Holidays postponed. Events cancelled. Daily life interrupted. Financial Struggles. Parents becoming teachers. Employees being furloughed. Unable to get essential supplies due to Supermarkets being raided for Toilet Roll, Flour, and Pasta.
There is not one person on the planet that has not been effected by one of these things.
The biggest disappointment for me has been my family not coming over. For 3 weeks in March-April my mum was due to come back to the UK with my brother Greg and his wife and kids to see the sights and so they could meet baby Henry.
Sadly due to Corona virus, Trump grounded flights to the UK and Europe about 2 weeks before they were due to fly out to see us. In some ways I'm grateful because it means that they can stay home and be safe, but I can't help but be disappointed.
Two of the three weddings we were meant to attend have now been cancelled, and a third one still being classified as 'maybe' going ahead in August as planned.
Both hubby and I had had several events that we were meant to attend- 10k races, concerts, comic cons, etc that have now all been postponed until 2021.
Not to mention that all of the plans we had surrounding Henry have gone to pot. We had an appointment to check out a Nursery in April and that got cancelled because childcare establishments closed, so we have no childcare set up for when I return to work after Maternity Leave. I haven't been able to take him to baby classes; we regularly attended baby yoga, and we had plans to sign up to Baby Sign, Baby Swim, and other development classes while he was still under the 1 year mark. Also socially, he isn't able to meet people-- other babies, friends, family, etc.
I swear when this ends he is going to be so confused as to why people other than mommy and daddy exist. :(
Who knows what is going to happen with the coming months? Who knows what state the world will be in when we go back to 'normal'. Will the global economy be in tatters? Will people finally start listening to the Extinction Rebellion about climate change knowing that while the world was in lock down, nature actually was better for it? Will we still be in lock down and I start working from home come September when my Maternity Leave is over?
There are so many uncertainties but all we can do is focus on the here and now. Be in the present moment.
I have resigned to the fact that this is the way life is now: Stay at home. Wash your hands. Wear PPE when you go outside and stay 2 metres away from people.
"Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change"
I can't change the government regulations to stay inside so I'm just gonna ride with it until this whole thing blows over. In the meantime, I am enjoying the life I have, at home, inside my own little bubble. Here are some of the things I've been doing:
- Writing: Getting back to my love of writing (or ranting) and using this time to express myself with the written word. It keeps my mind sharp, it documents my thoughts and feelings and it fills up the time with something productive
- Crocheting: Since my baby shower when I was gifted a 'Crochet your Own...' kit I have been obsessed with learning to crochet more and more things. I have thus far created:
- A family of Jellyfish
- Two baby Blankets
- A full size adult blanket
- Comfort Hearts for Corona virus victims & thier loved ones
- A Tote Bag for all my DnD stuff
- Teething biscuits
- Baby Mittens
- Several Baby Hats (for sale!)
- A Yoda Hat for Smush
- A baby headband for my newborn niece
- Scrap-booking: Ever since I recovered from giving birth, I have been making a 'YEAR 1' scrapbook for Henry. I've been ordering prints online from Bonusprint, they come in the post and I do a bit of scrap booking on occasion. I have no intention of carrying on scrap booking because I know life will get busy, but while life is a little quieter I have committed myself to doing a book just for his 1st year.
- Quiet Book: I had in my head that I could make Henry a quiet book/activity book/sensory book made mostly of felt for learning when he grows older. I saved loads of ideas on Pintrest, picked up supplies from Hobbycraft, and picked up bargain bin items whenever I saw something on sale that I could use later. Luckily I had enough supplies stocked up from thrift shopping before lock down commenced and so I have that to work on too.
- Catching up on Sleep: Believe it or not, it's been a big help to be able to sleep off those tired nights when Henry has been teething and in pain, or won't go back to sleep for whatever reason.
- Catching up on my Reading List: I have soooo many books that I've bought and never read and books that are still on my 'to buy/to read' list. I also signed up to Audible and other audio book services so I've been listening to books while my hands are busy working on crafting projects. Here are a few that are in my queue at the moment to buy/download/stream:
- The Shadowhunter Chronicles by Cassandra Clare (I currently have 7 and 1/2 more of these books to read in order to have caught up on all 17 currently available...but there are still 4 more soon to be published in the series hahah)
- Surrounded by Idiots (The Four Types of Human Behavior or, How to Understand Those Who Cannot be Understood) by Thomas Erikson
- How The Hell Do You Write A Book by Vicky Fraser
- Catching up on my Watch List: ALL OF THE STREAMING SERVICES. Now TV, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime....there's alot to watch out there and sooooo much time to waste in Quarantine.
- TIK TOK: Yes my 30-year-old bum is on tik tok with the children. But hey, I enjoy making funny little videos. It helps my need to be creative in terms of acting and improv, which I haven't done in nearly a decade.
- Video Calls for Social interaction: Being so far from my family I normally make a point of Skyping with my mum every Sunday. It's been a ritual of ours for nearly a decade since I moved to the UK. But now I'm video calling a lot more due to Social Distancing. I make it a point to create time in my schedule each week for these social encounters so I don't go mad: An exercise class on Zoom once a week, DnD Wednesdays, Saturday Pub Quiz, and the odd just chit chat with a friend. :)
- Yoga: Yoga has been my saving grace during lock down. Not only is it my only form of exercise at the moment, but it gives me time to meditate and focus on nothing else but how my body is feeling. This acts as my reset button, to check in with my body and reassess what I need in my life, what would make me feel good and happy.
I know I had lots of time before the COVID-19 outbreak because I was on maternity leave, but now that Rob is furloughed and is home all the time, it means that I have more time to do things for me because I have someone to co-parent 24/7. It also means that Rob gets more time with his son to witness all the firsts that he might have missed if he was still at work during Henry's 1st year.
I see these as blessings in disguise and try to focus on the positives in this situation because there is no need to get worked up over things I cannot change.....Unless I need a healthy rant about something to get those rotten feelings out of me. Which I do alot. haha #SorryNotSorry
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