Something has changed. Lots of things have changed, I know that. Something has changed in this house. This whole pandemic has made life very difficult, and we are not even sick. (THANK GOD) At least, that is what I’m blaming it on.

We stayed in our home without leaving for what seemed like a year, however it was more like 8 weeks. All the social skills Phoebe had been learning at school and home, went right out the window. We had the most difficult summer in years. Our social life was near nothing. Her normal outings stopped. She didn’t get to go to Kokomos, out to dinner, or see her caregivers as much as she needed to. I figured there was an end in sight, and these things would all go back to normal. This is what I believed. It did not.

There is no end in sight, and our lives have taken a whole new turn. I don’t even know how to explain what is going on. All I know, is that she doesn’t want me to leave her side, or go anywhere without her. She doesn’t really want her caregiver to be around her. We work really hard to get her to leave the house with her friend. She doesn’t even really want to go to school some days. She wants to stay by me. ALL THE TIME. Phoebe’s behaviors are all over the place. It’s unpredictable and stressful for our whole family.

I work from home teaching virtually…and maybe this has something to do with it. Her brother goes to school every other day for now, and maybe that is it. Her classroom is different with not a lot of moving around, that’s got to be some of it, right? She has to wear a mask on her sensory ridden face every day all-day. That’s hard for everyone, let alone her. She has to wash her hands, or use sanitizer (which makes her gag), more than I already make her. We can’t go to Target and shop like we used to. That’s it for sure. That even bothers me.

How do we even begin to figure this out? Change her meds. Have her lose weight. Get her to bed earlier. Make a schedule. Have a points system at home to earn things. Working on all of them, and done most of them. The teacher in me will find an answer. Nothing has changed so far.

However, something has changed.

Covid 19 has changed us, and not for the better.