Covid Diaries - Week 1

Well hello there! It's been a while. The world is certainly a different place than it was the last time I posted back in February. I was on my way to Morocco for a school trip then, which just seems absurd now! I've been trying to keep a diary of our experience since we've started "social distancing". Friday March 13th was our last normalish day. Andy and I were on school holidays and Ella was at school, it was the last day before her school holidays started (we, luckily, had an extra week off). We took Ollie to the mall (the mall!) to run a few errands before everything changed. That was only 17 days ago but it feels like a lifetime.

Anyway, here is a peak into my dairy. I've done very little editing to it, so I apologize as the tense I write in changes from day to day. But if I go back and try to make it sound perfect I'll probably never get around to publishing. This whole working from home while parenting thing leaves little time for activities such as blog writing! 

Sat March 14th

On Thursday the government in Ontario said all public schools would be closed for two weeks after March Break. As Andy and I work in an independent school, this didn’t necessarily apply to us, but we soon got an email from HR stating that we would also be closed “to students”. It’s unclear whether or not staff will be expected in, but I would hope not!

Yesterday the government announced new guidance for Canadians. They’ve advised against all non-essential travel, and also anyone entering Canada will have to observe a 14-day self-isolation. Andy’s parents were supposed to be coming to visit us tomorrow, but after days of going back and forth we all decided it would be better if they didn’t come. British Airways have given them a full refund in the form of a voucher than can be used anytime in the next year. I think we all felt a bit more relaxed now that that decision has been made, as we had been going back and forth with them over whether or not they should come for the past week or two.

My parents drove to Florida to visit my uncle a few days ago. They’ve decided to stay there for the time being. Because they drove there is less stress about getting back here, they can pick up and leave whenever they want. And it’s not like they are staying in a hotel. To be honest if we are going to be stuck in the house for the next three weeks it’s probably better that we have less people here.

I think up until yesterday I was pretty laid back about the whole situation. There were a relatively small number of cases in Ontario and Canada, and as a healthy 39-year-old, I felt like even if I caught the virus, it would just be like getting the flu. No big deal. Then I read this article, and listened to a few podcasts episodes from Sam Harris, both of which gave me a slightly different perspective. I am still not panicked and running out to buy 18 packs of toilet paper, but I have a better understanding of what it means to “flatten the curve” and how important our actions as individuals will be in helping to delay the spread of the virus. 

We are now trying to make sure we are social distancing as much as possible. Earlier in the week we got groceries and ran all the essential errands we wanted to get done. I was using anti-bacterial wipes to open doors and wipe down surfaces such as the bank ATM. I did feel a bit over the top, but I’m far more concerned about picking something up than I am about what people think of me. 

Really my biggest concern is how we are going to keep the kids occupied without going crazy. Today we made sure to get out and go for a walk to the park with the kids in the afternoon. It was nice to get some fresh air, but it’s still quite cold here (the temperature is just above freezing and the wind can make it feel a lot lower). The park was quite busy. Ollie refuses to wear gloves so I was trying to wipe down the swings and other things he was touching but I gave up after a while. We just used hand sanitizer with them, essential for Ollie as he loves sucking on his fingers. I hope the weather improves. I’ve made my own exercise goal for the next three weeks: alternate days running on the treadmill and doing a HIIT workout via YouTube, and daily yoga. 

Sunday March 15th

Ollie woke up in a grumpy mood and so we had a lot of Little Baby Bums on TV early in the morning. It was cold, -3 degrees,  but sunny, so after breakfast and coffees we get the kids outside playing in the backyard.

Ollie finds a few animal figurines that he loves playing with, petting and stroking them as if they are real.

When Ollie went down for his nap Andy and I used the time to get in some exercise. I did half an hour on the treadmill, Andy did some exercises with free weights, and Ella bounced around, sometimes joining in with Andy while he did squats, other times just running around the basement. For lunch I made us roasted cauliflower sandwiches with romesco sauce, red onion and rocket. A few days ago we had these with added halloumi and they are SO GOOD. Even Ollie liked them:

After lunch we took the kids out for a walk. Andy and Ella explored the woods behind Ella’s school, and she was super excited about their "exploration". Exploring different parks and trails outside will need to be a key feature of our daily lives over the coming weeks.

We stopped by the playground on the way home, which was busy as you would expect on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

After the kids went to bed Andy and I take time to share what we've read or seen on the news today. I find it strange that in the UK and Australia schools are still open. They seem to be taking a very different approach to the rest of the world. I guess we will see how it plays out over the coming months. We finished the day by starting a new series on Netflix, The Stranger. It’s nice to get caught up in someone else’s fake drama for a while.

