Hi Everyone,
I'm Rochelle Castine (chelle to my friends) & we are living in a very changeable and uncomfortable time. BUT, since it is out of our control, we have to figure out how to cope and make the best of these strange new times! I think if we take a quirky (or Q-Worky) approach we can make this crazy & somewhat scary time - into a bit of a gift!!!
We are at a completely new & different time in history! At least in Australia, never in my life-time, that of my parents or even my grandparents or great grandparents has there ever been anything quite like this before. That means we are in completely new and unchartered waters, which means to some extent we get to at least slightly choose what life is going to look like!
As noted elsewhere on my website, I'm a Clinical Psychologist in Perth, Western Australia. I live with my husband and my 3 special, biggish kids! Because of my own health quirks, I have now had to be in isolation/quarantine for a week and a half, but I have been lucky enough to be able to be continuing to provide my wonderful clients with Tele-health based services for the last week.
The 1st thing I have noticed is that I'm having loads of very similar conversations when talking with family & friends, and also with most of my clients, both adults and kids, through Tele-health sessions and also through email & SMS contacts... So I figured there will probably be lots of other people out there who are having similar issues & concerns. SO I though I would try to put together some things that may be helpful. I've decided to do this by trying to keep a Blog and adding Resources, Information Sheets, Handouts & Activities, but also by filming some You-tube clips (which given I don't like public speaking OR being photographed or filmed is a long way out of my comfort zone - but right now, I think the whole world is a long way out of its comfort zone!) Some of these things will link, some will be quite similar and some will be quite different.
In WA, the rest of Australia and a lot of the world, things are rapidly changing like never before. Things as we have known it to date, are gradually shutting up as we go into a new world of lock-downs, quarantine and isolation. Basically we are all still waiting to see what the "new norm" will look like. For most of us this is quite overwhelming and even quite scary. We feel rather helpless and hopeless (which are risk-factors for depression), as this has been something which is probably rather unexpected, remains unpredictable and uncontrollable (which are risk factors for worry, stress, anxiety, frustration & anger), we tend to feel insecure, overwhelmed, threatened and unsure. It's hard to cope with ourselves when times are changing so quickly, but even harder when we are also trying to cope for our kids, immediate and extended families, and friends. Lots of families can't figure out just how to make this work & to keep things as calm & positive as possible. Let's face it, the news is full of SCARY things!!! You are NOT ALONE, lots of people are experiencing exactly the same things and are having exactly the same questions.
Simple things like, during school closures, isolation or lock-down, how do parents get even 2 seconds "ME-Time" to have a coffee, have a shower, to process what's happening & deal with my feelings, to get things done, or just BE, now that most kids are no longer in school? Obviously, we are more limited in our options such as day-care, baby-sitters, respite, grand-parents, friends etc... but hopefully we won't be left with our only options being burning ourselves out, just bunging our kids in front of the often mindless TV, onto electronics to game endlessly, or randomly on You-Tube (& yes I see the irony of me saying that, when I am using some of these very same platforms to try to help - I believe they have their place & can be an asset - it's all in how we use them!) How do we keep kids busy and connected? How do we keep them, & ourselves socialising if we can't leave the house? How do we keep our kids & ourselves active if we can't go to the park or the gym?
Through these posts and the resources I put up, I hope to work through trying to help manage many of these questions & difficulties as we go progress through to the other side of this tricky time, into a world that is hopefully a bit slower, calmer, kinder & more appreciative. AS I said before, this is not a nice thing to have happening but I do believe we can try to get the best from it & treat it somewhat as a gift!
With so many questions and uncertainties, I also thought I'd try to put together Quirky/Q-Worky active & activity-based sessions which may give you some breaks, and help the kids feel a bit connected and engaged! I also wanted to make sure there were some gentle resources to help meet their emotional needs in this ever-changing world and these uncertain times, which will hopefully also help you so you don't feel quite so alone.
I don't have all (or probably even many) of the answers by any stretch, but I hope that I can at least help to lessen or share the load. We are all in this together, even if it is from afar! We can also CHOOSE to make this a positive reset to a better way of life going forwards...
Good Luck,
Be Kind,
Take Care,
Stay Well,
& I hope this helps at least a little...
Bests,
chelle
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