From the time that the coronavirus led to essentially a nationwide shutdown in mid-March, life at home has certainly been different. My wife and I were already working from home during the week but now our house has increased its capacity for activities. With schools closed, our sons Bradley and Jared have been doing remote learning and I’ve been anchoring my CBS Sports Radio weekend updates from home instead of commuting into New York City.

But we’ve also had to find other ways to stay busy at home since the outer world has basically been limited to trips to the supermarket and essential places like the gas station (I know exciting!), Target and Walmart. Our daily family activities have included watching movies, baseball and football outside, three family meals a day, and trying to stay connected with family and friends on Zoom and FaceTime.

But once a week, Jared has found another fun at-home activity. He and I, and Bradley too when his school schedule allows, take some time every Wednesday to go through our collections of sports cards. We pick out some to post on social media with the hashtag #SchwartzCardWednesday.  I always loved to collect cards when I was a kid and now, I’ve passed that down to Jared. He’s really passionate about collecting cards from our beloved New York Jets like current players Sam Darnold and Jamal Adams as well as some players of the past like Joe Namath and Nick Mangold.

Over the years I’ve trimmed my collection down to cards that aren’t necessarily that valuable but mean a lot to me. For example, I have cards of my favorite players like former Jets Dennis Byrd, Freeman McNeil and Mickey Shuler as well as those from my favorite teams like the New York Yankees and New York Islanders.

Collecting cards can be a lot of fun, but it can also be educational by learning some fun facts and stats about the players. Going through the cards, for me, is a chance to take a walk down memory lane and share a lot of stories with my boys.

We even have a book of cards in our home called “Schwartz Cards.” It’s comprised of cards featuring our family like little league and youth football cards, souvenir cards that we had made up at the Baseball Hall of Fame, and cards from special events like an outdoor hockey game and various fan fests.

I can’t wait for the day that my kids are back on a field or rink playing football, baseball, lacrosse and hockey. For now, a big part of our sports activity is the fun and magic of collecting and going through sports cards at home. I’m going to eventually pass down my cards to my kids, which they’ve already started asking about.

Sorry. They’re not getting them yet, because Dad is still a child at heart and I’m having too much fun still going through my cards!

Peter is a sports anchor for the CBS Sports Radio Network and WFAN Radio in New York.  His son Bradley is a participant in the U.S. National Team program while his younger son Jared plays flag football.   Peter, his wife Sheryl and the boys are busy cheering on the New York Jets when they’re not at a youth football field.