Talk about an unexpected stop on this journey, Coronavirus 2020 has left us in a very unfamiliar place. We’ve only just begun to travel along this detour and already we’re tired as heck.
The good thing is she is washing her hands. The bad thing is that she is getting up in the middle of the night to do it. My daughter is a worrier. What exactly do you tell your child that finds something to worry about during the best of circumstances when there is panic not only in her community but around the world? As much as we try to hide the news she finds out anyway. She knows people are getting sick from germs. She knows school has been cancelled. Events have been cancelled. She hears the shelves at some stores are being emptied. Most of us are able to put it all in a somewhat rational perspective but for those ridden with anxiety this is a hard thing to deal with. What makes it even harder is that we can’t give her an honest answer as to when it will all be over. The best we can do is keep reassuring her that it’s not forever and it will end.
Our children’s routines that get them through one day to the next have been suddenly stopped without warning. All that was predictable last week has now become unpredictable. The people and places they rely on are distanced. This is especially true of their teachers, therapists and school staff. Perhaps now we will all come to realize just how important our schools are to our children.
It’s time to set up new routines and ways of doing things. Our school district as well as many others is scrambling to put together meaningful routines that our kids can follow at home. This certainly has not been an easy task and they have been doing all that they can under the circumstances. They know just as we all do that routines are important to our kids. It’s now up to us all to be committed to these new routines.
This is especially going to be hard for our special needs community. Our children thrive on routines and changing them without warning is not easy. The road ahead is going to be challenging for us all. The days are going to be long and the many sleepless nights even longer.It’s important to reach out to one another now even more than before and know that you are not alone. Together we’ll get through this. We are warriors.
Princesses and Predictability 