We are at the beginning of our first ever pandemic Summer. Stay at home orders have been lifted but there's nowhere to go. We are home with an 11 year old who has lost the ability to entertain herself without video games. Somehow I was supposed to see this coming and have magically made plans to keep her busy this Summer. My frustration is exacerbated by the worst of humanity. I am trying to find a pool for our daughter.
This is something I probably should have seen coming. I've dealt with book dealers and that should have taught me that people are greedy scum and will gouge others as much as possible. When you add a pandemic, manufacturing shutdowns and rampant unemployment you get a recipe for disaster, indeed. I seem to be the one in my family who is taking this the hardest. My guess is because I'm the only one who believes in a limit on the screen time for our adhd honeybun.
I am one stubborn creature, just ask my family. My spare time is spent prowling g the internet on any and every site I can think of to keep searching. It's odd how in the midst of an alleged "shortage", there are still enough listings for pools. Why not just break down and buy one? Principal, mostly, quickly followed by low cash flow are my top reasons. We actually once owned a large aluminum pool. It became too expensive to fix after a bad storm one summer and we weren't using it enough at the time. My daughter's friend had the same issue.
This pandemic also includes a heaping helping of Mommy guilt. Don't ask me who died and declared me in charge of the entertainment for my daughter. The problem is that I can't ignore the excessive screen time. I also feel guilty about our girl feeling lonely. The screen is regrettably, her main means of keeping in touch with her friends. How do you find a good balance? I don't have a whole lot of support on this front, either. Electronics are easy babysitters and I live with huge fans of "easy". What's a mom to do?
I'm considering some good advice I received from a therapist. The short answer seems to be to get obnoxious and then back off. Getting obnoxious comes naturally to me, ask anyone. It's the second part I have a problem with. You're asking a stressed out control freak to relax. I'll get right on that, just let me get to my phone booth and put on my cape. The gist of the plan is to hand our little tech addict a list of breaks that must be completed during the day. The items include horrendous things like fresh air and sunshine and God forbid, flute practice! Wish me luck on this, it won't be easy staying sober.
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