Amanda Lamb: Are we there yet?

OK, the end is in sight, kind of …

At least the end of the year is in sight. Multiple vaccines are on the horizon. 2021 has to be better. Right?

I feel like these are universal themes in just about every household in America right now. A friend asks how you are doing. You say: You know. OK. As good as can be expected. And then you ask her and get the very same response.

It’s not that we’re ungrateful, or not appreciative for good health, for jobs, for family, it’s just that no one ever expected this crazy pandemic life to go on as long as it has.

I think the holiday season puts this into laser focus—no parties, no family gatherings, none of the traditional ways we normally define this time of year. I applaud the people putting a positive spin on things—top ten holiday movies to watch with your family, top ten games to play with your family, top ten holiday dishes to make for your family. But let’s face it, it’s all spin. It’s trying to make lemonade out of lemons.

I prefer to focus on the finish line, whether it’s March or June. I’m looking forward to a time when my college student can function as a college student—go to class, go to parties, hang out with groups of friends. I’m looking forward to the time when my high school student can just be a teenager—go to class, hang out with her boyfriend, do things with her friends. And I’m really looking forward to a few pleasures of my own—going to a concert or a movie theater, getting on an airplane, running a road race.

None of us have a crystal ball, so for now we can bathe in the glow of the happiness spinners as we sip eggnog by the beautifully decorated tree with our families and hope Santa is bringing us all a gift certificate for a vaccine to be redeemed in 2021.

Amanda is the mom of two, a reporter for WRAL-TV and the author of several books including some on motherhood. Find her here on Mondays.