Posts Tagged ‘social isolation’
Mama, We Are All In This Together
Mama, you are not alone. I have lost sleep too, and I don’t have all the answers. I also don’t have a crystal ball with what this back to school season will look like. My special needs kiddo also can’t wear a mask, and he can’t communicate when he’s feeling sick. He still puts things in his mouth, and he still spends more time than most on the floor. My son misses routine, and teachers, and friends. He also needs to see your mouth and your eyes when learning how…
Read More‘No’, the most complicated word in the English language
NO. One of the smallest words in the English language with the most power. Such a small word. Sometimes it’s the first word you learn. As an adult, it’s easy, short, authoritarian. Many times you don’t even have to explain it. When I became a mom, I knew this word would become important. I knew it would be challenged by young minds. I knew as my kids became teenagers, it would become even more important. I never really gave it much thought, never really paid attention to the power and disappointment…
Read MoreQuarantine Confession
Every day we wait outside for a package we never ordered. The days of quarantine are long, especially for a child with special needs. The lack of routine is brutal. I use it as a distraction. It is inevitable that the moment Zac and I step out of the family room we will hear the familiar screeching: Help! Stop it! I know at the bottom of the steps Jordan will be lunching for her brother’s neck so she can catch them for a passionate embrace. It would be enough to…
Read MoreQuarantine, Autism and Never Giving Up
Oh, quarantine and autism. You have been a doozy. You would think we would have embraced this socially distant period like all the autism memes suggested at the beginning of this lockdown. “We’ve been social distancing since before it was a thing!” No. These past few months at home have allowed regression to creep back in, distressing my boy at a whole new level. I knew it would, right when we said goodbye to his routine back in March. It was inevitable. Unfortunately, that expectation did not make these months…
Read MoreCaptain’s Log: Day 6, Social Distancing
I want to be crystal clear about something. Never once have I wondered what it would be like to spend 24 hours a day with my husband and beautiful children. Never have I considered homeschooling my children. Never have I considered moving out to a remote area, having a dozen more children, living off the land and singing songs like the Von Trapp family for fun. I like work. I love daycare and school. I love people and socializing. And I love Target. So, it’s safe to say this has…
Read MoreCaptain’s Log: Day 5, Social Distancing
There are no rules during Corona. It seems we have entered into a reality where time doesn’t matter. Like a Las Vegas casino or the days in between Christmas and New Years Day. Or that movie Groundhog’s Day where every day is the same. Our calendar is wide open until July. Every planned event now with a red line through it. The weekdays are the same as the weekends. We wake up. Drink coffee. Eat breakfast midday. And again an hour later if you are my children. And then ask…
Read MoreCaptain’s Log: Day 4, Social Distancing
Positives: I finished my laundry for the first time in nine years. All of it. Done. We are cleaning our basement and finding amazing treasures and crap. So, that’s great. Struggles: We are all spending entirely too much time together. I feel like I’m not going to know how to socialize after this. Sawyer: ‘Mom, who was your favorite boyfriend besides Dad? Was he better than Dad?’ Me: ? Sawyer: ‘Mom, the baby is in your drawer! You know the one, beside your bed, that I am not allowed to open…
Read MoreWhen The World Isn’t Quite Right
I’m sitting here in my office (hiding), and thinking about how crazy the world is right now. In fact, I keep trying to explain to my children that this has never happened in mommy’s life and it will hopefully never happen again. They don’t seem to understand the severity of it and Sawyer keeps reminding me that last year we had the Polar Vortex and he missed a whole week of school. Which was also awful FYI. We couldn’t leave the house then either because our eyelids would freeze shut…
Read MoreCaptain’s Log: Day 3, Social Distancing
No one seems to be wearing pants anymore. One is in the hot tub at 8:30 am and is starting to resemble a Frat Boy. One is eating chocolate doughnuts. One is carrying a plunger around and hitting anyone who he comes in contact with. The remotes are missing. Every device is on max volume. Which is almost as annoying as my husband screaming, ‘turn it down, for the love of @#$’, every 30 seconds. The three little ones are always hungry. Always. But seem to hate every food I offer…
Read MoreMy 10 Novel, and Not So Novel, Tips for SUCCESSFUL Self Distancing (survival)
LOCK UP THE PANTRY: Yup, you read that right. If your children are anything like mine, they are always hungry. And on chaotic days with no real rhyme or reason, they tend to be even hungrier. I will find little hoard piles of food throughout my house and wrappers hidden in couch cushions. It makes me crazy. Remove the impulse and lock the food up unless it’s meal time. GET OUTSIDE: Go for a walk. Hunt for rocks or leaves. Set up a trampoline or a water table. Go for a…
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