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In this fast-paced world, caught up with work and responsibilities, we often forget to spend more quality time with our dear ones. And this is probably one good thing that coronavirus has done―it literally closed us in with our significant others 24/7 and threw the key away. And as much as we are grateful for this generous opportunity, and as much as we love the people we are stuck with, I think, it's fair to say that anything can happen. Some people say birth rates will skyrocket in nine months; others say there will be many broken hearts.

So we ask you, Bored Pandas in quarantine, to share how coronavirus has affected your relationship with your significant other. You are not alone in this, and your experiences might help others going through similarly rough or happy times!

#1

My husband and I have been married for over 30 years. We are still very much in love and are best friends. My heart still skips a beat when he smiles at me. He is the finest man I have ever met. I hope we don't kill each other.

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    #2

    I'm a Cancer patient. We don't live together. We talk twice every day and when he comes to see me it's outside, 6-7 feet apart. We greet each other by tapping the tips of our shoes together. It's hard, I miss his touch. I hope we can make it through this. For now I'm his "Bubble Girl."

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    #3

    My SO and I live about 45 mins apart. I have children, including one with special needs who has a compromised immune system. I’ve been diligently social distancing all of us, and for the past week have been isolating with my children. He doesn’t “believe” in social distancing and broke up with me because I refused to go visit him.

    I’m not even mad. Just relieved he revealed this incredible level of selfishness now, before I got more invested.

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    kathryn stretton
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    He probably mixes with other people without a care, so you are safer without him.

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    #4

    How Has The Quarantine Affected Your Relationship With Your Significant Other? (Ended) It truly didn't affect it in any way. Since we both work at Bored Panda, we're used to seeing each other a lot, so this wasn't that much of a change. Ofc we miss our friends and going out, but we have our best time cooking, watching movies and reading books.

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    #5

    My husband is the assistant supply chain director at a major hospital in our city. The director position has been empty since the beginning of the year (New director arriving sometime in April, we hope.), so my hubby is having to cover most of the director's job as well. Obviously, this isn't the type of job that can be done from home, and he is extremely busy right now. I'm trying to home school three boys, who are stuck inside for the most part. As you can imagine, we are both stressed.

    Once upon a time, during a period of unemployment, one of our friends gave us this sage advice, "This situation is going to pull at you, whether it pulls you apart or pulls you together is up to you." So now we're setting aside a bit of time every couple days to cuddle, only cuddle. Just to center ourselves with each other without anything else. It may be as small as 10 minutes, but we have a tiny amount of time just for us. We're determined to make this pull us together.

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    #6

    How Has The Quarantine Affected Your Relationship With Your Significant Other? (Ended) Since we live over 1000km (600 miles) apart, the quarantine definitely had a negative impact on us. Seeing each other is already a rare occasion and the current world situation filled our plans with a lot of uncertainty. We hope that the borders open soon so we could see each (fingers crossed for summer). Unfortunately, the plans to celebrate our anniversary in April are out of the window. On the other hand, it makes you think how fortunate we are to have access to technology that allows us to chat and see each other at least through video calls. No need to rely on carrier pigeons!

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    #7

    How Has The Quarantine Affected Your Relationship With Your Significant Other? (Ended) The quarantine didn't change much, to be honest. My significant other and I used to spend a lot of time together when we both worked from home. So no surprises there, just a throwback to old times. However, I think it's really important to have your own corner in the house where you could have some time alone. If I didn't have one I would probably go insane.

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    #8

    How Has The Quarantine Affected Your Relationship With Your Significant Other? (Ended) Still looking for my significant other. Things are rough on the dating topic. I've had a hard time finding dates even before the outbreak, but now it's pretty much impossible to meet anyone in my home area. I've even extended the search range to the garden, but 0 matches still.

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    #9

    We live in small one bedroom appartment, so we mostly just sit on the couch all day anyway. So we just decided to spice things up by switching sides. Didn't feel right, so after a week we changed back.

