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Although Angel Hamilton (pictured also with husband Dustin) was a stay-at-home mom to her two sons, Christian, 4, and Isaiah, 2, prior to the pandemic, she has had to adjust her routine and expectations.

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One day, the history books will include paragraphs about the global pandemic of 2020 — how economies were impacted and how many people were sickened and died. But what may be left out in these general overviews of how the world changed is what steps individual families took to adapt and adjust to life in quarantine and under social distancing strategies. In 2020, the picture of how the family of the future will live is currently being redrawn.

HAMILTON FAMILY: FINDING SIMPLICITY

Being with small children every day without being able to get out for adult conversations and distractions is hard at the best of times, but it is especially difficult when isolating continues for weeks and weeks. Although Angel Hamilton was a stay-at-home mom to her two sons, Christian, 4, and Isaiah, 2, prior to the pandemic, she has had to adjust her routine and expectations.

What does the structure of your days look like?

Coming from a family that lacked structure to working with inner-city kids, whether that be in youth programs or as a teacher, I know that kids need some kind of routine. We do have one, but it is not rigid. Most days, we start with a song, a story book on YouTube, and a craft. That’s usually an hour of fun in the morning, and then I hand it over to a Zoom meeting with my son’s chapel teacher from my 4-year-old’s school. Then it’s playtime, followed by lunch and naps.

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The Hamilton Family

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What do meal times look like for your family now?

Meals are much better now. My husband, Dustin, traveled or worked late and was either not home for supper or would get home after we finished eating. Now we all eat together, share stories, laugh as the kids are silly with their food, and roll our eyes together as they refuse to eat the thing they ate the day before with no complaints. Something about sharing in that meal together each night has brought my husband and I closer.

What did family time look like before the pandemic, and what does it look like now?

Prior to COVID-19, our weekends looked like outings based around our kids’ interests — parks, zoos, and museums. Now that has stopped, and, honestly, that has been hard. But we have found ourselves spending more time in the yard playing basketball or catch, pushing the kids on the swing, or just letting them make mud pies. Somehow that simplicity of activities has helped us slow down and just appreciate the moment. Before we were filling our to-do calendars and rushing off to the next thing. Now the days with our kids seem longer and that isn’t necessarily bad because our babies don’t stay babies for long.

P.S. How preschools and daycares envision the future.

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