This whole COVID thing's got me thinking about a lot. Pre-Avie, I never got a flu shot. I washed my hands maybe only twice a day and I reused my bath towel until it could basically stand by itself in a corner.
Gross, I know.
So obviously, having a daughter with CF has made me much less of a slob. OR, it's made me a bit more germaphobie (I made that word up). Either way, I've benefited, right? I studied tons about food and gut health and know lots of ways to protect ourselves from bacteria.
But then COVID! Suddenly, I didn't know up from down. No matter where I looked, all I saw was fear, uncertainty, contradicting data and numbers I didn't understand. Then we had to try to explain that which we didn't know, to a child whose comprehension of the world was already minimal.
MORE FEAR!
Then a thought popped into my head today: wait, what do we actually know to be absolutely true? (Thanks, Byron Katie)
Okay, hear me out. I'm not an anti-vaxer, and I DID get a COVID vaccine. But, how much at risk were we?? Probably not very much... the information on COVID and CF still shows that it doesn't affect them much differently than anyone else. We were wearing masks and socially distancing and doing all the things the CDC recommended.
But we were also spending time in the sun. We were eating good, whole foods and we were laughing and loving and trying really f-ing hard to keep our stress-levels down. Isn't that equally as important? Shouldn't the CDC be pushing healthy habits such as these, and using this pandemic as an opportunity to educate the general public on healthy habits?
What do we know? Do we know that COVID-19 kills healthy people? Do we know the vaccine is 100% safe?
I don't know.
What I DO know, because we all know, is the following:
-stress releases cortisol, which screws with our bodies and kills us slowly
-Good, healthy food is important (vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fruit, veggies, FAT, probiotics, etc.)
-our bodies were meant to move
-children learn from their parents
Look, I could spend all my energy worrying about my daughter, but then she would only learn to worry about herself. She's already worried about getting COVID. That's too much! She's only 5.
A kid's only job is to be a kid, isn't it? It won't be long before she has the pressures of adolescence to worry about, on top of her self-care. I want to make sure she enjoys this phase of her life. These days are supposed to be carefree.
We'll still do our best to avoid sick people when possible, I'll still only let her use a towel once and we will wash our hands.... but we're also going to laugh and breathe. We're going to get outside and enjoy the sun and she will continue to eat all the goodness that comes from the earth.
And I'll do my very best to help her forget her worries, by forgetting mine first. Let's lead by example, not fear.