I’ve been staring at my computer for a few days, wondering what to write about. Everything seems strange in this world. I wrote a pregnancy information piece about Coronavirus, not because there wasn’t any other information out there, but because I thought it was expected of me and my blog. Since then I haven’t written anything, because nothing feels right.
It doesn’t seem long ago (actually it wasn’t) when we had a brand new year ahead of us. I can’t remember when I first heard about CV but it must have been in January seeing it emerge in China. I wasn’t worried – we’d seen the SARS epidemic which didn’t materialise here, or if it did it had little effect. We’d also seen Ebola happen and whilst it seemed very serious, it didn’t directly affect us. Not In My Backyard effect (NIMBY).
But Coronavirus is different. We got a case. We got more than one. Rapidly, we got case to case transmission. Then it got out of control very quickly. Italy became a hotspot. I still didn’t really believe it would happen here – how naive. I remember one of my best friends coming over and we were talking about it, then the news broke of a case locally, round the corner from us in fact. She needed to go grocery shopping and I went with her. I didn’t need anything really, but I bought a few tins of soup and meatballs, and some packets of pasta, which was running low on the shelves. I’m glad I did now, even though I felt a bit silly!
There were rumours and talk of the schools closing. I crave alone time and school is my sanity saver, they also do useful things like give the kids an education. Within a week as you know, everything changed. Don’t go out, don’t see your parents, don’t see friends. My parents were pretty blase, saying they would go to the National Trust with us and still pick the kids up from school to staying away. It had all got too serious. I was worried for them. They’re only 73 and 74 and in good health, but this virus doesn’t seem to care who you are.
Kids in lockdown
The children were alright – except for Phoebe. She had her birthday the day the schools closed. She likes to plan her next birthday the minute the old one is finished. We had a party planned in Gravity, a trampoline park which we had to cancel. It was only her and three friends, but it was something she had been looking forward to for so long. We’d even made party bags with a stuffed animal of their favourite kind and a mini Panda, her current favourite animal and best thing ever. We managed to get a credit note to use again, so I’ve reassured her that we will do it someday.
We’ve now taken to calling it ‘The Poopoovirus,’ because to say it’s name is too much. Plus, poo poo isn’t nice so it’s a fitting name. Daniel (5) seems to be taking it OK, he says he misses his friends, and won’t accept that Mcdonald’s and the swimming pool are closed. He likes playing computer games, reading, trampolining and going for dog walks in the woods. William (10) is managing, he does miss his Grandad and going for his weekly runs. I think he is happy about no school, but he was in his final year of primary school and they had lots of fun activities planned. We don’t know if he’ll get his end of year prom or residential trip.
We’re not very good at home schooling, we try and get them to log on to the school work website and do some work, we’ve also tried free learning, but it all requires so much input from us! We are all struggling with a lack of motivation. We’re both trying to work from home and we aren’t teachers and never wanted to home school. We’re trying our best.
Cancelled plans
It’s our 15th wedding anniversary this year, and we had planned a 4 night getaway in a holiday cottage in the Peak District. Just the two of us, plus the dog and a hot tub. Even as we went into lockdown, I thought we might still go, and just take the children with us. It soon became clear that wasn’t a good idea, and the holiday cottage company followed suit and said we weren’t allowed to go even if we wanted to. We’ve postponed it until the same time next year. Let’s hope 2021 will be a bit more normal for everyone. At least it wasn’t the year we got married, I feel so bad for all those couples who have had their wedding cancelled.
We also still have a holiday booked for August to France. I’m starting to think this won’t be happening. Will France want Brits to come to them? Will we be allowed to go? Will everything be open or not? I know we certainly aren’t the only ones with unknown holiday plans. We haven’t paid the final balance, and their deadline has been extended until June, 6 weeks before the departure date. We’ll see where we are by then.
Work life
My work life is carrying on, albeit with children at home. Thankfully, they are old enough to do activities by themselves. I also have my husband working from home, which is both a help and a hindrance! I can still carry on blogging and earning from my blog. Some clients have reduced budgets (Marketing and PR are always the first budgets to get cut), but online shopping is still allowed and there is nowhere else for businesses to go but online.
My other job as a nurse has now become a keyworker job. Last week I thought I was short of breath and self-isolated for 7 days, but I’m back there now. Our biggest problem is staffing levels. For 2 days in a row we had no domestics, our bins were overflowing and the carpet looked dreadful. We had half the amount of carers we usually had, so our quality of care wasn’t up to the usual high standards. I emptied the bins and made sure we all had paper towels to dry our hands with. Social distancing doesn’t exist there. At least it feels kind of normal there. I have to change at work and wash my uniform as soon as I come home and shower straight away. We have no confirmed cases at work, but we have different staff coming in and out.
Sometimes I watch or read the news with tears in my eyes. Other times I block it all out and go hide in my room or nap. I have a thirst for knowledge about it and a fascination. This is apparently normal, we need all the information we can get so we can get used to and prepare for the situation. No one I know directly has it or has had it. One of my colleagues at work thinks she has had it, and I spoke to her about it.
We still laugh together and I do feel we are closer as a family. The children’s sibling bonds are stronger. It will always be something we went through together. Our daily dog walks have become a saviour to me, even more so than they were before. The spring sunshine is a tonic. It is eerie with fewer people around. I could get used to less traffic on the roads, it’s so much nicer without all the cars.
Another thing I have found helpful is social media! There is so much information out there and helpful things for home ed and support. I’ve discovered TikTok and love watching it – I’ve attempted 2 videos so far (I’m midwifeandlife if you’re on it!) My local neighbourhood group on Facebook is a real help, and I’ve managed to be of use locally too. I’m grateful for my community and neighbours. I couldn’t get hold of any hand soap, we had run out and the stores didn’t have any and my neighbour kindly gave me some. I’m glad we have our NHS and a robust healthcare system in place. We have food, clean water, warm homes and internet. It’s made me rethink about ‘things’ we think we need when in reality we don’t need an awful lot.
How about you, how are you coping?
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