This morning we began our self-imposed Shelter in Place.  We plan to leave the house only if absolutely necessary (just to clarify, car rides for Josiah are absolutely necessary…today we took 2 of them) and to limit contact to immediate family members currently living inside our home.  To keep Josiah as healthy as possible, it is the right choice for our family.

That means none of Josiah’s caregivers are working with him.

Rick and I are flying solo.  Or would that be duo?

It sounds simple enough as I write the words but in reality it most definitely is not.  For us it was a very sobering situation requiring much prayer, research and discussion.  Self-isolation means we voluntarily strip away the supports Josiah needs.  It means we elect to be up all night long when Josiah isn’t able to sleep.  It means we remove the outside activities Josiah enjoys that have gradually become part of his routine.  It means he won’t be with some of his most favorite people in the world for a while and won’t know why.

Life as he knows it has drastically changed.  For most of us that is true.  But how do we explain it to Josiah?

I tried this morning.  I pulled up a Coronavirus for Kids comic to read to him. I do believe he was more focused on the light shining up from the back-lit keyboard than the images on the screen.

I talked a little about the virus and a lot about his caregivers.  He needs to know his AMAZING caregivers love him and will be back someday, very soon we hope.

Josiah went to bed last night, blissfully unaware anything in his life would be different and woke up this morning to many things not the same.

He endured our efforts to introduce him to some new things, like my attempt to teach him to type on a keyboard.  And Rick’s explanation of the Artemis 2.

He did some familiar tasks like his name puzzle and stacking cups.

He ate all his meals without his helmet which is a huge step for Josiah.  Notice the proximity of the helmet to his plate? See his fingers gripping tightly to the face mask?  It’s definitely a work in progress.  But he’s getting it.

While working with Josiah today I discovered he is quite willing to WHISK that helmet off for a Cadbury mini egg.  Just look at the joy on his face.

Josiah is learning to wash his dishes after meals and to put his dirty clothes in the laundry room.   I guess today he decided to switch it up a little bit.

He also made it abundantly clear he was not a fan of my spaghetti.

I made it abundantly clear this was not the best way to tell me.

But when evening came, Josiah was a trooper through his shower, letting Rick dry his hair without  complaint. 

Overall it’s been an amazing first day for all of us.  Well, except for the noodle tossing at lunch time.

And except for Josiah bouncing wildly, wide awake until 4:30 am.  Did I forget to mention that?

Please take care of yourselves and stay healthy!

And if anyone needs a great spaghetti recipe, I’m not your girl.