COVID has rolled in like a giant wave. It’s changed us. Some for the better, some not.
There is talk about how it is affecting relationships, people are bonding and developing deeper relationships – or deciding that they need to get out of relationships. People are reconnecting with family members they’ve been passing in the hallway, but not actually connecting with. Love in the time of COVID, for those who have love seems to be either really good, or really bad. Reconnecting and building, or ending.
All the single ladies
But what about those who don’t have love in their lives right now? You know who I mean: the singles. Those who are actively out seeking a relationship, the ones looking for love. I can tell you, looking for love in the time of COVID is not easy.
I’ve been talking with my fellow single moms, and it’s not pretty out there. There is talk of “quarantine boyfriends” — relationships that weren’t exactly great before COVID, but at the moment, it beats trying to decide if attempting to find love is worth the risk of catching a virus that could kill you. You know, besides the ones we already know how to protect ourselves from. It’s also drastically changed relationships that were in their early stages as we try to decide whether to be risky and see each other, not see each other until this is over (whenever that will be), or just move in together to quarantine until this is over.
I know people taking that big leap. It’s usually a big deal, deciding to move in together. But when the options are move in so you can quarantine together, or not see each other for months, more than a few are making that decision well ahead of when they might have, otherwise.
It’s huge. It’s a crazy world out there.
Finding love in the time of COVID
Finding love in the time of COVID means adapting. The dating sites have new guidance, ideas, and suggestions on how to have “virtual dates.” Yes, dating via Zoom is now a thing.
The debate is huge, whether to risk meeting in person. The normal issues (you know, ”Could he be a serial killer?”) seem to have faded in comparison to “Could he have the virus? Is he taking precautions? Is he following the stay-at-home order?”
Yes, COVID-19 has definitely changed the dating world for single moms. Love in the time of COVID has taken the age-old “will he like my kids” to a whole new level of “will meeting him get my parents killed?” It’s one more fun thing that coronavirus has given us to navigate. To wear a mask, to leave the house, to go on a date — all are normal questions now. Things we didn’t even consider before.
Before, deciding to go out on a date involved “Do I like him? Where should we go? Could he be a serial killer?” Now it’s “do I like him enough to take the risk? Where can we go? Could he be a serial killer?” (some things don’t change).
For those of you out there, trying to navigate love in the time of COVID, I just want to say “good luck!” This is hard. Stay-at-home orders have made finding love even harder at a time when we could all use someone to hold our hand and say it’s going to be alright. So, for those of you trying to find your love during COVID, I feel your frustration. This is a tough time to be single!
Remember your single friends trying to find love in the time of COVID
And, for those of you who have love in the time of COVID, reach out to your single friends. Staying at home when you’re the only one there, day after day, can get really hard. And, if your single mom friend has her kids with her, reach out and leave a bottle of wine on her porch. She needs it. Her kids need her to have it. We love those buggers, but after weeks of being locked inside with them, well, it isn’t pretty…
