The salvage effort so far

  I would guess that in some respects, this is the first time in my life that I am somewhat grateful for the whole 'tempus fugit' thing. I must say this comes as a surprise.  We aren't doing as well as I had hoped around here with respect to screen time, among other things. It's been a struggle to get people outside for some modicum of exercise. We are approaching the fourth of July, as of this writing, and so far there is no pool. I might also point that I am still refusing to give up on that. Businesses are slowly opening up around here but surrounding areas are reporting spikes in the virus that shut everything down in the first place.
   My spouse and offspring aren't exactly eager to join the redshirts, as we say at our house. Anyone on Star Trek wearing a red shirt was always shot or eaten in that episode, for all you non nerds out there. Our usual beach vacation won't be happening this year because our landlord has decided not to rent this Summer. I can't blame the woman for erring on the side of caution and the new requirements are onerous. My husband's brother owns a beach house and he doesn't want any company. I can't tell anyone else what to do with their property but the situation leaves me feeling stuck.
   We now have a family vacation with no place to go. Putting it mildly, this is wierd. Captain Fix It All feels compelled to pull a miracle out of her a** and come up with fabulously entertaining ways to fill these days. Who died and declared me the entertainment committee?! Talk about shouldding on yourself!! Is Daddy guilt a thing? So far, I haven't seen much evidence, or maybe I don't know to look.
    Once again, taking the pressure off myself seems to be right up there with leaping tall buildings in a single bound. Don't ask me how I keep losing sight of the fact that we're in a global pandemic and I'm up to the eyeballs in things I can't control. I'm skilled that way. We know a perfectly healthy person who spent weeks in the hospital and almost died. His recovery is taking months, nevermind the hospital bills. This is nothing to screw with. Better safe than sorry gets hard in patches and perspective is a frequent casualty. How are you managing at your house?

Yet another turn at the Rubiks cube

   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.