Monday March 16th

We woke up to the news that there are 42 more cases of covid-19 in Ontario, bringing the total to 145. This is the biggest daily jump in cases so far, which at this point is unsurprising. In the afternoon Justin Trudeau addressed the nation, prohibiting entry for all non-citizens and residents (excluding US citizens). He also said that anyone exhibiting symptoms of the virus will not be allowed to board a plane to Canada, including Canadian citizens. I’m wondering how this will affect my parents when they drive back from Florida. Will there be checks at the borders on the ground?

My dad sent us pictures of empty shelves in a Target, my sister-in-law sent one of the line she had to wait in to get into Trader Joe’s. We haven’t been to a grocery store here since last Wednesday, but we’ll have to go in the coming days for things like fruit, veg and dairy. 

We had a pretty successful day entertaining the kids. In the morning they played in the basement while I did a Barre workout video. Then we took them in the backyard for a play. Andy did laps of the house with Ella to get in his exercise.

During Ollie's nap Ella and I watch some tutorial on YouTube on how to draw animals. I think we did pretty well!

After Ollie’s nap we drove five minutes away to Lake Wabukayne, a small lake that we can walk around, really just for a change of scenery and some fresh air. The lake is behind my old elementary school, and I remember doing cross country running around it when I was in Grade 4.

Dinner tonight was chicken fajitas, using Jamie Oliver’s spice blend instead of pre-made fajita mix. It was really yummy and Ella ate three wraps, which is unheard of for her! Looks like fajitas will be on the menu in the weeks to come. Ollie was less impressed and just wants the cheese, although we managed to get in a few pieces of chicken and some avocado in him before he decided “I don’t like it”. He’s starting to get picky with his food which is annoying!

Tuesday March 17th

Today the Ontario government declared a state of emergency in the province. So this means a lot of closures: restaurants, bars, theatres, etc. We weren’t going to any of those anyway. 

My parents let us know that they plan to drive back from Florida on Friday. They will then need to self-isolate for 14 days, which means that they will have to stay in their room most of the time. I’m not looking forward to trying to keep the kids out of their room, “delivering” them all their meals, whilst trying to work from home next week and keeping the kids entertained. 

Doing online courses well is going to take a lot of work on the front end. We don’t yet have any guidelines from our school around how often we need to be online, delivering live lessons, which platforms we will use, how we will assess work, and a host of other answers to questions I haven’t even thought of yet. Luckily, I only have one class, as the majority of my role is supporting students with learning needs. However I need to think about how I offer support to these students remotely. Sure, I can FaceTime them, but it is not really the same as giving these students the one-on-one support they really need. 

I have read some articles from teachers in China and Italy in how they are delivering online lessons. Of course a large amount depends on the access the students have, and in this instance I am lucky as all of my students have Surface Pros and internet access at home. We also regularly use a LMS called Edsby (pretty popular here in Ontario) and OneNote to deliver lessons, so even just using those with Zoom/Facetime/Google Meet will be enough for now, assuming this is short term. 

Today we had a pretty good day with the kids. I’m constantly worried about the amount of screen time they are getting, especially Ollie who, as an under 2 year old, should have ZERO screen time. So he's definitely having more than he should.

On a positive note, Ella and I have started doing Cosmic Kids Yoga. It’s a woman who tells stories while incorporating yoga poses. We've done two 30 minute sessions, yoga incorporated with the stories of Frozen and Moana, and Ella was completely engaged the whole time.

We’ve kind of settled into a bit of a routine. In the morning we let the kids watch a bit of TV, have breakfast, do some colouring at the table, and then go out in the backyard to play. Then it's time for Ollie’s nap. Andy and I then try to get in some exercise, yesterday we both went for runs (separately) outside. I managed 4.5km which I was happy with. It was nice to run outside, I usually run on the treadmill these days, although it was pretty cold. After Ollie’s nap we try and get outside from about 3-5pm. We usually stay local but decided to go on a drive today, heading about 15 minutes south to a trail in Oakville. We walked a bit with the kids and then discovered a playground, so of course spent the majority of time there. The kids had a good time and we all got some fresh air and exercise, so mission accomplished.

When we come home generally Andy plays with the kids and I make dinner. Dinner is around 6pm, bath around 7pm, and we read books and put the kids between 7:30-8pm. 

