We all deal with stress very differently. Some people shut down and retreat within the walls of their minds while others seek solace in the company of friends, family or even strangers. I’ve also seen those who seek to project power over the sources of their stress as if acting in control will force a positive outcome.
I guess I am more of the do what can be done then wait the storm out whether it’s an illness, a job problem, or an actual storm. This past week, it was Sandy, a massive hurricane. We thought it might hit us for 4 days before it did. With each day passing, the likelihood grew, until it came to dominate the news for a solid week. It was in the news so much beforehand, people rushed to the stores to buy life’s little needs and were able to return in subsequent days to get everything they forgot. I don’t remember a storm with as much lead time to prepare.
My kids lost it for a few nights beforehand as they picked up on some of the local worries. With two kids already on anti-anxiety meds, it doesn’t take much. Every night and every morning, the little bit of control they usually struggle to maintain was missing. The slightest hint of tired was too much for them. It made for a few nights of yelling to get them to settle down. The night of the storm, they slept in the room with us in sleeping bags, and they slept deeply enough to not wake during the harshest winds of the night. The first day was all rain with winds
After the storm, slowly the nights are getting marginally better, and I’m hoping each night this week will bring us back closer to a livable norm. I can only imagine how little fun it would have been had we actually lost power or been in NJ. We were lucky in our little corner of MD.
The only damage we have is some water coming through a basement wall. It pools on concrete before flowing back to the French drains to one of our 2 pumps out. J was worried about mold in the insulation, but I’m not concerned. I turned on the dehumidifier which outputs to a pump to dry out everything, marked with a pencil to see if the puddle grows or shrinks, and thanked the people we hired to water proof our basement. As I said above, I aspire to the do what you can and stop worrying club.
Halloween was a hoot. J made a great ninja turtle costume for O, and A went as Minnie Mouse. K was a Care Bear, and while she wasn’t originally going to go trick or treating, she obviously had a blast. There is some thing therapeutic about dressing up, pretending to be other than we are, especially when we transform ourselves into a happy fearless gang. The timing of the celebration couldn’t have been better for our family…and there’s candy to boot!
I want to give a special thanks to all those who have viewed this blog. I never thought it would generate 5,000 hits averaging more than 2 min per hit. It’s humbling to think how much time people have spent reading this blog.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Our Family's Stories of Growing Up
