Quarantine with Cate

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great week. Before I begin with today's topic, I just want to tell you all about an incredible opportunity I have had. Earlier this month I was interviewed for a podcast called Blessed for This Mess. Blessed for This Mess Podcast is hosted by Annie, a mom of 2. Annie's older daughter has Angelman Syndrome and has a typical baby boy. Annie's podcast advocates for the special needs community as well as supports other mothers and families in their journey with their children. In my episode (which was released on Wednesday) with her, called Big Little Sister, I talk about my vision for this blog and life with Cate. If you want to listen to my episode, you can search for it on Apple podcasts by looking up Blessed for this Mess or go to Annie's instagram, @blessedforthismess. Alright, now today I want to talk about living with Cate in quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yesterday we hit 160 days since our lives got flipped upside down. This quarantine has definitely had some positives, but also some negatives as well. On the bright side, I got to spend so much time with my family, the most I think we have spent together since me and Cate were babies, and for me personally it gave me a lot of time for personal reflection and growth. Quarantine gave me a great deal of time to think about a lot of different things, and gave me the courage to create this blog. Despite the positives of being home all the time, it also presented a lot of challenges.

Everyone in my family was and is home 24/7. This meant for the first time in a very long time, Cate was home all the time without any school or help. We did not have any help for Cate during this entire pandemic due to my family not being comfortable bringing people in and Cate aging out of pediatric care. I would never say it has been easy, because it really has not. Cate's care is a full time job and it is really hard for my parents to have to do it alone. It has been hard for me because like any sibling, I need my space, but she has been everywhere all the time. Cate is a loud, vocal person, and she can get on my nerves very quickly. We are very lucky that Cate likes to be home, and she has been pretty happy, but she has also developed new behaviors that have made things harder. Cate does not like the car at all, and being in the car sends her into a full rage screaming fit. Because Cate has not been out of the house very much, the limited amount of time we had before she would start to yell is almost completely gone. To be completely honest, Cate has turned into a bit of a hermit, and this is really frustrating for me because it limits the drives we can take, and when quarantine is over, the things we can do. Cate also used to take a nap everyday for about an hour to an hour and a half. This nap gave everyone a break and some peace and quiet to get other things done that can not be done with her around. Well, this nap has completely disappeared, and she now refuses to nap. When she is put into her bed now anytime before bed time, she screams. She has begun to fuss more often to things she would not have fussed at before, but I try my best to myself that this is hard for her too.

Despite the many bumps in the road of quarantine, I think Cate and I have grown closer through all of this. We have been together a lot, and I think our bond has strengthened because we are almost never apart. I have played countless piano songs, her favorite thing, and I think I have appreciated our relationship a lot more through out all of this. Because of quarantine and I think really being more intune with my feelings and Cate and my's relationship, this blog was created, and that is pretty awesome.

I hope you all have a great weekend and week ahead!

--Alex