Safer At Home: Reflections (thus far)

We are embarking upon week 8 (!!) of safer at home / shelter in place / quarantine living. Arizona and I have had our ups and downs, mostly because change in routines and schedules are not easy for either of us.

But aside from increased anxiety from time to time, we are largely doing okay. And I am grateful for so much goodness that has already come out of this time for us.

We have enjoyed a less harried pace. We have enjoyed being in our home. We have been riding bikes in our very hilly neighborhood – and Arizona can now ride down the difficult hill on her own. I’m not sure how many LEGO (thank goodness for LEGO) sets we’ve done, because I’ve lost count. We are doing so much art together. We are cooking every day. We are playing with dolls and creating social scenarios where the dolls talk through their big feelings.

In the traditional sense, we are not getting the myriad therapeutic services that Arizona is used to receiving. But we still do our daily work: executive function drills (visual schedules, organizing our to dos), fine motor skills (again, LEGO), play therapy (doll conversations), visual and motor planning, social thinking (Zoom class sessions), emotional regulation (especially the learning to be flexible part), speech + language processing (especially the expression of big feelings part – verbal, written and artistic releasing), adaptive PE (physical education) and gross motor skills (bike riding, running and jumping), calming and coping skills / regulation (music, quiet time, journaling and reflection) …

And, also: sometimes we just hit a wall. Sometimes one funky day turns into three in a row. Two weeks ago, we had an entire week of funk. I know I wanted to give up, so many times. We are all juggling so much. I am trying to run a small business and home school my child who normally has a 1:1 aide with her full-time M-F. I cannot do it all, even on my best days.

But if there’s one thing I know about me and my girl, it’s that we are used to new normals. We can do hard things. We can adapt and be flexible. We always come back to love. We are a team and we continue to grow and learn, together.

How are you and your families coping with quarantine life? What are new things you are discovering together? In what ways are you looking for additional support?