The last day of normal life for us was March 13th, that was 15 weeks and one day ago. Remote learning was a challenge, the oldest was fine with it because he could breeze through and be done. The youngest missed his friends and didn’t want to write anymore, he preferred typing.

Two and a half weeks ago we allowed the kids to go see their friends. That was after 13 weeks of no socialization. It was a challenging decision because there is always risk but we also have to let them socialize because it is essential. We chose very careful and limited them to that one week. Since then they have been in quarantine because we are seeing grandparents so even though we will be wearing masks and social distancing we also quarantine to ensure no one is sick before we go.

With the heat and my inability to have my physical therapy for 15 weeks my pain has significantly increased on a daily basis in addition to the stress of the situation means my MS is also worse. With increased pain and worse cognitive issues and numbness I have been on edge and frankly pretty irritable.

While some say the medicine I am on could help if I get COVID-19, I have numerous underlying medical conditions that actually put me at higher risk of complications. So cabin fever, pain, fatigue and cognitive issues are getting to me. I feel like I am not being the kind of mother I was, or want to be since I get cranky so much earlier in the day. It’s hard, even with social distancing we can’t do things like go for a walk or go to the park because it’s too hot and too much for my system.

Since we can’t go places, or even outside most days now because of the heat, my kids spend too much time on screens. They have breaks for reading and legos but it’s definitely more than they should but options are limited. If you have chronic pain and/or MS, how do you handle kids during summer with restrictions?