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When Trauma Goes Viral — One Family’s Story
I read an article in the NY Times last October about Nicole Kidman’s acting choices and thought of it this morning when I started planning this post.
Connection wasn’t my word of the year, but maybe it should be. It’s come up again and again, and it’s today’s writing theme on Instagram.
It Stinks
I’ve been thinking a lot about how covid is changing us, the implications at home and across the world, and the psychological effects too. How challenging and fateful parenting (in a pandemic) feels right now with 8-year-old twins and a 6-year-old.
When I was eight, I went to school, then played after school at the park or my BFF’s until dinner, then went home, ate, and had a short window of family time before bed. Almost every day.
It seems idyllic when you contrast it to what my children are experiencing — no time in the classroom, no time with friends, limited time outdoors, and almost no unsupervised time at all. And frankly, it feels awful to enforce what instinctively doesn’t feel that healthy.
That said, it’s the right decision for us for now for several reasons. Still, it stinks. And one reason it stinks is that I can see our kids wilting. They were smart, vibrant, creative, brilliant flowers, and they’ve been losing their bloom little…