During This Pandemic, Our Family’s Freaky-Friday Side Has Come Out

Maybe I watched the movie Freaky Friday a few too many times in a pre-streaming world.

I say this because I am starting to think I may have absorbed some of that hocus pocus via osmosis, because I’m now living a role reversal in my household.

My partner and I are living more like kids every day. On a recent walk, we were exploring the woods and he fell through the ice of a (thankfully very shallow) pond. It’s the kind of thing my son would have done when he was younger, and certainly something that I worried about and cautioned against. But instead, it’s the eldest member of the household who comes home dripping wet and shivering, but with the grin of a true explorer. I was the only one to see it, because my kids were at home, maintaining their strenuous virtual social obligations and, in my daughter’s instance, refilling the jars in the kitchen pantry, her favourite task to do.

Paula Schuck is setting her kids on the path to make eight meals by 18. Read about how here.

My partner and I also routinely scour the LEGO catalogue or buy/sell sites for new sets to build, enjoying the process and the creativity. I’m obsessing over stickers, markers, stationery and clips in a way I haven’t since I was eight years old.

My kids are involved in much more adult pursuits, planning for part-time jobs and researching university programs (of their own volition, with no prompt from adults). Also — sorting lights from brights when doing laundry, something I haven’t had the wherewithal or energy to do for years. And as long as we’re fulfilled by these activities, and getting something out of them, why not continue in such a vein? Why not work in a modicum of change to these days that blend into sameness — days that drag, and weekends that fail to sparkle the way they used to.

Our Freaky Friday role reversal has shown me a few things. First, after a year of mind-numbing sameness, most of us are looking for a change, for anything fresh and novel. We all deserve a break today. But sadly, inhaling a Kit Kat isn’t going to cut it, because there haven’t been any breaks — no mini breaks somewhere different, no March Break vacations and very little in the way of a break from the rinse and repeat cycle of being stuck in the same house, neighbourhood, province and country.

"Why not work in a modicum of change to these days that blend into sameness — days that drag, and weekends that fail to sparkle the way they used to."

We don’t have the memories and recharging of any vacations accumulated to fuel a period of hard work. We don’t have any breaks lined up to anticipate. No, I’m not looking to break up with my partner. But in the absence of a break of any kind, we have made tiny attempts at change through trying new things — and for us, that has resulted in new leisure activities, new things to read and trying new things to eat.

Yes, these days we joke that my partner and I are eating like six-year-olds, often having a sandwich and some potato chips for lunch (my dream meal when I first went to Disney as a kid). When my kids are at their dad’s for meals, I’ve been known to tuck into cereal for dinner, a hallmark of my university days. But my kids are researching recipes and making sweet potato mash and cheddar-crusted chicken, and helping to meal plan decidedly adult fare.

So we’ve turned the tables on the eating game, too. They crave more responsibility and control in these matters, while I am more than fine to relinquish it. I’ve planned, shopped, cooked and cleaned up after enough meals to be not-so-delighted by the challenge, whereas they’re still keen to explore new tastes (plus they enjoy making a list of items for me to fetch from the store).

These days, I might be reading a Pulitzer Prize-winning book. More often, though, I’ll be continuing with the Freaky Friday role reversal — that looks like me reading a young adult novel set in Paris, while my son reads about a young boy surviving in North Korea. His pick is definitely the more thought-provoking and adult of the two. But I need something soothing, escapist and different from what goes on in my mind and the news. And he’s being stimulated to think about and understand a much farther-reaching view of the world than the one he has lived. It’s good for both of us.

Looking for some recipes to cook with kids? Check out some snack, breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes.

Basically, my partner and I are living more like kids and my children are chafing at the bit to take on more responsibility. And, right now, that works for family dynamics because we all need a bit of something new. We need to get out of our pre-defined roles and dive into something different, with little regard for the “recommended age” categorization.

We need to play with LEGO and dream of the future, because I don’t want to break up with my family, even though I — and many others — want something new. So I’ll keep reversing roles and acting like a kid for as long as I need the change. I’ll support my kids in taking on more responsibility and researching the worlds and dreams of their future selves.

Because sometimes a change is as good as a rest. And Freaky Friday won’t last forever.