Meet the Vaughn-Uch family - this household consists of two adults, two clever kids, and a sly cat named Bond…Mr. Bond to be exact.
Like every family in the world right now- this family has their own way about how they are handling this pandemic. For them, from raising two boys, their careers, to juggling changing family life, their hands are full! Nathan (he/him), the father in the household is an essential employee - a supervisor in a call center that assists people by verifying their documentation for enrollment in health insurance. His partner, Sakorn (she/her) is a retail manager whom has been furloughed through this pandemic. Last but certainly not least Nathan’s two elementary age boys Ayden (he/him) and Logan (he/him) who share the home on the weekends.
With the couple having the two boys on the weekends, they have had to ensure a new level of relationship with the boys mother. Building more of a partnership between their homes has become an effective tool to ensure the boys lives stay stable and “normal” in this very unstable time in our world with kids out of school, and shelter in place effective. “It’s a shared responsibility with their mom.” Sakorn tells us. “Because I don’t have a lot to do in the mornings, I review school work and if anything is missed or returned by the teacher, I communicate that with the mother and make sure it gets done.” Besides school work, Nate and Sakorn ensure their house is filled to the brim with love, laughter and creativity. “ Of course as a parent I’m trying to keep a schedule for them. I want them to realize just because they’re doing school work at home they still have responsibilities and don’t create bad habits of ‘quarantine lazy life’. It can’t be video games all day, we have to do things like yard work, or creating a project in the basement because if we allow it they will play video games all day.” Nate tells us. Nate and Sakorn have been working with the boys to do fun and creative things such as the Rainbow sign they created for the 518 Rainbow Hunt, pictured above. Nate also tells us he’s working on cleaning out old wood in the basement to see what projects can become of what they already have.
Besides being home and enjoying family life on the weekends, Nate and Sakorn have two very different work worlds that have been effected in their own ways. Sakorn is on furlough, but although her company isn’t paying her a wage, they are thankfully paying her benefits so she still is enrolled in healthcare. The biggest struggle many retail locations may have when the pause is over is that they are going into their busiest season. “My biggest fear is when we re open retail it will be going into the holidays - we are unprepared with hiring, training, and all of the above.”
While those concerns are valid, Sakorn is thinking more in the present, as her routine was completely changed. “I’m use to a routine of going into work, and constantly work with the general public. Not having interaction with people, I have to find things to keep myself busy.” Sakorn tells us of hobbies she had never imagined picking up. “I’m a city career girl” She tells us, “who would have thought I’d try gardening.” She laughs and goes on to tell us “I’m usually creative but I find my creative juices aren’t really flowing right now so it’s a time to learn new things.” Amongst those things is learning how to coexist with her fiance, Nate. “I’m getting used to living with him, being with him 24/7 is great but different. We have been doing well communicating how we feel and giving each other space when needed.”
Nate working from home and in healthcare, he had to ensure he did have his space in that sense and as well as a physical work space working from home. So what does he do? He built himself a life-size Lego fortress to ensure HIPPA was being abided by within his own house as mentioned above he works in verifying consumer information for health insurance enrollment. Working remotely has its own struggles in many ways, and with Nate it’s caused him to look at new leadership styles. “As a supervisor the way I lead is through socialization, and one on one interaction. A lot of what works for me is a visual connection, and now we have to adapt in a virtual sense and have to keep people motivated while they’re working from home - trying to come up with creative ways to interact is the biggest hurdle”
With the kids and work, also comes extended family and how this pandemic has effected them. Sakorn’s family lives all across upstate NY, and one family member is in NYC. Her sister and her mother live close by to them, but with everyone quarantined she has not seen them in nearly a month. “I'm usually there every week, my sister is pregnant and my mom is older. Their household is extremely is susceptible to it (COVID-19) between the pregnancy, my mom being older, and my 4 year old niece.” Nate tells us his father lives in the Philippines, and it’s extremely difficult there. “The president put an order out that if anyone leaves their house without permission from him directly, police can shoot anyone on site. They can’t even go into their yards.” The biggest concern for Nate is his fathers health. "He had a quadruple bypass last year, so if he has to go to the hospital, he has to worry about getting permission.”
What these stories boil down to is the notion that everyone is dealing with this pandemic in their own way, assessing their own struggle, and embracing what they can control as you may have read in all of our other interviews shared thus far. We are all doing our best, whether we are on the front lines actually in a hospital, or on the front lines at home . Being a parent is an essential worker, it’s a hat that you don’t just get to take off because the state - the world - is on pause. Now more than ever we have to support the parents, because the children as cliche as it sounds, are the future. Some are spending day in and day out, 24/7 with their kids. Like Nate and Sakorn, they’re ensuring school work is completed so their learning won’t be stunted. They’re ensuring their kids are safe, yet educated on what’s going on in the world. They’re ensuring their kids are creative and not stuck in what could be a depression of ‘quarantine laziness’. They’re hugging their kids, and telling them everything will be okay soon - even if they aren’t so sure. So, remember when you think of essential workers to think of the parents on the front lines at home because they’re working to ensure the future of humanity is still growing up to be exceptional.