Family Chaos – Podcast Interview with Lester and Christie Seligman

Lester and Christie Seligman join Calming the Chaos for a fun conversation about family chaos. Through the Pandemic, Lester and Christie had their adult children return home to live. As a family they also faced a number of additional related and unrelated stressors. Lester and Christie share their stories of chaos in a lighthearted and upbeat way, and also share their secrets about how they managed to calm their chaos during an exceptionally stressful time.

The goal: For Lester and Christie to share their stories of chaos through the Pandemic.

1. Introduce yourselves, and give an overview of your family situation (no names are necessary)
2. Tell some of the stories of chaos, and how you handled them. Stories include, but are not limited to the following:

• Living in a 2300 sq ft with 4 adult couples, 3 dogs and 1 cat
• The garbage/recycling/storage needs of all people under one roof
• Figuring out grocery bills
• Dealing with conflicting dietary restrictions/preferences
• The story of work: young adults working primarily in retail, restaurants and daycare led to 8 different COVID scares - at one point
• 6 weeks in a row, someone came home reporting a coworker exposure and needing to be tested before returning to work
• How to handle the lack of privacy for all of the family members
• Handling the daily work stresses in a house full of people working in essential services during a pandemic
• Christie’s Dad being diagnosed with inoperable cancer in the midst of everything
• Adopting my Dad and his wife's dog as they moved into a long-term care facility
• Privacy concerns, and not being able to say anything in this house without someone walking in and asking "What?!"
• Other stories?

3. The most important things to remember for handling chaos in a family (Lester and Christie)
4. Any other tips that have helped you cope with
5. Adult children returning home: Make it a community / Commune
6. Pandemic-related chaos: Take each incident one at a time (“This….and..”)
7. Unexpected events: Get support from each other!
8. Keeping a marriage together: Mindset of positivity, self-care
9. Keeping peace in the family: White noise, fans, play games together, learn and grow!

Lester and Christie will have been married 30 years this November.  They  have three young adult children ages 21, 25 and 29 years old.

Christie is a licensed mental health counselor and former administrator with Developmental Disabilities Administration.  She currently operates a private practice specializing in eating and anxiety disorders.  During the pandemic, she started a new business, Green Zone Training and Consultation Group, with two colleagues and together have created a Positive Behavior Support Program Designed with Caregivers in Mind.

Lester recently expunged himself from the restaurant industry, vowing never to return.  He is currently preparing to redefine himself through creative writing projects and during the pandemic has embraced being a house husband and has mastered the German Chocolate Cake.

Green Zone – Training & Consultation Group (greenzonesupport.com)

Internal Wizardry: A Dream Reflection Journal: Seligman LMHC, Christie L, Ryalls, Janice S: 9798556560178: Amazon.com: Books