Here are two separate thought on sheltering in place:

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Sheltering in Place with 2 kids under 7 isn't easy. For the first 3 weeks, strep throat ran through our house multiple times, and my wife had an infected tooth pulled. I visited Kaiser 4 times to pick up medication; I was nervous, but by the 3rd time realized it was probably the safest Kaiser had ever been. For the first 6 weeks our oldest kid had a cough, so we pretty much were hypochondriacs and were convinced half the time that we had COVID. We stayed away from my mom, who lives 3 blocks away, until Memorial Day, and this was tough on her and us.

My wife is from NYC, and her family and many friends are still there. While COVID was ravaging through NYC, her father, who had lived with Alzheimer's for years, passed away. She grieved with her family by phone, and they organized several small group Zoom memorials for friends and family. The kids keep asking when we will be able to go to NYC to see their grandma and aunts and uncles, and we wonder the same.

Regardless, we have had it better than most. We have a roof and stable housing. While we don't have a yard, we are less than 2 blocks from the panhandle. It was our saving grace, we'd go there twice a day and stay distanced from others. We have stable jobs that can be somewhat done from home, though working from home for 3 months with both kids home meant we were each lucky to get 5 hours per day of work done. Despite my wife's experience being an educator, adjusting to working from home while entertaining/educating two kids was quite the abrupt change. And although the kids missed their friends and their routine, they have learned how to fold laundry, tell time, mountain bike, and draw realistic bald eagles and peregrine falcons.

In the last 3 weeks our kids have returned to pre-school and started summer camp. We are nervous about this, but trust the organizations managing our kids, and we are starting to catch up with work responsibilities that fell by the wayside. The current spikes in COVID have us waiting for a phone call saying that we have been exposed, which is a bit nerve racking. We constantly ask ourselves whether trying to create normalcy for our kids, and the ability to work nearly a full work-day, is worth the risk. 

Most of all, sheltering in place has given us better a better view of being grateful for what we have.

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I find I look for excuses to go outside, and a trip to the store is a coveted treat.  I miss the library, the gym, the ocean.  Yet I'm often frantically busy with big land use issues, zoom meetings, and community meetings too.  When I actually see someone I know on the street, I almost fall on them - a human, friendly face, in the flesh!!  Video conferencing is not the same.  I attended my first video knitting group meeting yesterday.  I haven't done much on sorting and cleaning, despite intentions.  I read 48 Hills, Mission Local, and SF Examiner daily, missing holding an actual newspaper, and a number of news sites along with my usual magazines, including In These Times and The Nation.  It's a big event, getting a news magazine!  My partner and I sometimes rub each other wrong, but have some space to be alone as well as together.  Doing food delivery work also takes time and coordination.

I'm so proud of the Mission High teens who organized one of the biggest George Floyd rallies and marches!  I feel frustrated that we can't do much in-person organizing - and worry about November elections [and the census].  I'm grateful for the grocery workers and medical workers who are doing the work to feed and help us, and worry that they aren't getting the PPE and hazard pay they deserve.  And I worry about other city residents, with few resources, who are getting sick, more often, and suffering more.