On the 5^th of March 2020, Dr Zweli Mkhize, the Minister of Health announced that South Africa had its first confirmed case of the COVID 19 virus. Although the numbers were low in comparison with other countries, there was a steady increase in COVID -19 positive cases. In efforts to limit the spread of the virus, on March 23^rd, the president of South Africa – Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the country would be on a national lockdown as of midnight, the 26^th of March. Among other things, there were restrictions placed on non-essential movement, gatherings of people over 100, schools were closed, social visits were prohibited, and unless one was an essential worker, they had to work from home.  The nation-wide state of disaster quickly translated into a state of chaos in homes – mothers were breathing through the wound. In this conversation, I explore how working mothers navigated working from home and doing childcare in a context where their key support structures were unavailable.