Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — There comes a time in a person's self-isolating life when she gives into the social pressures of social distancing. In other words, when she is tired of looking at the same faces all day and decides to make characters out of those faces.
That moment happened for me Friday morning when looking at my 4- and 6-year-old sons, who at the time were deep in physical argument.
After prying them apart and sitting them on the couch — which for the first time in decades wasn't being used as a fort — I looked at them for a really long time. My mind started to go a place it hasn't gone in a long time. My sweet, rambunctious little boys were about to become the subjects of what had now become what I call "quarantine-quackery."
My 6-year-old son has curly, blond hair that turns into matted dreads after a day of playing outside. He also has a smile that will make anyone giggle with childlike happiness.
My 4-year-old son has hair that, try as I may, always looks like I cut it with a bowl placed squarely on his head. His snaggle-toothed smile comes courtesy of several failed attempts at flying off of one furniture piece or another.
Axel is the kind, thoughtful and slightly naive one whose comedic timing is impeccable and often unintended. Audi, on the other hand, is quite calculated in his ways but doesn't always make the decision that will have him standing on the more easy side of life.
#insta_post
Together, the two of them resemble characters of my childhood: Harry and Lloyd from the comic classic "Dumb and Dumber." And while I have noticed this likeness before, and even documented it in an observational post on my social media accounts, on Friday I decided to make it official. I decided to immortalize my boys as the Harry and Lloyd reincarnate that they were.
After weeks of having nothing on my schedule, it was time for productivity to manifest itself in ways it never had before. There was nothing holding me back from searching for the perfect photo to use as my inspiration. There was nothing stopping me from digging through my family's wardrobe for clothes to help stage the recreation. There was no pressing scheduled appointment that made it so I couldn't coach my sons on how to pose for the picture — coaching that included things like "pull on his ears softly," and "don't grab his hair, but hold it gently in your hands."
Of course, there was some backlash that took place, but none that a promised bag of Cheetos and Skittles couldn't fix.
And then there was the enlisting of help from the graphic design genius mind of my younger brother who is also experiencing social-distancing-time-on-his-hands.
In a matter of minutes, we had a physical representation of what happens when adults and kids collide in perfect harmony. What resulted was a picture that said it all: We're really, really bored.
#insta_post2
Have you lost your mind yet? What strange things have you done to pass the time? Let us know in the comments.
More from Arianne Brown:
