Months before we'd ever heard of COVID, Charlie's breathing became shallow, his ribs retracting with quickened respiration.
Working from home with my toddler was challenging, but it was easier than being at the hospital, which was where my husband, James, was that day - and where Charlie had spent most of the preceding winter. I spent the afternoon grading papers while my son Charlie crawled beside my desk. The pandemic taught me to let go of trying to be a perfect mother.
Our son Charlie spent the months prior to March 2020 in the hospital with shallow breathing. My husband is a doctor who was taking care of COVID patients when the pandemic started. I'm a perfectionist and the pandemic forced me to become a different mother.