Unless you live somewhere were Coronavirus hasn’t landed (and I am not sure, but I think there are a handful of countries who haven’t faced it yet) then like us you may be adapting to a new and what seems like strange life as we watch and wait to see what happens. Life will go back to normal, at some point, but for now, we are living differently. This is our daily update on how things are going for us.
Our current situation is Dad is working from home full time and thankful for technology that allows him to do that, Mum is semi-working whilst she waits out the pandemic, due to her work being public-facing, and the kids are at home. One is homeschooled by Mum and the other is doing online work via her school that is currently closed. We are not in lockdown yet but have been advised not to go out unless it’s very necessary in order to prevent spread of infection to others (we don’t know if we have it, and also we don’t really want to get it)
Schools closed last Friday for us, which was shocking but expected. The teenager was actually home already with some asthma symptoms that meant the school and I agreed she was safer at home. All extracurricular and homeschool activities are canceled and for now and what I suspect is the next three months at least, it’s all on us to keep them entertained, educated, alive and for us all to survive under one roof constantly together.
I am counting this as day 1.
Good things today?
Both children got on with all work allocated to them school work-wise, with minimal fuss and whining. We had a wobbly moment when the teen tried to use her video app set up by school to join an online classroom but we got that sorted and she has been calling and texting friends too. She needs that contact for her mental health.
The kids worked together well to make a mountain of gluten-free gingerbread cookies that will be our treats this week.
We loved Jo Wickes exercise class this morning on YouTube and that will be a feature for exercise daily.
The boy’s dance class teachers are working on programs for both kids and for the boy to have some classes online. This has made us all very happy.
The not so good?
I am struggling. Fear, panic, what if? It’s been almost constant today. That is hard, and keeping it together is hard. I don’t think I am alone. Very childlike, I keep hoping for some good news to come, somehow, with all the panic, fear, sadness and horror on the news and social media. It’s hard. I sent a long message to a friend, sharing a brain dumping. I should say, I am grateful for friends.
I am also realising that this a long haul. That is hard. There is no control.
I lost my favorite lip balm at the weekend and went online to order a new one (because anxiety makes me pick my lips and I realized the shop that sells it has had to close down, possibly forever due to the virus. I cried, for about the fourth time today. This virus is causing more chaos than just illness.
So there ends the day. We are all safe, we have food, we have a roof over our head and we are well. I try not to let thoughts of what could or would send me to sleep. It’s hard, I know we are not alone though, and everyone is feeling this way. Coronavirus, one day down, here’s to tomorrow.
I had a rant on my IGTV stories about the virus and people not staying home. Please feel free to have a watch.