We’re both working full time from home so remote learning for the kids has been very challenging. There’s so much out there in terms of online activities which is great but it’s easy to get overwhelmed with what is expected. Currently our 10 year old is in charge of schoolwork.
We have had a few close friends who had coronavirus early on, and have been isolating longer than most of us. We have a street WhatsApp group which is a great way of ensuring that everyone has what they need. It also acts as an access to a library of old things and everyone has been lending and borrowing anything from pressure washers, lawn movers to jigsaws, as well as sharing food deliveries.
We’re so grateful to have a garden. I bit the bullet early on and bought a trampoline when I realised schools would close. To be honest learning from home needs to be understood in the broader sense to apply to us – cooking, finding new ways to play and spending time together.
It’s so nice being home together, with the kids playing outside in this lovely weather. Before the pandemic our schedule was so full on, long hours, both kids at breakfast and after school club. I really don’t miss the morning rush, the commute and rushing back home again! Spending less time commuting means I can spend more time connecting with family and friends so that’s a real positive. We miss socialising with friends. There’s been two babies born recently so we’re looking forward to meeting them.
Overall we feel grateful. We’re lucky, we have jobs and plenty of food which isn’t the case for everyone. There is so much to take forward, to not forget when we are through this. A new sense of enjoying the small things, reconnecting to what matters, a true understanding of resourcefulness., sufficiency, resilience and care that we can carry on with us when we create a new normal”
Alex is British and Naomi is Swiss Japanese. They met in Australia.
