Comedy Through The Chaos: Parenting Edition

a couple of minutes late oh no I don't know what that is we'll see if this is working it didn't tell me to hit stop so I'm going presume that you guys maybe still might be there It's just that kind of morning, isn't it, everybody? Hi. If you are not familiar with me, and if this does turn out to be a replay and you're checking in, I am Miss Shannon Paul. I am a variety of word-related things by trade, including a comedian, a corporate speaker, a voice actor, an event MC, and a benefit auctioneer.

But I am also the proud parent of adorable 18 year old who happens to be high supports on the autism spectrum. He is keeping himself occupied playing in the water in the shower, which came up right as I was about to do this live stream. So welcome to the Saturday parenting edition of comedy through the chaos, where we talk about a variety of things that may feel incredibly chaotic in your life, but you also figure out a way to make it a little bit more manageable by focusing on possibly the human it or using that to help you get through to also give you fuel so that when you are in the midst of other chaotic moments you can anchor back to some of those moments of refueling positivity I like to say it so not toxic positivity but refueling positivity and just to catch up with all of y'all I meant to check in on Thursday but on Thursday I was in Moscow Idaho and yes, I had to look it up too before I went there, but thankfully I was there for doing a keynote presentation for the Idaho Disability and Human Development Association.

So people who are doing work that is very near and dear to my heart for a variety of reasons, including the fact that if we lived in Idaho, that would be the kind of services that my kiddo would be supported by. So it was wonderful to be in this room full of people who are in this space. But with that being said, it was also a world that I understand firsthand really is the midst of the chaos, especially with a lot of the things that we are dealing with as both the support system and both the caregiver side of this conversation.

It's very, very frustrating right now because it does continually feel like Do other people really understand the value of this? Is it going to be supportive? What's it going to look like in the next six to nine to 12 months? And that's something that I have to think about in my head often too. And I can also put myself in the shoes of the staff that works in these areas going, am I going to have a gig? Are all of the grants that fund the work that we do going to be shut down, all of these things?

And I also think, and this is one of the things I shared with them, is that in addition to already feeling like there's a lot of heaviness in the world in general, when you work in these spaces, you're also like, what's going to happen to and for the people that we care for? And how are they going to continue to do services? And so a couple of things that I started with, the first thing I did is I told them thank you. And I try not to speak too often in bulk on behalf of people who may be in similar or adjacent situations to where I am in my caregiving journey.

But I wanted to do that for them in this situation because I think showing gratitude is very important. But I also understand that when we are in the midst of Doing all the things as a caregiver or as a person who is receiving that care, we are not always in our best moments as far as being able to show that gratitude. So since I was in a position where I'm like, you know what, things are chill. I'm going to make sure that I tell you thank you not only on behalf of myself, but on behalf of a lot of our people who maybe are not having their best moment.

We don't know where they are when they are receiving some of the support. So maybe they weren't in a position to actually show that gratitude right then, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. So I was happy to do that. But then one of the next things that I told him, and I know this is a lot of my message, and if you guys have seen me, you're not going to be surprised that I told him the chaos is real. The chaos is legitimate. You aren't making it up. You know, you can't let the universe gaslight you into thinking that we're normal.

What's normal? And especially since I think 2020, we have continually been telling ourselves, maybe I'll put this off until things calm down and they get normal. Well, I think many of us can agree that that unicorn of normalcy that we look back to doesn't seem like it's come back, and I'm not even confident that it will. So with that being said, it's what can you do right now? What are you gonna do in this moment that'll help you get to the next moment? And I live in a lot of that space, and I encourage you to do some of that too.

Yes, we can still plan for the future, but we don't wanna fortune tell, because I don't know about you, my crystal ball has been on back order for decades. But I can go, based upon the information I have right now, here's what I'm gonna plan for. And you have to do a lot of this planning in these parallel channels where this is the, if the systems and everything continue on in the way that they currently exist, here's what I'll do. But then maybe just for your peace of mind to have that plan B contingency of, well, what would it look like if I dreamt to do this in a different scenario?

And so that is part of the way that I give myself some additional peace here and there is by allowing myself to go, you know what, you've been through difficult times before and as much as it might have sucked, you made it through. So when those times come up, we'll figure it out. It's about doing what we do here in the cadre sphere, which is building that community. So sometimes when you feel like you're emotionally backed into a corner, there might be somebody else that can go, you know what, here's the next turn.

Here's the way you can look, or did you see this over here? Here's a way that you can keep going. And that has given me a great amount of peace. So I'm excited today. I'm still in the midst of my busy time. That's just the way April and May works in my industry. It's a lot of, okay, booked and blessed. I appreciate that. But it does just layer in the complexity. So today I actually have the quote unquote, the day off, I don't have another event. I came right back from Moscow and then went and did one of our live versions of Comedy Through the Chaos here in town.

And so I was doing that last evening. So it was definitely that time of year that I consider a sprint. So today I'm looking forward to doing my laundry, putting some things away, resetting our house. And then tomorrow after I do my radio show, the weather should be a little bit nicer. So I'm gonna do a little bit more of my gardening projects. So that's how I choose to reset. I know that my version of reset requires doing things and that is not everybody's version of reset. If you need to reset another way, I totally understand that, but have those things.

For me, it is being able to go through my materials, put stuff away, clean things back up, go through the pile of clothes that are over there on the back of my door and be able to appropriately clean things and put them away. So that will give me some peace. So I'm gonna go mop the bathroom floor because I'm sure that my kiddo has not managed to keep the water anywhere near any of the appropriate things the water should live But I do want to tell you as I told them be kind to yourself it takes practice it takes your muscles learn the memory of being kind to other people but also to yourself.

So please be kind to yourself this week. I want to also remind you that I hope that the day and the week treats you well. If it doesn't, shame on it, not shame on you. The plan is to see you back here on Thursday, but we will see everybody. Have a great week.