Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Yesterday, my seven-year-old, Mika, and I had a social distance play date with two of our friends. Our social distance play date involved the girls sitting about eight feet apart on the driveway, talking to each other. The mother and I were also at least six feet apart watching the girls and talking. Our girls are great friends and they have not seen each other for a little more than two weeks; they are also both only children (sort of).
Mika and I did not plan to have a play date, we were simply checking on them because the mom had not replied to a couple of emails I sent since the school closed almost three weeks ago. My friend installed a second Ring doorbell in an accessible location for me because I am unable to get to the doorbell everyone else uses. I told Mika we could ring my doorbell because nobody else likely uses it and we would be several feet from the front door, so we would not give our friends any bad germs if we had them.
Our friends came outside since it was a nice day and we all talked for nearly an hour. We liked our social distance play date so much; Mika and I went back today. Today the girls were a little more creative. The girls wanted me to record them practicing some lines of a script Mika’s friend had written, but that did not last long. The girls started playing Thumb War and a game called Crack the Egg while I was still recording.
Apparently, Crack the Egg is a trampoline game; I had never heard of it. It was funny to watch the girls play the games from so far apart, in a driveway. I will edit the videos and get permission to post them to Mika’s YouTube channel from my friend since her daughter is in them also. I think the videos show kids are resilient, and can play games they find fun without touching, or even being close to, one another.
My friend told me today that she thought yesterday’s visit was great for her daughter. Mika does not miss school at all, other than her teacher. Mika’s friend, however, has a few class friends she misses since school is not in session. Mika does not interact well with many of the kids in her class, but she does miss her friend (Mika and her friend are not in the same class). I think more outdoor, social distance play dates will be a welcome distraction for them both.
I have not been sleeping well the past few days. As a general rule, I do not sleep a lot. I usually fall asleep around 10:00 p.m. and wake up six to eight hours later (usually six), but the past few nights have been rather obnoxious. I fall asleep by 10:00 p.m., and then I wake back up at midnight. I find myself wide awake for several hours and I finally fall back asleep about an hour before it is time to get up for the day. I have had some heaviness in my chest since Monday, but I have not had any trouble breathing, so I am just paying attention to how I feel and how my lungs sound. I do not think my bad sleep is caused by my chest congestion.
My bad sleep could be caused by a subconscious concern for the health of my son since he needed to go on self-quarantine Monday. I do not think my bad sleep is caused by a concern for my son because I do not think he is in any danger; however, I am a mom and worry for our children simply comes rushing in at birth and never leaves, even when they are 31. I may be able to prevent my tears from flowing, but mom worry gets imprinted onto your DNA and even I cannot control it.
My piece of advice to you is to not fight mom worry. Mom worry subsides a little when your children move out of your house, and you no longer wonder if they are lying dead in a ditch somewhere every time they leave the house and are not home half an hour before they said they would be. Mika is still young enough she only creates a little mom worry, but I know there is so much more yet to come.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.
Yesterday, my seven-year-old, Mika, and I had a social distance play date with two of our friends. Our social distance play date involved the girls sitting about eight feet apart on the driveway, talking to each other. The mother and I were also at least six feet apart watching the girls and talking. Our girls are great friends and they have not seen each other for a little more than two weeks; they are also both only children (sort of).
Mika and I did not plan to have a play date, we were simply checking on them because the mom had not replied to a couple of emails I sent since the school closed almost three weeks ago. My friend installed a second Ring doorbell in an accessible location for me because I am unable to get to the doorbell everyone else uses. I told Mika we could ring my doorbell because nobody else likely uses it and we would be several feet from the front door, so we would not give our friends any bad germs if we had them.
Our friends came outside since it was a nice day and we all talked for nearly an hour. We liked our social distance play date so much; Mika and I went back today. Today the girls were a little more creative. The girls wanted me to record them practicing some lines of a script Mika’s friend had written, but that did not last long. The girls started playing Thumb War and a game called Crack the Egg while I was still recording.
Apparently, Crack the Egg is a trampoline game; I had never heard of it. It was funny to watch the girls play the games from so far apart, in a driveway. I will edit the videos and get permission to post them to Mika’s YouTube channel from my friend since her daughter is in them also. I think the videos show kids are resilient, and can play games they find fun without touching, or even being close to, one another.
My friend told me today that she thought yesterday’s visit was great for her daughter. Mika does not miss school at all, other than her teacher. Mika’s friend, however, has a few class friends she misses since school is not in session. Mika does not interact well with many of the kids in her class, but she does miss her friend (Mika and her friend are not in the same class). I think more outdoor, social distance play dates will be a welcome distraction for them both.
I have not been sleeping well the past few days. As a general rule, I do not sleep a lot. I usually fall asleep around 10:00 p.m. and wake up six to eight hours later (usually six), but the past few nights have been rather obnoxious. I fall asleep by 10:00 p.m., and then I wake back up at midnight. I find myself wide awake for several hours and I finally fall back asleep about an hour before it is time to get up for the day. I have had some heaviness in my chest since Monday, but I have not had any trouble breathing, so I am just paying attention to how I feel and how my lungs sound. I do not think my bad sleep is caused by my chest congestion.
My bad sleep could be caused by a subconscious concern for the health of my son since he needed to go on self-quarantine Monday. I do not think my bad sleep is caused by a concern for my son because I do not think he is in any danger; however, I am a mom and worry for our children simply comes rushing in at birth and never leaves, even when they are 31. I may be able to prevent my tears from flowing, but mom worry gets imprinted onto your DNA and even I cannot control it.
My piece of advice to you is to not fight mom worry. Mom worry subsides a little when your children move out of your house, and you no longer wonder if they are lying dead in a ditch somewhere every time they leave the house and are not home half an hour before they said they would be. Mika is still young enough she only creates a little mom worry, but I know there is so much more yet to come.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.