Ughhh, the ubiquitous "keep calm..." meme rears its ugly head.

My apologies for rolling out this tired trope as the theme for today's dispatch, but hang with me and hopefully it will make sense in the end.

(speaking of the end: the Today's Meme section at the bottom of this dispatch

features the back story on Keep Calm if you are interested in learning more.)

Chicago is very wet right now. We have had 10+ inches of rain in the past three weeks, the most since 1871.

Last night, the combination of a torrential downpour, stressed storm drains, and oversaturated soil finally overwhelmed our flood control system, leading to water seeping into our finished lower level.

This occurred around 7pm, just as we were sitting down to dinner, and the shift from relative calm to complete chaos was quite jarring, beginning with the piercing alarm signifying the activation of the back-up pump.

My wife and I rushed downstairs, children following closely behind, to assess the situation: the main pump was still functions, but the volume coming in was faster than it could pump out, triggering the secondary pump.

It was a tense few minutes as we waited to see if the pumps could collectively keep up until the rain diminished. The tension was not helped by the constant beeping of the alarm, which can't be reset until the water level subsides.

I ran to the garage to retrieve a wet-vac for sucking up water if the pumps were unable to to stay ahead of the rain.

The rain won.

I started the vacuum, which is loud under normal conditions, but especially loud in the confines of the small room where the sump is located, and started soaking up the water seeping in.

At the same time, my wife was rapidly moving items that could get damaged to the safety of an elevated perch or the floor above. And the kids were grabbing their favorite toys and games to do the same.

I began yelling instructions to them, unable to hear their responses and not knowing whether they were even hearing me.

Water began to seep in at several other points around the foundation, discovered by the girls' stocking-clad feet suddenly squishing into cold water; I had no problem hearing their screams at that point.

My wife yelled at them to get upstairs. I yelled to bring some towels. The girls were panicking, yelling at each other and back at us.

The fog of war was thick.

I was hyper-focused on addressing the crisis in front of me and trying to mitigate the damage being caused by the exponential rise in water level.

Then a voice in the back of my head told me to calm down: stop, assess the threats - all of them, and triage the situation appropriately.

I made a decision at that point to prioritize my family's well-being, both physical and mental, over the less important risk of damage to material goods.

I shut off the vacuum, closed the door to stifle the sound of the alarm, gathered the family together, and reassured the kids that everything was going to be fine...joking that they had been asking for a in-ground pool and now they were getting one.

It took just a few minutes, but it changed everything. The girls stopped crying and visibly loosened up. My wife and I calmly discussed priorities and agreed on next steps. Then we got back to work.

The rain slowed down, the pumps shut off, and the long, slow process of removing all the moisture began.

It will be weeks before all the carpet is replaced; the walls opened up, treated to prevent mold, then repaired & repainted; the contractors paid and the insurance claim settled.

But we made sure to follow a normal routine for bedtime last night and for breakfast this morning; reassuring the girls that they are safe, that their parents have things under control, and reminding them that the only thing that really matters was never at risk...

We're here for them.

Long-Term Impact of Childhood Trauma

I have been thinking quite a bit about the indirect impact of the pandemic on our collective health and well-being, with a special concern for the children living through this experience.

Studies have long shown that childhood trauma can have profound negative implications lasting well into adulthood, from irritability and inattentiveness to drug addiction and suicide, and that the damage is made worse by repeat/prolonged exposure to trauma as well as by delays in treatment.

The chart below, from the 70/30 Project in the U.K., illustrates the threat.

My daughters were born well after 9/11, and were just babies as we weathered the 2008-09 recession; but they are smack in the middle of their intellectual and psychological development for this crisis.

This pandemic is the formative event of their generation.

So, what will be the lasting effects for these 'quaranteens', and what can we, as parents, do to help?First and foremost: stay calm. Even when the fear and frustration of these crazy days is wearing you thin, stay calm.

The Child Welfare Information Gateway notes six key factors that determine the impact traumatic events will have, the majority of which are not easily or quickly altered: the age of the child; the frequency of trauma experienced; how sensitive the child is; their coping skills tied to intelligence, health & self-esteem; and the quality of their family relationships.

The sixth factor is perception: how much danger the child perceives and the amount of fear they experience.

Perception is something that can be impacted dramatically and immediately, through the behavior of parents and adult caregivers, to help alleviate the fear and anxiety these kids are experiencing.

In just a few months time, we have thrown asunder so many of the core pillars of stability in their world: school shuttered, competitions cancelled, parents' jobs lost, medical cures in doubt, government leaders fighting and name-calling, etc.

It is ironic that a disease that rarely puts children's lives at risk could potentially impact them so negatively in the long run.

Kids need stability and the perception of safety. Our response to this pandemic has lifted the veil for many of them, exposing just how vulnerable and frail human existence can be.

True or not, that is information that can be damaging unless shared in the proper context and with consideration for maturity, sensitivity, and coping capability.

It is not dishonest to protect children from these things. in fact, it may be more honest to responsibly limit their exposure to much of the debate unfolding across traditional and social media channels, much of which is more conjecture than fact.

And to reaffirm for them the security and safety that they are surrounded with in the form of support from family, friends, teachers and caregivers.

When we were launching World Sport Chicago (now part of Up2Us Sports), we researched the trauma related to natural disasters and found that a key contributor to recovery was getting kids engaged in sport.

Since that time, Up2Us has used trauma-informed coaching & counseling to help hundreds of thousands of kids through sport programs across the U.S.

Similarly, the Chicago Park District hosts 350,000 kids in camps annually, providing much needed activities and coaching.

These are just two examples, from many thousands around world, of secondary safety nets for kids that have been cancelled or severely restricted.

Without these safety nets in place, it is even more important that we do all we can to decrease kids' perceptions of danger and alleviate their fears.

If we don't, then over time this pandemic may end up being more dangerous for the children experiencing it than for any other age group.

A Message from Dave Grohl

The Foo Fighters lead singer opines brilliantly on the need for mass celebrations and music. As he says in this Atlantic editorial:

"We’re human. We need moments that reassure us that we are not alone. That we are understood. That we are imperfect. And, most important, that we need each other."

I couldn't agree more, and I can't wait for events like these to return.

The Death of Intellectual Honesty

The two editorials below approach media coverage of the C-19 threat from different political perspectives, but reach a common conclusion: intellectual honesty is largely dead in the media and is dying quickly in the public-at-large as well.

I present both pieces here and leave you to decide who is right, wrong, misguided, and/or biased.

Hint: they both are.

This meme has its origins in a 1939 U.K. Ministry of Information initiative to motivate the public in the event of a war with Germany.

"Keep Calm and Carry On" was one of five approved messages, and war was declared before the first print run was even completed.

Interestingly, the original plan called for 65% of the posters to carry the Keep Calm messaging, but morale reports showed the public was more concerned with boredom than other issues, so other messages to precedence, including:

The entire campaign lasted only four weeks before being abandoned after criticism about wasting resources.

In fact, the vast majority of Keep Calm posters were recycled for pulp as paper shortages occurred in 1940.

Amazingly, a rare poster was discovered in the early 2000s by two secondhand booksellers in Northumberland, who created reprints that were sold at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Eventually, the popularity of the art and messaging launched the meme trend that has become so ubiquitous...

This concept is my way of sharing information and staying connected with my personal and professional network in these crazy times. Content is chosen based on what I think is interesting, entertaining and relevant, and there is no commercial aspect to any of it.

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Have a great day!

John