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    #10

    Maybe it’s me, but everyone on here seems to have the perfect life at home! This has affected my relationship dramatically. Whether you are married, living together, dating, single...i believe everyone needs some alone time or time to themselves. Even if it’s to take a bath, or the ride to work alone in their car. For me, i have been dating my boyfriend for 6 months, and he has been spending pretty much every night here. I also have my college daughter home with her boyfriend here and my two High school kids. I’m a nurse for one of the “essential” businesses (a government manufacturing plant) that will stay open. My boyfriend can work from home however, I have very stressful days and coming home to a full house is full of energy is a lot. I need time to decompress. My boyfriend want a to hug and cuddle. Honestly my sex drive is nonexistent. It’s causing a lot of stress between us. I don’t know how all of you are doing it

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    #11

    I had just married my Ethiopian husband in Ethiopia less than two months ago while serving for Peace Corps. It was such a nice yet short time living with him and his family. Then for the first time in history Peace Corps suspended all it's overseas operations and forced us to come back to the US at once. I miss my husband so much and I don't know when I can see him again.

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    #12

    My husband and I are lucky- we have lived in each other's back pockets since about our third date over thirty years ago now. We are also full time musicians so that means we also work and tour together. In the past we've spent as much as eight months on the road here in the US and abroad without any problems to speak of, or at least none that came about from being together. Since we're both loners, why does this work? We give each other a lot of space (we each have a room of our own) and respect privacy when we're working on personal stuff or just need some quiet time. We also spend time "just cuddling" which is FAR more important than most people realize. Cuddling is vital, people! Anyway, we spend time home alone together anyway so, except for running short on toilet paper, missing contact with our friends and trips to thrift stores, we're doing pretty well. But we are super lucky and we know it. I couldn't bear this with anyone else, that is for sure.

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    #13

    How Has The Quarantine Affected Your Relationship With Your Significant Other? (Ended) Quarantine is going really well for us. Since we can't go out on a date, we started a date night tradition, where we put on our fancy clothes and "go" for a dinner, to a "movie festival" or just game together. The only argument we've had since the quarantine started was because my SO decided to burn our camp in Don't Starve Together :) But we are happy that we finally have enough time to cook, watch movies, and spend all the time with our dog Rūkas. He couldn't be happier!

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    #14

    Due to this corona crisis me and my boyfriend cannot see each other for idk how long. 2 months, maybe 3? Our situation is a bit complicated, so let me first explain that. We're both students, he lives in Belgium with his parents, I am Dutch but study in Belgium. Normally we see each other ~ twice a week, it's about an hour from my dorm to his parents' place. When the crisis hit we figured it would be most rational to both stay at our parents' and maybe see each other once every couple of weeks. My dorm is only 20 square metres so quarantaining together over there would probably drive us crazy very quickly. However, Belgium closed its borders, which means we cannot see each other until they open back up (earliest would be April 18). Luckily we're used to not seeing each other often, from the time I was still studying in the Netherlands. Tho 2 months has never happened before. It's been two weeks now and it's hard every day. We video call whenever we can, we send pics and we chat a lot but it's ofc not the same as physically being together. We try to focus our attention to our studies to make sure we don't have resits and can spend the entire summer together. Our trip in June probably won't be possible sadly :( We will struggle through it all, I can't wait for this crisis to be over.

    I'm sorry for any grammar/spelling errors, English isn't my first language

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    #15

    My husband is at sea. He's captain of an offshore vessel. We have 2 small kids who miss him a lot. His shift ended 2 weeks ago, but there won't be any crew changes until all of this will be over. (until company can guarantee safe travel)
    So I have no idea when we will see him again.
    (video) calls go through very poor satellite connection.

    So please, all of you: stay home, follow the rules! The better we do this, the sooner travel bans can be lifted. I want him to come home

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    Marcellus the Third
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That's a frequent thing in the merchant navy! Had a flatmate that would be home from a trans-atlantic trip mid-november, then mid-december, then early january, then appeared first week of february. His girlfriend made drama about missed christmas things... Well she had all her mates and family around, with the freedom to choose to go dancing or hillwalking alone or group, and re-choose at every single hour! He was stuck on a vessel with seven male colleagues of non-matching ages, with 15 VHS tapes (OK it was 1997).

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    #16

    I miss school. I know that sound horrifying but I love learning and I get really bored at home. Can’t go out with friends and other family. I am happy that my sisters gf is staying with us though. Surround yourself with love everyone. Stay home. Stay safe.

