The novelty’s worn off, right? The boredom, frustration and feeling trapped; the compulsions, the freeze response; the conspiracy theories and paranoia. The roller coaster continues.
Yesterday I hit my first doldrum. Overdue, I might add. I pulled the blankets over my head for an extra hour and felt grateful my kids are old enough to feed themselves. My heart is on you, parents with younger kiddos.
I got up and put Thao & the Get Down Stay Down in one ear and did what needed to be done. This felt good, moving through the discomfort with Thao.
It’s been windy and cold here in the Tri-Cities, Washington. The sky is grey. Maybe the wind can wash this stagnation off of us. I’ll get out there for a bit.
Today I’ve got some nice things to keep you company:
RELATIONSHIPPING
Esther Perel! If you don’t know about her, please let me be the one to share her with you. She offers a wealth of insight about our co-mammaling. Her first book is titled Mating In Captivity. Her podcasts are “Where Should We Begin?” and “How’s Work?” https://www.estherperel.com/podcasthttps://www.estherperel.com/podcast
Her TedX talk is a lovely gateway to her body of work. https://www.ted.com/talks/esther_perel_rethinking_infidelity_a_talk_for_anyone_who_has_ever_loved/discussion
I’m an apple users and I often search apple podcasts for her name, to catch different interviews she’s done with various hosts.
THE WIT AND STRIVING OF OTHER HUMANS:
If you’re on Facebook fishing around for humor and connections, these events have been entertaining:
- “Scream Out Your Front Door” (Wednesday April 1 at 9 pm MDT): https://www.facebook.com/events/220355279161959/
- People are holding “Sit at Home — Stare Out Window” events. Hilarious: https://www.facebook.com/events/2814412761972876/
- I have spent most of my life quietly avoiding food posts. Now I’ve buckled and I’m participating in “Quarantine Meals!!! In Quarantine? Show us your meals!” https://www.facebook.com/groups/238652670641125/
We’ve also had 2 friends build kids connect groups, where we’re sharing interests and meeting new people. The kids are enjoying this and the nice thing about living with kids is that they aren’t conditioned the way we are, so it’s just really real. There’s no delusion.
Sometimes the kids are happy and when they’re not, they’re not. I appreciate their blunt nature during this, because there’s less pressure to pretend everything’s normal. We can just embrace what’s real and nurture that into whatever it’s going to be. It’s refreshing, when we can embrace reality in this way. Unless we’re trying to avoid that, of course!
MOVEMENT:
Dr. Michelle Mattingly from Bend, Oregon has shared a mid-level Primal Flow yoga class on youtube. This is a blend of Vinyasa and primal movements that reconnect us to our natural way of moving, which we don’t get enough of in our modern patterns. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9Pth9ic_Iw
MUSIC AND MEDIA:
Time for Kids is offering their digital library free for the rest of the school year. https://time.com/tfk-free
Austin City Limits is opening the archives for us. Starting March 23, a fan-favorite selection of Season 45 will be available for streaming and the entire previous two seasons will be available. https://www.pbs.org/show/austin-city-limits/
GIRLS WHO CODE:
Free downloads! They are releasing new activities weekly & each activity will include a feature of a woman in tech who pioneered innovative technology. https://girlswhocode.com/code-at-home/
PARENTING PANDEMIC PRO TIP: “Fact Checking”
Who is tired of childhood lying and fact fabrication and competitive actual fact crushing?
- Other kids telling your second grader that they have the rarest Pokemon card EVER and they’ll sell it to them for tWenTY DolLArs!!!
- Our kids, telling their teachers we went to South America for vacation.
- Our kids saying that the megalodon and the quetzalcoatlus are “something something something and ate only raw dead cows and bugs, but not beetles because they smell weird!”
- Our kid says they have a piece of snowflake obsidian and the other kids is like, “you’re a liar, there’s no such thing,” and then a nemesis is forged!
- Your dad is not the best soccer player in the state of Washington!
- She’s a LIAR! He’s a LIAR! You’re a LIAR! LIaR liAr pAnTS on fIrE!
- eTCetEra aD nAuSEaM
We learned about “FACT CHECKING” this week. I was tired of the grappling for intellectual security. So I told them the internet is broken and the president lies and research studies get published and shared before they’re peer reviewed and people make outrageous claims and the media is partially accurate or inaccurate and there’s confirmation bias ALL THE TIME and lying is part of our world and we have to FACT CHECK.
So…Now our little will come running up all red-faced, with curls swept back from running and say, “Mom, I need to fact check something!”
Winner. I love fact checking with my kiddos.
