“Go for it. Step on all the puddles!”

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”

– Heraclitus

It’s been two weeks since we’ve started our self isolation, when everything came to a standstill.

I am thankful my family is safe and healthy and that we’ve only been lightly inconvenienced.

But I think about what this pandemic has taken away from our sweet T: his school, routine and structure, friends, daycare, community pool, McDonald’s Playspace, playground and sense of normalcy.

I think about how he broke down in tears when he saw the cautioned-off playground.

We are in this for the long haul. We need to pace ourselves for a marathon, not a sprint. And we need to change how we respond to things.

During our morning walk today, it was lightly drizzling. It had rained heavily for hours overnight. There were puddles everywhere.

T was in his favourite blue rain boots and I saw that glint of mischief in his eyes. He has high sensory seeking behaviour and there is not a puddle that he can’t resist. Mud? Cherry on top!

I normally get obsessive about keeping him off the puddles, but the last two weeks have already taken so much from him.

So I said, “Go for it. Step on all the puddles!”

He started running and stomped through an 8 foot wide puddle, laughing with full belly heartiness.

We continued our walk around the neighbourhood, the empty school yard and past the cautioned-off playground. He looked at me, “I’m not going to cry!” And I smiled at him and patted his head.

He found more puddles on the damp soaked empty soccer field. Stomp, stomp, stomp. And I ignored his increasingly wet pants and amassing flecks of mud on his boots and clothes.

By the end of our walk, when I had to return to my work, he yelled, “Water got in my boots!”

I could sense his irritation rising and I quickly asked him stomp his boots. I made duck noises as his boots squeaked loudly. “Quack quack.”

We laughed together as we walked home. I inhaled the fresh cool rainy Spring air as I listened to his laughter and squeaky boots.