Blink.
And it's now four months since our family holiday in Bangkok.
I should chronicle some thoughts on this unprecedented time in history with the Covid-19 pandemic that is has brought the entire globe to it's knees.
What has life been like for us these past few months, riding through this storm?
Here's a month by month snapshot of what's been happening at our end.
February...
Coming back from our holiday, settling back into our routine for work and school. There were murmurings of the new Coronavirus in the background. But it was the start of the new academic year for the kids who were excitedly settling into their routine with their new teacher and catching up with old/new friends. A number of my daycare kids were starting kindy this year too, and I had a couple of new daycare kids I was happily getting to know. So it was all busy, busy, busy. We were on full steam ahead to take on the new year. The murmurings and news about the Coronavirus was still on the backburner.
March...
The volume on the Coronavirus/Covid-19 news was getting turned up. The numbers of infections and deaths were rising here and all around the world. It was now definitely hitting home. This was still the early stages, but it was starting to feel worrying. We followed through all the official health directives and upped our game with frequent handwashing, cleaning, and being more stringent about sniffles and coughs.
The term 'Social Distancing' became the new catchphrase. All the children (Nathan, Grace as well as most of my daycare kids) were aware of this serious Coronavirus and we were having lots of conversations about it.
The government announced restrictions, lockdowns and shutdowns of shops, offices and public gatherings. Hubby had to start working from home full time. This was the crazy time at the shops where people were panic buying, leaving empty shelves bereft of toilet paper, hand sanitiser, wet wipes, liquid hand soap, dettol, bleach, rice, flour, pasta and canned food. The season of crazies descended upon us.
April...
Dark times. The PM dropped the bomb with the announcement of 'free childcare' for all families. Childcare providers' income was stripped by half. We were instructed to cancel fees for all parents and refund any fees paid this month. Then it was a waiting game while the government scrambled to slap together their system for us to access our 50% income. We were told to recoup the shortfall from the newly announced Jobkeeper scheme.
(The big blow for me was not so much the financial impact--although that did pinch a little, but more of the emotional blow that early childhood educators seemed to be valued so little. I understood the intention of the package to support families in staying at home while maintaining their childcare spots. However the announcement was made with no prior industry consultation or consideration on the impact on individual educators).
Schools closed two weeks ahead of the holidays and geared up for resuming Term 2 with online learning. Nathan and Grace were very sad about this as they were among the kids who loved school and thrived on learning in the classroom. But they put a good face on the situation. They were diligent with sticking to the daily routine of finishing their lessons before play, and they were always resourceful in finding ways to keep busy at home.
A number of my day care families opted to keep their kids at home, so attendance was quite patchy across the week.
No more outings to restaurants, parks, playgrounds or libraries which were now all closed.
We suffered less than some people as we were quite natural homebodies anyway. But we did feel the pinch in not being able to pop by our favourite local eats for a treat, or swing by the park for a play. We missed the library the most to feed our ravenous appetite for books. But we made adjustments, turning to eBooks and audiobooks instead to satisfy our hunger.
It felt like living with a dark cloud looming over our lives every day. Stay at home. Wash you hands and wash them again. Clean and disinfect everything. Learn how to be a germophobe. Stay positive amidst potential job security concerns.
And there are always small joys to be found all the time...
And there are always small joys to be found all the time...
The wonderful support from my day care families, dropping off little gifts, food/snacks to share and kind words of affirmation and appreciation.
Spreading some Easter Bunny happiness, making up baskets of chocolate eggs and delivering them to neighbours and friends.
Enjoying favourite eats and trying out new foods from restaurants who now started offering home delivery services.
Discovering new books through online/eLibraries, enjoying celebrity readings of favourite classic story books and musicals/performing arts through social media (i.e. Phantom of the Opera).
May...
Getting into the swing of things and finding our way through this new normal.
Sliver of sunshine peeking through with some slight easing of restrictions in WA for heading out with family. We kicked off the first weekend with a day at the beach to celebrate hubby's birthday and soak up all the sunshine we could.
Schools transitioned back to classroom learning again with some adjustments to the routine. Nathan and Grace were super duper happy to head back at school again. The biggest adjustment was the strict kiss and drop policy with no parents allowed to step one foot onto the school grounds. This was no biggie for us as Nathan and Grace had already started walking independently to school this year.
June...
Things continued chugging along day by day.
More restrictions gradually being lifted in for cafes and restaurants. It was lovely to start resuming our Friday lunch dates and some of my coffee/catch ups with friends. We enjoyed our first family meal out at a restaurant after almost four months.
Parks and libraries started opening up again. Hooray!
Parks and libraries started opening up again. Hooray!
July...
So now we're looking forward to the start of the Term 2 school holidays which is already feels completely different from the last hols... appreciating the freedom of being able to head out for outings and meals, maybe catch a movie or go for a swim.
And of course Grace celebrates her 7th Birthday this month. So we have a special day planned to celebrate together as a family. More on that next time.
And of course Grace celebrates her 7th Birthday this month. So we have a special day planned to celebrate together as a family. More on that next time.
(I'd also like to say a few words to give some context on increasing intermittent updates in this space: I can't point a finger on one specific reason, but definitely with the kids growing there is so much more talking and reflecting happening with them that there seems to be less need for me to vent and process here compared to the baby years. Plus with the changing social media landscape, there are now so many new ways of chronicling our lives through images and microposts. Also, my work as as family day care educator involves so much writing and documenting the learning journey of nine other children, I'm often maxed out on words at the end of each day. But I'm still hanging onto this space as it's definitely an important place to hold memories and reflections for posterity. Often when Nathan or Grace ask me questions about their early years or about my life before they came on the scene, I was able to pull up old posts to read to them. They just love reading the little details and sweet anecdotes of their baby years. So I want to keep posting and chronicling here as best as I can).
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