“Kinda Sad Freedom Dreams”

Some insider tips on how not to quarantine with a baby; Michelle has her first meltdown in Taiwan (yes, it’s only been 48 hours); and links on the systematic dismantling of Hong Kong civil society

Hello from freedom! We survived quarantine! We regret to report that, unlike Benjamin Disraeli, we didn’t finish our books, nor do we understand [insert major field of study here] any better. But we do understand quarantine a bit better—or, rather, we understand a bit better what one should not do in quarantine with a baby. (More on that below.) To put it briefly, one should do the exact opposite of what we did.

Our refrain since leaving quarantine has been “Where did our perfect baby go? Did we ruin her?” Before we went into quarantine, she ate everything, never threw tantrums, slept profusely, and said hello to strangers. Now she wants to drink milk exclusively, throws things at random times, and says no like George in Peppa Pig (definitively; like a slap).