We exist somewhere between serenity and absolute panic. New York is quarantined, schools are closed, non-essential businesses are closed, and every cough comes with a tinge of fear (super fun for those of us with asthma).
Unfortunately, I get some extra worry than some families. I work in utilities, and thus am still required to go to work. On top of that, I have asthma, and have been coughing, so unless I get a fever, I’ll never actually know what may been going on. At home, my in-laws’ house literally touches ours, and we worry about them getting infected. Also, besides obviously not wanting my children to get sick, Avari has Juvenile Arthritis, and takes an immunosuppressant, so she’s already more susceptible.
Hello friends. Let’s all touch elbows (finger guns are also acceptable), and then stay 6 feet from each other. The Coronavirus aka Covide-19 scare is in full swing. Avari’s school is closed until at least April 20th, though it looks like it’ll be for the rest of the school year. They already sent an email home ensuring that the school system is properly equipped with the technology to give lessons over the internet. We received a plan for the first week of work, which was completed, and full online daily lessons begin next week.
I was thinking. Avari is weird. She’s an odd nut. This was followed by multiple thoughts.
My first was, “How did she get like this?”
Followed quickly by, “Wait a second, I was like that!”
Finally, I said to myself, “Why can’t she be strange? It’s fun, and she’s a kid.”
There’s nothing particularly alarming. I’ve mentioned her happiness listening to music and drawing by herself. But there’s also the silliness. She almost never takes a picture without making a face, or if someone, even a stranger, asks how she’s doing, she’ll sometimes come out with a strange sounds or just stare blankly.
Obviously her behavior can sometimes range from embarrassing to straight up disrespectful. Oftentimes it’s the same reaction in different situations. If she makes a silly face or grunts like a gorilla when a stranger approaches her, I may cringe, and I may correct her after the fact, but in reality that interaction doesn’t mean much of anything. It’s most likely a reaction to cope with shyness.
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| There Are No Words For This |
Side note, I correct after the fact and not during because I believe that embarrassing her like that in front of others will exacerbate the situation.
When it becomes a problem is when she stops greeting friends and family with proper courtesy, or not appropriately reacting to compliments or other various comments. In actuality, our recent quarantine has helped begin seriously correcting these reactions.
Our reaction to suddenly having, in essence, a home-schooled child was to create a strict schedule to accomplish school work and chores. Along with this came a points system that awards points for academic and domestic accomplishments, and also good behavior. These points can also be taken away for failing to act appropriately or not accomplishing her daily tasks. But, what are the points for? They’re used to cash in on “tablet time”. There Are multiple “break” times built into her daily schedule, they can be used to play or relax, but the only time where she can play video games or go on a tablet is after dinner, and that’s only if she accumulated a set amount of points for the day.
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| She Insisted On the Slippers. . . |
It’s still early, but so far Avari seems quite receptive to a more structured week. Only times will tell if it will translate to more appropriate reactions in public and with family.
It’s very important to remember that, correction is important to the personal growth of our children, but there is a fine line to straddle. After all, they’re children. They should be allowed to have fun and be a little kooky.
4 comments On Corona is Weird, and So is My Kid
I absolutely love the points system! I may have to give that a try with my son. Also, your positive testing is hysterical!!!! So, now that we are in quarantine I expect more chapters to entertain my boredom hahahahah
Haha I'll do my best!
Ummmm let's see, my son used to pretend he was a gorilla and make strange noises when he saw other kids walking on the opposite side of the street it was really embarrassing he also at one time decided to see if he could hang by his heels from the swing set bar and ended up falling on his head that was really scary weirdness is hereditary don't let it worry you they tend to not outgrow it they just take it to a whole new level
Yes, these times are very weird for sure. We don't have any children yet, but I am sure trying to homeschool them during this time is difficult!
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