New Routines
I am going to try to journal this for a few reasons - I want to document this. It's a big deal and I'd like to record what we do, what is happening and how we are reacting to it. My children are too young to understand what is happening, so maybe I'll show it to them eventually. I also need a place to work out any emotions and feelings that I have so that I can deal with them in a healthy manner. I have a tendency to bottle everything up and explode, but I've been working on that a lot since I got married. I've gotten better, but I'm not perfect.
So I've been watching this virus for a few months now. In February I actually started to buy diapers the next size up so that I had them if I needed them. I made sure I had the soap I wanted to use. I also have a lot of friends who live internationally and so I knew that the virus could easily spread. I've also lived in China before. I know that things are kept hush hush there until they can't contain things anymore.
I will say that I'm having a really hard time empathizing with people who are panicking. I think it's because I'm used to not being in control of health situations. I have two children, 2.5 and 7 months old, who both have a particular type of muscular dystrophy. If you ever want to feel like you aren't in control, have children with a congenital illness or disease. You are given a child who needs things that you never dreamed you'd have to consider. But it's life. You can stop and grieve the loss of your freedom, "normal" life, etc. We did. But it took us a day or two to work through that and move onto the "now what" phase. With this pandemic - I didn't even grieve. My world is weird anyway. I don't want to get sick, and I want every person in my family to stay healthy. The odds are not in our favor. But we will try! After you grieve your loss of your choosing, you need to move into the next phase of trying to figure out how you are going to adjust your life and routine so that it works for you. It will not be what you had before. You are going to have to get over that. But you may find a routine that works really well!
My intent is to write everyday. If it's a bad day, maybe more than once a day. But for now - work on figuring out a routine that works for your family. It doesn't need to look like anyone else's. It's yours. Not theirs. And judgment gets society nowhere. So stop judging others and yourself. Give yourself some grace during your break in period. And be ready to hang out in that routine for a while. I think we are in this for the long haul. Not just two weeks.
So I've been watching this virus for a few months now. In February I actually started to buy diapers the next size up so that I had them if I needed them. I made sure I had the soap I wanted to use. I also have a lot of friends who live internationally and so I knew that the virus could easily spread. I've also lived in China before. I know that things are kept hush hush there until they can't contain things anymore.
I will say that I'm having a really hard time empathizing with people who are panicking. I think it's because I'm used to not being in control of health situations. I have two children, 2.5 and 7 months old, who both have a particular type of muscular dystrophy. If you ever want to feel like you aren't in control, have children with a congenital illness or disease. You are given a child who needs things that you never dreamed you'd have to consider. But it's life. You can stop and grieve the loss of your freedom, "normal" life, etc. We did. But it took us a day or two to work through that and move onto the "now what" phase. With this pandemic - I didn't even grieve. My world is weird anyway. I don't want to get sick, and I want every person in my family to stay healthy. The odds are not in our favor. But we will try! After you grieve your loss of your choosing, you need to move into the next phase of trying to figure out how you are going to adjust your life and routine so that it works for you. It will not be what you had before. You are going to have to get over that. But you may find a routine that works really well!
My intent is to write everyday. If it's a bad day, maybe more than once a day. But for now - work on figuring out a routine that works for your family. It doesn't need to look like anyone else's. It's yours. Not theirs. And judgment gets society nowhere. So stop judging others and yourself. Give yourself some grace during your break in period. And be ready to hang out in that routine for a while. I think we are in this for the long haul. Not just two weeks.
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