Full Disclosure

Full Disclosure

Full Disclosure: A Sign from Above

By Susan Gelvin | January 7, 2021

This may be the only January during which I do not repeatedly write last year’s date on all outgoing checks and permission slips. There will be no need to cross out ‘2020,’ because I am ready to move on. Though my family has been fortunate to avoid contracting coronavirus thus far, there were approximately seven to 25 different occasions (dating back to November of 2019) when I was convinced we had it. The paranoid hypochondriac in me has been working in overdrive for far too long, wreaking havoc on my cortisol levels. My “fight or flight” reactions are completely fried, since the option to flee anywhere has been a no-go. 

This seems like a small price to pay for getting through last year mostly unscathed, though I suspected 2020 still had something up its sleeve for me as we rounded out this turbulent year.

Full Disclosure

Full Disclosure: Finding Joy

By Susan Gelvin | December 3, 2020

As a topsy-turvy 2020 wraps up and the holidays come into full view, I am embracing some of the simplicity that the pandemic has forced on us. 

With fewer distractions and another abrupt halt to sports and socializing, my focus will be redirected to things that bring more joy and less aggravation. 

I refuse to get wrapped up in self-inflicted Christmas mania and have made the executive decision not to commemorate 2020 with a holiday card. I will not give 2020, the “middle child” of years, the attention it desperately wants. 

And just like that, I feel relief. 

A major headache will be avoided trying to find the perfect family photo—one that has been actively withheld from social media and safeguarded for a perfectly timed debut. I can now save myself from reviewing 365 days of unflattering iPhone images in the hopes of finding one that conveys familial bliss, whilst I lovingly use my children as human shields to combat unflattering angles. 

No such luck. 

And forget creating an idyllic holiday visual now—a bloodsport in New Canaan that I will gladly sidestep. On one recent afternoon, when the light was just so, I passed through Waveny during peak “shooting season” and, man, it was a revelation. Perfectly coiffed and color-coordinated families spread throughout the great lawn as professional photographers snapped away, using puppets, horns, balloons and whistles to attract the gazes of attention-deficient subjects and wayward toddlers.

Full Disclosure

Full Disclosure: Turf War

By Susan Gelvin | November 5, 2020

So, that was Halloween. Meh. I was expecting a bit more excitement for top-billing on a Saturday night, a Blue Moon and a bonus hour to sleep off my sugar hangover. Clearly, I was not fully prepared for this year’s low-key Halloween. 

If I had to assign blame for over-hyping last weekend’s festivities, I would point my finger squarely at the insane number of squirrels that have been celebrating Halloween on my front doorstep for weeks. Exploding out of quarantine in record numbers and with an unrelenting appetite for destruction, my furry frenemies have been rubbing their Halloween fun in my face for a month now. 

In early October, I purchased six overpriced, but locally sourced, pumpkins that perfectly expressed my positive, and hopeful, fall holiday vibes.

Full Disclosure

Full Disclosure: Red Light, Green Light

By Susan Gelvin | October 1, 2020

When virus pandemania hit in March, I naively assumed a medical breakthrough would strike like lightning and set everything back to normal before too long. While not the quick restart that I hoped for, we are slowly babystepping towards a new benchmark for “normal.” 

And as with first steps, they are unsteady, awkward and often unsuccessful. With a few stumbles here and there, the kickoff to fall sports was a big leap in the right direction. I happily signed waiver-after-waiver to allow my son to play 7th grade football. My knowledge of legalese is limited, so I may have also unwittingly agreed to making my kid a living organ donor, but I’ll do whatever it takes to get him back into action with his buddies and follow necessary COVID prevention protocols.