Stay calm for the children

These past few days have been devastating for all of Venezuela. I think everyone is carrying their own pain, even those of us who haven't lost loved ones are deeply hurt by everything that's happening. For my part, it's been very difficult to stay sane and calm. I feel really sad and I've cried a lot. My son has seen me cry, and I know it's not ideal, but sometimes I just can't hold it in after seeing so much horrible news. And there's also the guilt of not being able to give my son a normal life, or at least distract him from all this disaster.

But really, nobody can do anything right now because there are no safe places. We're all waiting to see what might happen; the streets are chaotic, so many people are out of work, classes are suspended… It's impossible to do anything for the children right now. Within the little I can do, I've tried to distract my son by spending time with him and playing with him from time to time because, obviously, I also have to take care of my house, clean, and cook. Today I decided we would watch a movie so I could distract myself a little too. I haven't seen ANYTHING but the news for several days.

And he's had so much free time that I even woke up one morning (the only day I was able to fall asleep and sleep soundly) and the first thing I noticed was that his hair looked really strange. When I went to the kitchen, I realized there was hair on the floor… My surprise was even greater when I saw that it wasn't just those two strands I found on the floor, but there was also a lot of hair in the trash. He'd given himself a terrible haircut, something he'd never done before… definitely, the lockdown is taking its toll.


It's not easy to pretend everything is normal in this situation. Here at home, we explain the situation to our son in all its stark detail so he understands the gravity of it. He's already learned what to do when there's an earthquake (because yes, we've felt several minor tremors, but they still terrify us). My heart aches when I see him get scared and run for cover, but at the same time, I'm relieved that he knows what to do in these kinds of emergencies. I know we should be grateful to be alive and not to have suffered a serious loss, but the psychological damage is driving us a little crazy.