Time's Up

 One of the very, very, very few bright spots of COVID has been the extra time I've been able to spend with Amelia.  After the Christmas holiday, we had to elect whether or not she would learn in person or remotely for the next 10+ weeks.  While that was much longer than we were wanting to commit to remote learning, we ultimately made the decision to allow her to do it.  It was a decision I will never regret.  Thanks to my work still being "work from home", Amelia and I got to spend 24 hours per day, 7 days per week together for over 10 weeks.  I'm sure that sounds like a bit much to some people (and likely to her), but I'd happily do it for another 100 weeks. It was not lost on me that very few people get to spend that kind of time with their daughters.  Work gets in the way.  School gets in the way.  Summer camps get in the way.  For us, there was nothing to get in the way.  We instituted "McDonald's Mondays" (I apologize in advance to my Dr.), watched entire television series (Including M*A*S*H), went on walks around the neighborhood (don't tell the pups), and anything else we wanted.  She never missed a class.  I never missed a meeting.  Her homework was always done on time.  I worked late at night to make up any ground I had lost.  I'm aware this time was probably more special for me than it was for her...at 12.  But, when she's 42 and has a middle schooler racing to adulthood, I hope she looks back and smiles at the goofy things I did, the sweet things she did, and how much we truly enjoyed each other's company the time we spent 80 days not going anywhere around the world.