This is by far the craziest time that I can remember in all of my 38 years so far. The fear of this virus is taking over and people are starting to panic. What does this look like to your family?
Both my older daughter Kayla and my husband Derek have compromised immune systems due to the medications that they are on. This is a terrifying time for them. Kayla goes to the University of Michigan, which has went to online format only for the rest of this semester. However, she is an RA in a dorm so she is not allowed to leave or it is seen as forfeiting her job. She also works at the University of Michigan hospital in the gift shop. She is literally around thousands of people each day. Unfortunately, if she forfeits her RA position, she would lose her room and possible her housing benefits that have already been paid and we would need to cover that cost. We simply do not have that kind of money. That is why she is an RA in the first place. I advised her to try and stay isolated in her room as much as possible and wash, wash, wash those hands.
Poor Kinley is only 6 years old and is so scared and upset over this whole thing. Their little minds cannot comprehend what is going on. All she knows is that her karate tournament which she has worked so hard for is cancelled, her friends birthday party she was looking forward to is cancelled, school is cancelled for the next 3 weeks during reading month which is such a fun time. She has seen the chaos at the stores and is worried we will run out of food. She is scared she will bring home germs to her dad and he could die because "he isn't healthy already". The Easter egg hunts are already being cancelled. Literally every fun activity is being cancelled. How can we expect children to understand and just accept it? More than half of the adults I see are having a hard time accepting it and everyone seems to be in a state of shock.
Most of us have never lived through anything quite like this. Something that is just crippling not just our country, but most of the world. There are so very many moving parts to this problem. How can families that were barely making ends meet, now provide breakfast and lunch for these children that may have been getting it for free at school? How can they continue to work if their kids do not have school for at least the next 3 weeks? Who will take care of the kids? Even if they find some place, can they afford it? What about all of the folks who are out of work due to events being cancelled so they have no income coming in? What will they do? All of these unanswered questions are by far the scariest part of this whole pandemic.
The only things that we can for sure do right now is wash your hands to help stop the spread. Stay home as much as possible. Be kind to others as everyone is beyond stressed. Share items that you may have an abundance of that are in high demand. Offer to help ease the childcare burden for a friend if you are able. This is the time to show exactly what you are made of and truly make a difference. And above all, hold your loved ones a little tighter today as we do not know what tomorrow will bring.
No comments:
Post a Comment