Weekly rewind #9
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”
And so this week ends...
Weekly rewind
🏥 Last year, Wanda was diagnosed with severe atopic dermatitis. It has been very difficult to manage the flare-ups and the sleepless nights over the past few years. The city does not help at all, with its pollution and lack of green spaces. Last week, she went through another flare-up, and although this time we didn’t need to go to the ER, it was tough. So we made a decision: she is allergic to milk protein (as is Pietro), and we know how to manage a strict diet. We implemented an eight-week protocol during which we won’t eat anything prepared outside the home, we’ll use the ointment prescribed by her pediatrician, and we’ll follow a strict sleep schedule. We also decided to include mandatory weekly contact with nature. This first week focused on reducing inflammation both internally and externally. She looks like another person. Diet, environment, and hydration protocols are working almost miraculously. We’ll be making an appointment with her doctors since her allergy test results are far outside the normal range. Although this helps, we’ll need more than dietary control, hydration protocols, and more thorough environmental cleaning.
🍴 Because of this, I started cooking with the kids at night. This week has been an amazing discovery: I can cook and, even more surprisingly, the kids can cook too. They prepared dinner and their school snacks. We even made gluten-free breadsticks to eat with guacamole on Thursday.
👩🏽💼 Work is still chaotic. I haven’t found an effective way to organize my projects, and my chances of achieving this year’s goals feel like they are slipping away before I’ve even submitted them to my supervisors. I’m getting worried about this area of my life, which almost never happens.
🎲 Pietro wanted to go to a Pokémon event to trade cards. It was his first time. It was good, but there were only a few kids. There were some pre-teens, one child my kids’ age with his dad, and us. One of the older kids traded a card with Pietro and then started laughing with his friends, saying he had gotten a good card for nothing. I usually don’t say anything because I want Pietro to notice these things himself; one of the aspects of Autism Level 1 is that children can be very trusting and often don’t consider that someone might lie. So he honestly believes that everything that comes out of other people’s mouths is true. But I got angry—and my face changes when I do. I can be kind of scary, to be honest. I’m tall, and I come from a Polish family. You don’t mess with us. I asked the teenager, in the nicest possible way, if he had traded something worthless for something valuable, and I smiled. My smile and tone must have been intimidating because he immediately said, "Yes, but…" and started stuttering. He tried to explain himself, and I think the other dad noticed my expression and came over to check the cards. He told me that Pietro’s card was more valuable, but the one he received also had value—that it wasn’t worthless. I asked Pietro if he was happy with the trade, and he said yes. At home, he noticed that one of the pre-teens had stolen one of his cards. I felt sad because he said he trusted them. I told him he wasn’t wrong to trust people, but that trust needs to be earned. He didn’t know any of those kids, so he needs to be more careful with people he doesn’t know. In a perfect world, people would be more like Pietro. Whatever comes out of your mouth should be what you truly mean. Period. All in all it was a good event, he liked it and he forgives and forgets pretty fast. Unlike me.
🧹 I’ve started a process of decluttering at home. We don’t own much, but the apartment is too small to keep unnecessary things.
Watching
📺 Nothing new; this week has been all about Wanda so we just rewatched some episodes of "The Mentalist".
Reading
📚 I’m still reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Although it was written in 1951, it amazes me how accurately he describes aspects of modern life, especially when he mentions the parlors, which are gigantic walls constantly transmitting stimulation as a form of control. Do social media, streaming platforms, and endless content sound familiar?
📚 I finished a book for primary school teachers about Asperger’s Syndrome, now known as Autism Level 1. As both a teacher and the mother of a child on the spectrum, I found it helpful for parents and teachers alike. However, it shocks me how much responsibility is placed on teachers’ shoulders. We are not equipped to handle many situations and need support from professionals specialized in behavior, motor development, and speech-language therapy, among many others. But we often have nothing—only parents, children, and teachers doing their best in difficult circumstances.
Listening
🎧 Bach -Complete Cello Suites, performed by Jean-Guihen Queyras. I’m still in my “Ned Flanders driving himself to the mental institution” mood, so thanks to public transportation for giving me more time with this extraordinary cellist.
Fitness log
🍽️ I've been eating very well, mostly because with Wanda's dermatitis, we all eat the same thing. And I've been having dinner before 20:00, which has been great for my metabolic syndrome. I didn't have time to run but I did reach 10.000 steps everyday.