Working mom provides stability through crisis
A profile of a mother who is trying to keep up with a small business, and three children, from her house during a pandemic.
MARCH 31, 2020 —By 4 p.m. each day during the coronavirus pandemic, Jennifer Isenberg knows she’s not going to get any more work done.
The 35-year-old started a real estate company in January, and supervises a staff of nine people. But now working from home she must also supervise her children, 2-year-old Benjamin, 6-year-old Cate, and 9-year-old Addison.
“Around 4 p.m., max, I gotta sign off for the day,” she said. “They’re losing their minds.”
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It’s a shift from the usual schedule, where she works until at least 6 p.m. each day and grandparents help out with after-school pickup and babysitting. But for Isenberg and her family, who are practicing social distancing and don’t go out unless its necessary, this is life during a pandemic. Their usually busy schedules are cut and condensed to fit inside their DeLand home.
Both at home and at work, it’s up to Isenberg to provide stability for the people who rely on her — her employees, her husband, her children.
“I try to think about how my kids are going to write the story of this, and I want them to be able to say, ‘We got to make special memories with mom and dad,’” she said. “I don’t want them to think back and say, ‘Mom was scared, mom was frustrated.’”
Even though both are true.
Cardinal Row Real Estate, Isenberg’s company, was in its infancy when the coronavirus crisis started in the U.S., and now she’s not sure if she will be able to continue doing her work in the coming weeks. Is her business “essential?” What about the other businesses they work with, like movers? And which parts of the job are safe for her company to keep doing?
Her husband, Steve, is a virtual educator, and has always worked from home. But he’s busier than ever thanks to a shift to online learning, and much of the childcare and household duties have fallen to Isenberg.
Her daughters, who can usually only occupy themselves for a few hours a day, began distance learning on Monday. Now Isenberg must make sure her daughters are completing hours of instruction each day online. So far, she said they found it a little boring.
“I don’t want it to turn into a nagging situation,” she said, but she also knows that third-grader Addison sometimes needs help staying motivated. And for Cate, in kindergarten, school is often about learning social skills just as much as it is about learning the curriculum.
“How do you teach kindergarten virtually?” Isenberg asked. “It just seems impossible.”
Jennifer Isenberg plays games with her daughters Addison, 9, left, and Cate, 6, at their Deland home, Thursday, March 26, 2020. [News-Journal/Nigel Cook]
All of that, on top of the spread of COVID-19. The family is staying home, and in the last week only Steve has left to go to the grocery story. Grandparents are usually always around to help out and spend time with Addison, Cate and Benjamin, but haven’t been able to see them because of fears of passing on the virus.
“We don’t have our grandparents. We’re having to work from home. We have no school,” Isenberg said. “It feels like such a strange dream.”
She can usually guarantee herself a couple of hours in the morning and a couple of hours in the afternoon when she can get work done — while making sure the 2-year-old isn’t getting into anything he shouldn’t. That is, if she makes lunch quick. And if she only steps out to make phone calls when her husband can take a break to keep an eye on everyone.
Isenberg sticks to a routine as best she can. Her daughters are picking back up with virtual piano and dance lessons. She makes sure to wake up before them and have coffee, like she usually would. She sets a goal for herself each day, for work and home, so at the end of it she can look back and see what she accomplished.
And she tries to focus on the good things: The chance to talk to old friends. Watching movies in sleeping bags in the living room with her daughters. How happy her 2-year-old son is when he gets to play with empty boxes instead of his toys.
“I’m taking it day by day because it’s ultimately out of our control and I’m trying to find peace in that fact,” she said. “It’s kind of like when you’re in an airplane. You can worry about it crashing, but once you accept that you have no control over it you can panic or you can be calm.”
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