Coping with COVID

‘We are in unprecedented times’. That is the comment I often hear when listening to the news regarding the state of our economy or reasons why businesses and industries are suffering with no ETA for when prospects will improve. I’m mindful of the topics my children hear on the radio, see on television and are subject to via other media sources as there is so much coverage of pain and disaster that I’m scared they could become desolate about their own futures. This year has been particularly difficult for everyone. During the devastating bushfires Australia experienced through 2019/2020, I had the news on constantly. At the time, I felt it was necessary to stay up-to-date with any warnings of impending danger. While on holiday during the Christmas/New Years break, we were stuck on the south coast due to fires blocking egress in all directions. We were situated near a beach and had a plan to use an inflatable bed as a raft for our youngest in case we had to seek refuge in the sea. Thankfully it didn’t come to that. When we managed to return to Canberra, things weren’t great here at the time either. We had our emergency plan in place and had rules such as ensuring the car was always fueled and packed with water and towels, valuables were packed and ready to take, and thick clothing and good shoes were to be worn whenever leaving the house. As the news was always on with the volume level high, so was my anxiety and that of my family. We practised which part of the house we would hide in incase we couldn’t activate our primary evacuation plan which was to seek refuge at the nearest shopping center due to automatic sprinklers and massive amounts of cement which are less likely to ignite than our semi-rural location. My family and I are managing the information on COVID very differently to how we consumed information regarding the bushfires. If I want news updates, I listen to them in my car or read articles on my phone. I’m still informing the kids about relevant items but am not allowing them to be consumed by it as I had with the fires. They are dealing with COVID amazingly. The isolation hasn’t been too hard on us as we’re a household of seven so always have enough people to fill a game of monopoly or charades. We did have to review how toilet paper was used when it was in short supply. We also adapted and grew more proficient in using technology to communicate and interact with family when restrictions were tighter. Having our first family get-together with the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins over social media was interesting but I’m glad we have access to alternate avenues of communication for when we can’t engage in person.

Light shines brightest in the darkness

During the bushfires, it was great to see communities helping one another with resource donations and kind acts such as people offering to help clear their neighbour’s gutters. During COVID, I’m seeing people offering assistance where ever possible, sometimes even at the detriment to themselves. People can be truly amazing. A practise which my family and I do at dinner each night is to go around the dining table where each person speaks about the highlight of their day. Highlights can be about anything that occurred that day. In our household these are typically events such as playing at the park, enjoying a walk or having an afternoon nap. By having each person say what he/she enjoyed that day it helps to end the day on a positive and bright note. I encourage you to try this with your loved ones. It may seem silly at first but will become as normal as brushing teeth in time and is just as important. I’m aware many people aren’t as fortunate as my family and I during these past months so I’ve been reaching out more often to the people I love and miss and hope you are doing the same. If you’ve been thinking about someone, a friend, family member, colleague, or just somebody you’ve said g’day to in the past, reach out and see how they’re doing. It may mean the world to them. PDR