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    #17

    We did struggle at first. I think because the two weeks prior to the quarantine had me under stress from about 5 different directions, and without realizing it I had been getting irritable. But the two of us have always been strong communicators and when he told me this, I believed him and made changes. I am being very mindful to spend time with him. This will become more difficult very soon as he is moving to night shifts at his essential job in order to be around his co-workers less. Our plan is for him to sleep while I work from home, and I will sleep while he is at work. That still gives us a decent amount of time which we can use to work out, do things that relax us, and work on projects / housework / etc, sometimes together and sometimes apart. It's different, and even for two introverts it's hard to be cooped up non-stop for so long, but I think we'll get through it.

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    #18

    Life is still pretty much the same for us. Married 10 years, he is active duty military, so it's work as usual for him. The weird thing is, we were forced to move across the country the day before the quarantine hit. So getting the house set up, (movers, utilities, internet, meeting neighbors, getting groceries) has made us a little tense. We will be OK tho. We have survived multiple deployments and he takes good care of me (I'm immuno-comp). Prayers to everyone out there.

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    #19

    I'm one of those introverts who is supposed to be enjoying this, according to contemporary humor.

    I suffer from maladaptive daydreaming and the last few weeks have been spent a lot in lala land.

    Cuddling is important in these trying times and I do it with my daydreaming and a pillow.

    Read the Alchemist by Paolo Coelho and I try to devine what my Personal Legend might be. I do indeed believe, as the novel claims, that the Universe will conspire to make that happen.

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    Felicia Dale
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Daydreaming can be a sanity saver. I have to pay attention to my brain, though, or else the worry weasels take over.

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    #20

    it didn't affect much. him and i were already long distance, but we are getting together next weekend! 6 feet apart, yes, but it's better than nothing, right?!

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    #22

    I'm a child at 14 and I have been living at home with 9 other people and 8 animals nobody in my family cares if the Corona Virus is in the house or not. We and a family and we love everyone with the same love. Corona or not.

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    #23

    As i am in "real" quarantine for 14 days because I had contact to three positive tested persons it is hard for me to stay inside all day. But I am very lucky because a: I have a balcony and b: my boyfriend supports me alot. He also cant go outside now (my test results arent back yet) so we are stuck here together. which is great in a way. i love beeing quarantined with him. we do our own stuff in our own rooms but also spend alot time together (cooking, cuddling, relaxing in the sun, playing videogames).

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    #24

    I haven´t seen my boyfriend for 3 weeks now. We are not sharing a flat and he lives in an other city. But we will be fine. We will get through this together and tomorrow we have planned to skyped for the first time in years. We used to skype very often when we got to know eachother. So I am very much looking forward to reviving the old times. :)

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    #25

    My now husband and i had a long distance relationship ( like different continents and visa issues included) for 3 years, and we made it through thanks to all internet apps. We had ups and downs but realized it's because of all the stress and not knowing when can we see each other next. During the outbreak we were on an island for vacation. It was a little nightmare to get flights back, where he lost its sanity with the staff. Then we made it, but the next day i had misplaced his card in a different holder, he got very angry, we drove back to the hotel, he found it in his wallet and was upset why i wouldn't apologize although i did everything to resolve the problem right away. 20h of driving later we made it safe, had another little argument and now he is staying with friends, i am in a hotel, and thinking separation. It's not the Covid situation, it's people being their true form.

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    #26

    Well I´m single, so staying at home is not a big deal for me. But I met a girl, few weeks before Corona got serious and so I can just write her from time to time and hope she ist also interested in me since I don´t know this.
    Because I am a voluntary firefighter, I can see my friends sometimes when we get an alarm. This really helps me not going crazy between working (truck mechanic) and sitting at home.

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    #27

    im forever alone... whos with me?

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    TheReader19
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Such a sad comment, sometimes friendships can be as deep and meaningful as marriage. No is a write off from love

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    #28

    My husband is in prison so this is quite normal situation for us. We used to see each other about every other weekend (me visiting jail or my husband visiting home), and now we can't meet for some time, but we have phones so we can talk every day. They don't normally allow phones in the prison during night time, but now my husband can keep his phone with him 24/7, so we can say good night and good morning to each other, that's nice. :)

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    Julia Hammyy
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Im sorry. But at least you can hear eachothers voice. Must be so hard for you both. Stay strong!

