This week Good Morning Jacksonville anchor, Keitha Nelson is taking viewers around the nation and peeking into the homes and lives of moms finding peace amid the coronavirus crisis.
Dozens of states, including Florida and Georgia, have begun the reopening process. New Jersey is not one of them.
It's at the heart of the outbreak in the United States where the death toll stands at more than 9,000. Only New York City has more deaths related to COVID-19, topping 20,000.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced he's extending the state's public health emergency declaration through at least June and Jersey moms like Kristin Pagliarello are weary, wondering if things will ever get back to normal.
"I’ve noticed they’ve become very lazy," Pagliarello said. "They just kind of want to sit around you know. So I try to keep them active. I’m always telling them to read and do an art project and play outside."
When the outdoors isn't an option Pagliarello creates the fun for her 8 and 10-year-old daughters.
"We have spa days," Pagliarello said. "They love to paint their nails. We’ve been baking and making cookies and we made banana bread and just filling their day with fun stuff that they would normally do on the weekend. We have nothing else to do. There are no sports."
This Garden State mom says in order to maintain her sanity she sticks to a schedule.
"If we don’t have a schedule then everything is all over the place," Pagliarello explains. "We have our breakfast in the morning like we normally do before we go to school. Then we kind of open the day to see what the plans are for the school day and map it out. And then just get right into it at eight o’clock in the morning."
She gets stressed out just like the rest of us but with added concerns knowing New Jersey is at the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis.
"I don’t put the news on," Pagliarello said. "I don't think they really need to know how many deaths there are in a day. So I kind of shelter them from that. I feel like that’s my job. I always say I’m not a teacher. I’m just a mom. I’m not the piano teacher, I’m not the gym teacher just a mom. So whatever we can do we do."
No parks with playgrounds, her girls can't see their friends in person. Video chatting and virtually virtual everything is how they operate every day.
"It’s crazy it’s been too long!" she exclaimed.
Pagliarello is certainly not alone feeling that way. Wednesday on Good Morning Jacksonville you'll be introduced to twin mom, Katie Hodge. She's more fearful of the coronavirus than most because, for her, there's no question that remaining on lockdown is a matter of life or death.