We haven’t done a Corona update for a while, and now the rules have changed again, we face what seems like a long winter ahead.
Lockdown hit, we all brought our children home from school, everyone switched to working from home, and lots of stress and chaos were dealt with. We all adapted or not, to a life full of restrictions, Zoom calls, home learning for kids, parents juggling working from home and childcare, more shopping online than we ever realised we could do. And then the rules changed. We were allowed out, we could do things, and we all breathed a sigh of relief, as our Prime Minister bombastically promised us back to normal for Christmas. (I didn’t believe him, if you follow me on Facebook you know I am not a fan of our government) and people went about their lives, within reason and trying to follow the social distancing rules, that at times seem easy and sensible to follow and at other times seem not backed by science but we do them anyway.
Life seemed ok ish. We enjoyed our summer. I coped with what is normally a very stressful time for me, and the children started to go back to some of their normal activities.
And then, because everyone naively thought that Coronavirus cared enough to let us have normal life back, and infection numbers have started climbing, the rules have changed again, and we go back to a few more restrictions to try and bring those numbers down again. The mantra that we must protect our medical services is being pushed again, and we all have to do our bit to try to not let Corona rage again. Other countries who opened up even more than we did are seeing numbers surging and whilst deaths are not climbing yet, we know they probably will.
They keep changing the rules. Does anyone actually know what’s best to manage this virus?
So now, we can’t meet people in more than groups of 6. We wear masks in most places and life is curtailed again. What can we do? I am not a conspiracy theorist. I do not believe like many that this virus is fake, or not as bad as it seems. My health anxiety makes me more anxious about it than some, and I am scrambling for control and to maintain our normal.
It’s brutally hard for people who have been used to seeing their families again, to now be told we can only meet in groups of six. Parents and grandparents who have been able to see people again, now face restrictions. Christmas is in question for many.
We can’t meet in larger groups in public. We face fines if we break rules. The government is even, rather horrifyingly saying they might set up a hotline for people to call in when they think they spot someone breaking quarantine or isolation rules.
What a time to be alive? 2020 seems to be rather broken, frankly.
So we are settling in for another long haul. My gut feel is that this is what the next three to six months looks like. Winter is coming. Back to school germs have already caused testing chaos and shortages for worried parents and schools. I feel that if we can get the teenager to half term or the Christmas break without having to self isolate due to possible Covid exposure we will be doing well.
Our priorities for the next few months?
We are not bothered about meeting in bigger groups. We have our little bubbles of friends who we see carefully and sensibly according to rules. We are managing one adult dinner alone a month, thanks to a wonderful babysitter who helps us. We have more bits of DIY and home stuff to do, to keep us busy. We are missing a lot, but consoled by the fact that we aren’t alone. I refuse to think about Christmas for now, other than present planning and making our Christmas cake. I guess I will have time to write Christmas cards this year too…
Cope and manage some more, I guess? Keep life and calm and normal as posisble. Get the kids outside for fresh air and exercise as much as possible until winter hits and we are more stuck indoors. Keep the teen in school, where she needs to be, and the boy at his activties, as much as we can. Work, home, family. I guess that is all we can do. I highly doubt the restrictions in place will ease before the end of the year, so it’s just adjusting, accepting, coping and waiting and seeing. That’s pretty much the theme for 2020, I think?