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    #29

    We're coming up on our 15th wedding anniversary. Our twins just turned 10. Its stressful and scary but, also wonderful that we get so much family time now! Only downside is that we live in a small house. A very small house. You cannot hide sound, or, er... smells from each other.

    I now know more about the popping habits, schedules, anomalies, etc. of my little family than I ever wanted to know.

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    #30

    I wish there was something to report! I am not currently in a relationship, but not being able to see the person I have a crush on in the early stages of the feeling has been rough. I will say it has made me more bold in starting conversations with them, though... hoping school opens back up before the end of the academic year so I can see them before they move!

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    #31

    My partner and I recently moved cities just a few weeks ago. We’ve moved quite a few times for work/school. Before we moved it was just us hanging out every night and weekend.

    I am not working right now due to the virus besides phone meetings, he’s working out of town and is considered essential for now. I miss him lots so I plan out a few things for each day to keep busy!

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    #32

    I can't say it has since I don't have an S.O. , but I do know that my family and I are growing to dislike each other more each day.

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    #33

    No change. We already worked from home together and since we also have an adult child with special needs we have often had to be at home for weeks at a time. I do wish I was not the only one who cooks real meals.

    The biggest challenge is that I have an onsite apartment and I am really close to the tenant and her kid but we have to social distance cause the child still goes to the other parent's house so we cant really know if she is not exposed when there.

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    Julia Hammyy
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Mollyyy clearly youre some bored kid who has never experienced life outside of school and trying to be the cool kid by flipping off the teacher behind their back. If youre looking to laugh at people getting mad online, you wont get far because we all knox you are a troll which not only keeps people from taking you seriously in anyway, but sort of makes you the one to laugh at

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    #34

    My girlfriend and I got together a few weeks ago at school. We haven't been able to see each other and I miss her. I can't wait to be able to go back to schools so I can see her.

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    #35

    Bored pandas, we have two separate homes and he's working at the hospitals so we decided he stay away from from us on the other home alone so me and kids on the other home to prevent the spread of covid 19 for incase he contacted it during his working hours, but we still have to send him food on the other side, we'll get through this with God's help

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    #36

    Well nothing really changed. Me and my boyfriend are still working and we have two roommates and they are still working. The only difference is that were not going out and enjoying social activities with other people. I was working a second job to help speed up the process of paying off my car loan but it is what it is.

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    #37

    We're about an hour's drive apart, and both of us have family members who are compromised, so we had to make the difficult decision to stay distant for a while. It's really difficult, because I want nothing more than to hold him and run my fingers through his hair. But when he called me and promised me he wasn't going anywhere, my heart skipped a beat. I love that man.

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    #38

    I think this self quarantine helps you and your person because this is a difficult time for the both of you but it prepares you for such issues like this in the future or a long distance thing if one of you is going to be in another country,my relationship hasn't been affected that much because we talk everyday,video calls and my person understands that we will get through this

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    #39

    To be honest with you this whole thing has affected my relationship with my boyfriend in the worst possible way we use to date a couple of years ago and broke up cause things were going really bad with us then 2 months ago we just got back together cause I believe every man deserves a second chance so he moved in at first everything was ok between us but once this thing started to get worse he got worse I barely see him or talk to him anymore he don't follow the rules of the virus he don't do the curfew he don't quarantine he's not protecting himself at all he has asthma he can't afford to get the virus I have asthma I'm anemic and I have a heart murmur I can't afford to get sick he's always out there all day every day running around with who knows who doing who knows what coming home at all hours of the night sometimes he don't come home at all sometimes he come home at like 12 in the morning 2 in the morning and when he is around all we do is fight every day I text him to check up on him and see how he's doing and make sure he's ok cause I worry about him being out there like that with the virus I love him and I care about him it would hurt me if anything happened to him but he don't seem to care about what happens to me as long as he's good that's all that matters he don't call or text me to see how I'm doing so I don't know what to do I don't think this relationship is going to work he's not taking this virus seriously he must think it's a joke and I'm afraid one day he might get it and bring it back to me all I want to do is protect him and keep him safe all he wants to do is fight and make threats I just wish this virus would be over soon cause things were a whole lot better before this we were happy we talked a lot we spent more time together we did things together we had fun and now we're both drifting apart

