Video too long? I gotcha homie. 😉
Finally. I repeat, FINALLY, I can report to my MS’ers on handling one of those high intensity, nerve pain days AND juggling kids’ educational needs. I woke up with a wonderfully twisted concoction of neurosis, tingling and muscle weakness. Out of the standard 1-10 scale, it is a consistent, throbbing yet sharp pain that seems to run in “cords” or lines, call it a 6.5 or 7. I have no other explanation than it feels like my lower half and top half are held together by strings. Yeah. It’s wildy painful and somehow, I’m fascinated by it. Years ago, the pain drove me to suicidal thoughts and dark fantasies. Now, I understand and appreciate that it is one of the MS symptoms that can fade within hours; a full day at the most. I am aware and can pinpoint the moments that the pain begins to subside even though I know it will be hours before full relief is achieved. All that being said, my students (dem kids) will show little mercy for my discomfort and condition. I need a fix and my routine goes:
- LIGHT yoga. (Just enough to feel like I accomplished something. I may do several sessions of 2-3 poses, core only, all seated.)
- HEAVY meditation (I’m keeping my hands/fingers in a downward position because my intent/focus is on self.)
- Kratom – A strain aimed at pain relief. I have Ulcerative Colitis, IBS and kidney tumors so pain relievers cause stomach bleeding, complications, etc.
- White & Cedar Sage. White to clean negative energy. Cedar to invite positive energy. I use these because the nerve pain isn’t helped by much in my arsenal. What I MUST do is keep my heart and head from going negative.
- Tea. Another ode to keeping my head up and heart relaxed. The kids require supervision as well so going to sleep is a no no.
- Indica cannabis. Indica is the “downer” or pain relief strain. Tea will keep me awake but I need indica for obvious reasons.
Managing Assignments
Once I started my routine to calm down and deal with the neurosis, managing the expected mass influx of school assignments was next. Yesterday, I advised parents to check their emails and at least know what was coming. For me, I made sure my kids checked their work the previous night. Everyone had multiple assignments due today, making videos, completing online worksheets, watching segments and clips, etc. That means all I’m supposed to do is manage them, ensure they turn in assignments, keep the noise and playing down to a minimum. The task seemed insurmountable until I remembered that my wife (Principal to some. Lunch lady to others.) was home. With two parents at the crib, she assisted my 1st grader while I took on the 8th grader and 5th grader. Why would I have two kids to her one? Easy, my 1st grader requires an enormous amount of attention and supervision. All I had to do was make sure the older kids actually did their work. We kept the laptops on opposite ends of the kitchen/dining table. I sat between them and worked on the blog. The situation worked out quite well. I made some adjustments to help with the computer stations. Earphones. Earphones given to whoever was on laptops because the sound of those lessons and instructions was derailing my attempts to remain calm despite neurosis. Using prodigy.com, my 1st grader could work on Math without the need of a laptop. It was the first time during this quarantine that I, WE, had enough screens to match students!
Gratitude Assignment
With so much “school” work, there was not much time for my Daddy-mandated Gratitude Assignment. With so much nerve pain, there was not much patience for the Gratitude Assignment either. I scrapped it. I was pleasantly surprised that my kids made concentrated efforts to clean up after themselves. My son admitted that he told his younger sisters that if they cleaned up without being told, they would get to skip it. I’m always cool beans with stuff like that because it exemplifies my kids taking initiation.
