said he could either stop wasting masks and help me keep track of the kids' or he could stop teasing me about mask shipments and charges. He chose to stop caring about how many masks I order and how much they cost, and this has eased some of my tension. BUT NOT ALL OF IT. HOW HARD IS IT TO HANG ON TO YOUR EFFING MASK for a few swim practices or trips to the store?

Really hard, apparently.

And after that rant, let me give you Harry at a virtual debate tournament and Minnie playing tiny piano: