If Mother’s Day under quarantine had an overarching theme, it was something along the lines of "Please, leave me alone." Many of us had been home, nonstop, with our entire families for nearly two months.
Things have changed a bit over the past few weeks, though. Every state in the nation has opened up to some degree. People are getting haircuts. They are going to the beach. Some are even dining out. And the people are, shall we say, restless — even as the coronavirus pandemic persists.
All of those things can change what dad wants for Father’s Day this year, which falls on Sunday, June 21 — the start of summer.
Here are nine ways families are celebrating Father's Day during the pandemic.
Honoring pre-pandemic plans
Cassie Shortsleeve, founder of Dear Sunday Motherhood, is hitting the Cape for a dual celebration — Father’s Day and her daughter’s first birthday. “We rented an Airbnb on Cape Cod months and months ago to celebrate both,” Shortsleeve explains. “The property didn’t cancel and short-term rentals are up and running here in Massachusetts, so we’re going to go!”
The great outdoors
Leigh Ann Torres, a mother of three in Austin, Texas, plans to go camping with friends that she trusts and who share the same quarantine standards. “We’ll be together, but we’ll be able to stay distanced from others,” she says.
Going out to eat for the first time
Laura Clark, editorial director of Mom.com and mother of two in Los Angeles, is planning to take her husband to Duke's, a Malibu beachfront mainstay, for brunch. "I haven't been to a sit-down restaurant in months, so I'm a little unsure of how it will work,” she says.
Thinking local
Erin Gore, a mom in California's Bay Area who gave birth during the pandemic, ordered gifts in the use-it-at-home theme from local merchants that she hopes will survive the pandemic. “This required ordering on June 4 and…we’re still waiting,” she says. But she’s hopeful they'll arrive on time.
Tradition reigns
“It's different this year only in that the BBQ supplies will be coming from Instacart,” says Susan Heine, a mother of two in Tampa, Florida. “Other than that, we'll play some board games and BBQ as per usual.”
Buying contraband
Melanie Stolz-Sumegi, a mother of two in Los Angeles, might splurge on some “contraband” junk food and a trip to the beach.
Staying safe at home
Tom Jermann, a father of one in Los Angeles, is happily staying home. “Normally, perhaps we would go to the beach or somewhere fun, but nothing major,” he says. “Due to COVID-19 still being present, we might simply take a longer walk around our neighborhood with the dog and then just chill at home.”
NOT cooking
For Richelle Solis, a mother of two in Ventura County, California, her plans include a local steakhouse, “because we are sick of cooking!” she says. “We will sit on the patio and of course practice social distancing.”
Special delivery
And as for my husband, the family plans to glamp by the beach, about two hours out of town, for two nights. But first, we’ll stop by my parents and have a socially distant bagel brunch in the backyard — because the way to my dad’s heart is, and has always been, through his stomach.
