I didn’t get round to posting an update yesterday, mostly because we had a lazy sunday. Stayed in our pjs, kids had screen time and we did some painting of the wooden shields. They’re coming along nicely, and I’ll add pictures when they’re done!
Day four has so far gone like this:
We all got up and dressed and had breakfast. The kids did some writing – today both wrote a page of story, and then we did some maths with dice, rolling for numbers and making sums with them. We all came out to the garden as it’s lovely and sunny and quite warm. Baby O walked around a bit and investigated some trees with us, but the grass is too long for him to walk much without holding hands or he falls over. Another job to add to the never ending to do list!
We’ve had lunch and baby O has gone for his nap and the kids have screen time. G is vaguely working from home and also cleaning the kitchen. I’m currently enjoying some peace and bird song in the garden while writing this.
As for symptoms, mostly we are all clearing up. G seems almost better, Baby O is still a bit tired and some coughing and runny nose, but improved since yesterday. I woke up yesterday feeling terrible, which improved over the day but not by much. Every night I spend a couple hours in bed trying to fall asleep but coughing too much to get anywhere. Today I woke up feeling much better, I think because baby O and I both slept better last night.
Hopefully, after our 7 days, we’ll all be fine again and not able to transmit to anyone else. I’m a little worried about what the outside world will be like, from what I’ve seen on social media. The shops have queues an hour before they open, people are panic buying all the necessary supplies, I have no idea how many people are off school or work. And who knows what government advice will be and how it will change.
This is a hard situation for anyone with health anxiety like me. Doom is looming and it’s not just my anxiety telling me that anymore! I’m sure we all know someone vulnerable and have people to worry about. Apart from the hygiene advice and limiting public gatherings etc, there isn’t much else we can do, except wait and see what happens. I’m not great at that, I like to control things to ease my anxiety.
My tips so far would be:
* Limit news and social media time, especially before bed.
* Structure your day so that you don’t go crazy with boredom, or become irritable and argue with your family.
* Try to do something productive if you can. I have been working on digital art. I’ve drawn some birds which I want to get made into art prints.
* Try to do something fun, whether you are alone or with family. The kids are really enjoying painting their wooden shields. I also want to get some board games out today or tomorrow!
* Try to eat and drink as healthily as you can with the limited shopping you can get.
* If you have a garden, make use of it! Fresh air, bird sounds, greenery and sunshine are really helpful to my mental health. I often find peace sitting out in the sunshine listening to the birds.
* If you’re struggling to think of ways to fill your time, write a list of things you keep putting off, this could be household jobs or new tv shows, a new craft you want to try, or a book you haven’t had time to read yet. Doing a tiny household job, fixing something that’s broken, or clearing out a cupboard will make you feel like you’ve achieved something if you have the energy to do something like that.
* I also suggest keeping in contact with friends and family, in our tech based world, this can be done even in self isolation. We have group chats with our friends group, and both sets of parents are checking in with us each day. I sent an email to my elderly grandparents yesterday to check they were doing ok, and being careful. They said they now have WhatsApp so checking in is easier, and I can send them photos and videos of the kids more often now too, which I know cheers them up. They’ve only met baby O once, because they live in Clacton and we live in Southend, so it’s nice to keep them updated on the kids as they grow.
Life continues, even in self isolation. Humans are good at adapting, and there are ways to keep having fun, keep in touch with loved ones, and not see this as a solely bad thing. We will get through this as a species, but losses will happen. It’s hard to come to terms with this situation, but we can still take the opportunity to be kind, to learn to adapt and cope, and to carry on doing the things we love, even if some of them have to be adapted.
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