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    Penny Maletic
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Seriously....you are abusing yourself by staying with this guy. Everything about this is only in your imagination if you think it can work. A quick cut off is easier and less painful than what you are going through now. Get out of that so-called relationship, feel terrible for awhile...maybe a long while, but eventually you heal and things will get better in your life. If you stay with him your life will be horrible. Face up to what is the truth and you will not regret it. All the best.

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    #40

    My partner and I recently moved cities just a few weeks ago. We’ve moved quite a few times for work/school. Before we moved it was just us hanging out every night and weekend.

    I am not working right now due to the virus besides phone meetings, he’s working out of town and is considered essential for now. I miss him lots so I plan out a few things for each day to keep busy!

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    #41

    Sucks BEcuz we don't live together

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    #42

    I'm in a long distance relationship. I won't see my bf for the next half year because all flights are cancelled and borders closed. I'm afraid this might ne the end of us.

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    Penny Maletic
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    it's a good test ....let it ride itself out and accept the consequences if it doesn't work out.

    #43

    To see each other in Belgium for the moment is a typical belgian sollution: a half sollution.
    Till yesterday one could visit his or her partner, even a distance away. At this moment politicians and scientists make their own rules.
    You have to know that we probably have the greatest number of ministers and members of parlement in the world to serve 11 million citisans. Each region has his own parlement: Flanders, la Wallonie and Brussels Capital. At this moment we are more than 1 year without a national government. No problem in Belgium. In fact a big problem.
    And then there was Covid 19. Some scientists say: visiting your partner is not done, some politicians support this vision, others...
    The result: the golden belgian midway (like usual): Teenagers can not visit their (girl)friend, adults can visit their partner on location. It is allowed to use the car for this reason.

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    #44

    My long-distance boyfriend of 1.5 years and I live about 85 miles apart and alway aimed to see each other each weekend. But after lockdown started we couldn't do that. We both have played by the rules and not visited each other but it has been very difficult as at the best of times we already see each other less than most couples at the same point in our relationship. He is able to work completely from home in his profession but I am a doctor and have to go into hospital to work each day with suspected or positive patients. He said that at some point he would come to me if the separation became too difficult. However, I simply cannot risk him potentially becoming unnecessarily infected and he would have to stay for at least 14 days to quarantine with me. I couldn't bear it if he went back home alone and became symptomatic. We have drinks dates and watch movies together over video calls. We both know that this situation won't last forever and that our relationship is strong. We are both very patient and know that this relationship is about the long game so while I can't say that I'm completely ok, I feel that it will be ok in the end.

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    #45

    I've been with my boyfriend since January, we were already long-distance, him living in Cardiff and myself in Brighton, and we decided to become "official" the 2nd of March, not even two weeks before shit hit the fan in the UK. It's been a struggle, especially for me who suffers from a lot of mental illness including severe BPD, to think about the idea that we may not see each other for a while - especially seeing as our relationship and love is still so very, very new.
    But I think we're both convinced that this is the relationship we wanna be in, and the current situation is not gonna change that. We communicate a lot about everything, about our plans, and dream about what we'll do once this is all "over", we set specific time aside to spend quality time together, and we allow ourselves to feel sad and grieve our situation, but never let ourselves wallow, because we know we have so much to be grateful for, including each other.
    One of my bigger woes is that his love language is touch - mine's words of affirmation and quality time, both of which he can provide me with - and I don't know how to make him feel extra special and loved in HIS language when we're kept apart like this.
    But I think, despite the frustration, clumsiness, and missing each other, this will only make us a stronger couple. We love each other unconditionally and more importantly, want to be together, come hell or high water. And if we can deal with all the stress, anxiety, depression, uncertainty, paranoia, etc. that comes with this, and still find ourselves FaceTiming each other getting drunk and watching Tiger King as if it were any other Monday night - what can't we overcome?

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