It’s 11 p.m. and my 8-year old is still wide awake. I’ve been sitting in the dark next to her, trying to calm her racing mind, for close to two hours. Sleeplessness runs in the family.
“What does your dream tree house look like, Maman? Who lives there with you? My tree house as a see-through roof so you can see the stars at night. It’s in a village were all my friends live. I have a pet moose with fairy lights in his antlers. There’s a waterfall, and little houses for fairies, a bioluminescent stream (we recently went out to look at this magical phenomenon), puppies, kittens, butterflies…” and on and on it goes.
Tonight‘s a good night. Coco’s daydreaming of beautiful, magical places filled with fairies, all the people she loves, loads of friends and miles and miles of flowers. Most nights, her thoughts are much darker. Especially since the pandemic upended our lives. “I miss F, and Aunt B, and S and K and dancing at OTE. What if we never get to go back there again? What if I never see my friends again? What if they die? What if you die??”
I hold her a little tighter in my arms and whisper softly. “Shhh…I love you. I’m not going anywhere. You’re safe. Everything is going to be okay. There are super smart scientists working very hard to find a vaccine and until then, we’re going to continue to be super careful. We have each other.”
I pull out my phone and put on a cricket soundscape. It’s the only kind of white noise I can stand, probably because it’s exactly in the same pitch as my tinnitus (More on that in another post.) and she seems to find it soothing.
Truth is, I don’t know if everything will be okay. In fact, I know it won’t be for a good long while. I struggle, as does my daughter, with this new normal. But I desperately want her to have as happy and magical childhood as possible.
According to a report by Express Scripts released in April, Americans are taking 34% more anti-anxiety medications since the onset of the pandemic. How can a nation of stressed-out adults keep their children from freaking out, too?
The CDC tells us to try to keep up with regular routines and create a schedule for learning and for relaxing or fun activities. Easier said than done.
So far, we’ve set up a tent in the living room, moved the furniture around so our daughter can dance (our downstairs neighbors just love that), gone to see bioluminescent waves (despite stay at home orders), gone to look at the poppies in Antelope valley (We picnicked in the trunk of the car. No flowers were trampled, promise!) watched little crabs crawl around in the mud and even went to a socially distant 8-year old’s birthday party. And yet our daughter is still miserable and stressed out most of the time.
And that’s only what’s been happening during our “spare” time. We’re still spending a good 3-4 hours on zoom every day finishing up Coco’s 2ndgrade curriculum while trying to get our own work done. But in a few short weeks school will be out – for 10 weeks!
What are you doing to fill your days and keep your children happy, healthy and engaged? How are you planning on filling your days this summer?
Beautifully written
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