Even though Stevie is on the mend, and I’m fairly certain the E. coli has run it’s 10-day course, the Department of Health has instructed us to keep him out of school and away from other kids until they can clear him. Two consecutive clean stool samples is the way to do that. We delightfully collected poop in a vile this morning and have our fingers crossed for the best possible outcome. Each test takes 10 days though, so that means we’ll be stuck at home for about 20 days in the best case scenario. And the nurse told us to plan for a month or even two.
Obviously, upon hearing this I had a panic attack.
And then I started making a plan.
Being stuck at home with Stevie is not a strong suit of mine. There are several factors involved, number one being that he simply doesn’t like it. He strongly disagrees with doing indoor activities, and no amount of creativity on my part has been able to change that. Now that he’s playing with cars more, those can keep him entertained for about 5 minutes at a time, 5 times a day. So between those, awful YouTube videos, meals and a nap, we’ve already killed 3 hours! It’s a start, but still leaves us with plenty more time to drive each other crazy. Plus – I’ll let you in on a little parenting secret – all of it is super boring.
We normally have a schedule that includes the gym and school and running all around town, so we’ll have to mix things up a little bit, but I think having a stay-at-home schedule will help give me focus and put things in our day that we can look forward to. Walks, drives, a school-type activity, floor time play, and most importantly, I’m going to try and teach Stevie about quiet time. AKA a mommy break. Right now, that concept is completely foreign to him and when I tell him I need a break, he just cries and screams until I give up. Or he stands right next to me telling me every 3 seconds “all done break!” I have high hopes that if we work on it every day, it can become a real thing. If not, then I will just drink wine to help me be extra sweet, when I really feel like jumping out a window.
As much as I want to help Stevie stay busy and keep up with learning some things, I also need something for myself because otherwise I’ll spend the whole month eating and online shopping. So I might start a photo or video project. 30 Days at Home with Stevie, or something like that. It would essentially be a lot of pictures of him in his underwear, so I don’t really know what direction it will go yet, but I do know that if I have a way to make it fun for myself, I might survive.
Last, but not least, I’ve already started a list of things to do when we finally break out of here. I’m hoping we will feel refreshed, the weather will be a tad cooler, and we can make up for some lost time. Between Stevie’s eye surgery, complications from eye surgery, recovery time, follow-up appointments, summer school, summer camp, funerals, therapy, swim lessons and working a whole bunch – holy cow, this summer was a whirlwind. I’d love to take him at least a couple new places just for fun.
We’ll start from square one today and see how it goes. It’s 7am and I’m already counting down to a visit from Tati so the husband and I can hit the gym. The first time you’ll ever hear me say I’m excited to go workout.
Pray for me us.
What activities besides online shopping do you enjoy doing indoors? What’s the first place we should go once we get the all clear? Disneyland, right?
Thinking about you guys and hoping you’re hanging in there! I have so much admiration for your positive attitude and dedication! I hope Stevie is feeling better!!!
Oh Jaana, I feel for you and Stevie. Thank goodness he is on the mend. In the meantime, I think I would scour pinterest for some easy craft projects? It’s been many years since I’ve had a little one, so please forgive me for my non-existent ideas. I think I would beg every friend and relative for some much needed company. Have you ever made home made ice cream or popsicles? That might be a fun little thing? Thank goodness for walks and drives, I think I would create a schedule around that. As for mom activities, when I’m bored I make lists — the holidays are coming, so I would start making holiday to-do lists, recipes to try, etc. and lately I’ve tried my hand at making a vision board, and you know what? It was fun and inspiring. I think your photo project idea is a great one, you’re so good at that.
I wonder if he’d like some travel toys that my son enjoys…aquadoodle or Melissa & Doug water painting books (come to think of it, would he like old school paint with water books? might be good meditation for you too :)), magnet travel tins, storybots alphabet app is fun. We live in Phoenix so have been cooped up almost all summer…we do crafts like cards for loved ones and building things with pipe cleaners and poof balls, Zingo Bingo is a fun (actual, not ipad) game. A giant cardboard box that our new ottoman delivered in made for about a week of entertainment. Would he enjoy a scavenger hunt around the house? My mom is a teacher and would set us up with “school assignments” every summer. We actually LOVED it. Or maybe I just loved the stickers and plastic neckalace charms I got as rewards. I wonder if you could throw together a curriculum that Stevie would follow for some time out of the day. Hang in there!
thanks for the ideas! i’m trying to incorporate some preschool and therapy activities that he’d normally do at school, so we’ll see how it goes…
Well, you have your standard stuff… Legos, puzzles, books, cars, etc. But here some good distractions for Thomas… making a fort out of couch pillows & blankets and then watching a movie on the tablet in it. Hide & seek is good. Any Apps Stevie likes? Lego Duplo Train was a favorite of Thomas for a minute. Stevie likes to run back and forth down the hall, right? Here is an idea (that I’ve never tried, but might work for you), maybe you can have Stevie help build an obstacle course where he has to go over pillows, under blankets, etc. to get to the end and see how fast he can do it. Just a thought. Haven’t done the cornstarch and water thing, but I hear that it pretty entertaining (and easy to clean up). I read one parent did something called a sock toss… that is where they take all the socks out of a drawer and then they try to toss them back in. If all else fails, put him in the car and drive to a remote location where there are no other people (forest, beach, desert) and then play outside. 😉
haha i like that last one! the only one of these suggestions we haven’t tried is the sock toss – sounds easy enough! thanks tim! 🙂
Ideas for indoors…..Hot Wheels Tracks – put his collection to work on some epic stunt tracks? Mini trampoline? Bring the “Park” home with a Step 2 playhouse/slide (we used to keep one exclusively indoors when the idea of one person chasing two 2 year olds and a 5 year old in an apartment complex neighborhood with a pond next to a street sounded like death).
our hot wheels tracks are pretty well used around here, but i love the idea of the mini trampoline and the “park”! i could use them individually or incorporate them both into an obstacle course. thank you!