We were so close to having a nice normal holiday. The car was loaded and gassed up, the kids were happily munching away on their bagels in the back seat, and we were on the highway to Grandma’s house when my lovely wife got a message from one of our friends saying, “I can’t believe the kids are in quarantine again…”
Pulling off at the nearest rest stop, we found the recently sent email from the elementary school principal telling us that kids 2 and 3 were under a quarantine order from the Department of Health (the rest of us are fully vaccinated). We got back on the road and turned around for home at the nearest exit. While the kids were understandably disappointed and shed a few tears, they handled the news very well for the most part. Once we arrived home and unloaded the car, kid 1 and I went out and bought everyone special treats to enjoy during our quarantine Thanksgiving tomorrow. True, ice cream cones, chocolate-covered pretzels, and Pop-Tarts aren’t part of our typical Thanksgiving spread, but hopefully the memory of “Treatsgiving” will be one that persists past the end of this pandemic.