Once I put Ollie to sleep I do yoga for 20-30 minutes and then Andy and I will usually chat about the day’s news before settling in to a TV show. Right now we are watching The Stranger on Netflix. We’ve also started the docuseries Pandemic - not sure if that is a good idea or not!

Thursday March 19th

I forgot to write yesterday. It was a pretty “blah” day. I didn’t get in much exercise, ate too much sugar, and we didn’t take the kids out for a walk, opting to just play in the backyard instead. The result? I just felt yucky all day. I did manage to salvage our diets with an excellent carrot, ginger and coconut soup for dinner though, and we gave the kids a bubble bath in my parents giant bathtub at night. I don’t know why we haven’t done it before. Ella loved it and said she wanted to stay in it forever, the only thing that got her out was the promise of a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie (these may have contributed to my eating too much sugar, as mentioned above. There was really no need to lick the bowl...)

We did manage one successful instagram inspired activity: Many bowls filled with bubbles. It kept them occupied for a good half hour before dinner, and I feel like it also counted as washing the floor.

Today was much better. I went to the grocery store early in the morning, around 7am. It was not busy at all, but still there was an eerie atmosphere. No one was talking, people gave each other a wide berth, which is what we should be doing, but it’s weird. They had almost everything I wanted except eggs. There were nearly bare shelves mainly in the areas of meat, canned vegetables and soup, flour, rice, oh and of course toilet paper. 

When I got back I ate a healthy breakfast (my “super porridge”: a mix of oats, hemp seeds, chia seeds, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, almond butter and maple syrup) which kept me from picking at snacks all day. Once Ollie was down for his nap I went for a walk/run outside. One of my colleagues called me midway and I chatted with her about ideas for how we can structure online lessons in maths. It was a good, productive conversation, and chatting with someone during my outing almost made me feel like I’d had some human contact beyond my immediate family. 

The outdoor exercise gave me more energy for the rest of the day. We spent the afternoon getting my parents’ room ready as they should be arriving tomorrow morning. We put in a table and chairs, books, games, snacks and a coffee pod machine. 

Ella and I had a big bubble bath in my parents bath during Ollie's nap. It was super fun, and there were times I could almost pretend I was relaxing in there by myself. Once my parents are out of isolation I can see many more bubble baths in our future!

We also got a wagon (delivered from Amazon) to take out with the kids when we go on walks. In the afternoon we went back to Lake Wabukayne, where we had been on Monday. The kids loved the wagon, it was a great buy, I can see it being very useful over the coming weeks (or months?) as we continue with our daily walks.

Friday March 20th

Ollie woke up requesting pancakes, so we had a very civilised family pancake breakfast this morning. (I’m still always amazed when any meal time is quiet and orderly).

Today’s weather was really weird. We woke up in the morning and it was 15 degrees! We went out for a walk and although it was windy it was a warm wind. We had a nice walk with the kids around the marsh and actually got a bit hot and sweaty.

The temperature dropped all day, so that by the time we had our afternoon walk the wind was freezing cold. We had meltdowns from both kids today. I can’t even remember why. Arguments about who is in the wagon, who is on the scooter, who is pulling the wagon etc. Ugh. I ended up having to carry Ollie for about a kilometer and now I think my back is broken.

My parents got home today, around 11am. They drove straight back from Florida, stopping only at a rest station to sleep. They said there was no one at the border. The officers told them to self-isolate for 14 days and gave them this pamphlet. 

When they came in Ella was watching Frozen 2 and Ollie was napping so we managed to get them upstairs without seeing the kids. 

I felt a bit down this morning. I’ve read articles saying we will need at least 6 months of these measures in order to contain the spread of the virus. It’s a bit depressing to think about long term. I’m trying to just make myself focus on one day at a time. I can’t imagine someone with actual mental health issues during all this. The days already feel like they are melting into one. 

Funniest moment today… Ella was going to the bathroom and Ollie wanted to come in. Ella’s reaction: “it’s called privacy, mate!” I can’t stop laughing when I think about her saying that. Do you think she got it from her dad?!

But some excellent news today… I am an Aunty for the first time! My brother and his wife had a baby boy, Camden. I nearly cried when I showed Ella the picture and told her it was her cousin. I’m sad for my parents, who were supposed to be going to California to meet the new baby in a few days. But everyone has had disappointments during the pandemic. The baby and mum are both healthy so we can be grateful for that. 

Andy had got me a bottle of Moët for my birthday so we decided to pop that open to celebrate. We even sent two glasses up to the isolation room. Not a bad way to end our first week of social distancing.