In the UK, as in many other parts of the world, we are living in lockdown. This means that we are as my kids put it “stuck at home“. Life as we know it has changed dramatically as coronavirus rampages around the world. I had never dreamed that we would face something like this. I don’t think anyone but scientists and experts in such things have ever really thought about having to live this as a reality. It won’t last forever, but it is going to be hard.
It isn’t easy. But oddly enough my kids have accepted it calmly. They are both old enough to understand what is going on, and to accept the logic of what we have to do. Schools closing and their outside activities and not being able to see their friends have been understandably hard on them, and it’s hard for me to have to see them struggle with that but they have taken it well so far. Thankfully some of their teachers have created online groups for activities (we are now doing virtual Cubs meetups, and ballet classes watching our teachers on a screen) and the teen’s school has worked hard to arrange distance learning which has helped us as parents to not feel we are entirely at a loss for what to do to manage some sort of normal routine. I am proud of them, for how they have handled things. We have had the odd meltdown, the odd moments of anxiety and lashing out about it all, but it’s to be expected and we are learning to all be gracious with each other.
We actually went into lockdown ourselves last Friday, do we have been doing this for over a week. We have been trying to adjust to what we thought would happen so it wasn’t a shock when our Prime Minister made the call to act on it officially. We now all have to sit tight and try and relieve pressure on our NHS as it battles to cope and also to reduce the spread of the virus. It seems like a long time, and it will be a long time when we are used to freedom and doing what we please when we want.
It’s bringing out all sorts of feelings, reactions and emotions and worries for everyone and the worry over lives, jobs, money, safety, and health is something that is in most people’s minds right now. (unless you are a total idiot who thinks this is a conspiracy theory or somehow believes you can carry on as normal, whilst everyone else does their best to follow the rules – yes, sadly, there are people like that, we all probably know one or at least have seen them somehow on social media and wished we hadn’t) The anxiety that I feel regularly is now something that many others are feeling, very understandably.
Whilst all those things are in our heads, I am trying to find some good things to focus on.
We are all so far, healthy. We hope it stays that way.
We have food, a roof over our heads, the husband can work from home safely and efficiently.
We have a garden, a trampoline, an exercise bike to keep us busy.
And we have time. Lots and lots of time. Time to settle into days in a routine. Time to get stuff done. Time to do nothing, or do things that have been on a list to get done that have been neglected due to “not having enough time”.
We have technology and we can speak to and “see” our friends and family in a time when we are very far apart.
We have each other. I know people who are doing this period alone, either away from family due to circumstances or because they live alone.
There is an expression “what a time to be alive” that I have heard. I think life in lockdown will, when it finally ends, give us many reasons to look at what we have, what we have lost and what we need in a very different way.
For now, we carry on. It’s all we can do.