I decided to keep a journal of sorts of our time in quarantine. Not because it was extraordinary for us compared to others, but because the situation is extraordinary, and I want to remember certain details in the future. I feel like my kids will ask me about this time, and I want to remember as much as I can. However, my memory sucks, so writing it down in a blog is the best way for me to preserve our experiences during self-isolation due to the Corona Virus.
While the virus began in Wuhan China in December 2019, it really started to impact us in Canada in March 2020. The last day of school for the boys was Friday, March 13th (yes, Friday the 13th) before they were off for March break. At that point, we were only told that schools will be closed for two additional weeks after the break. However, each day, we learned more and more about the reality of the situation. On Friday we still thought we would be traveling to Quebec on our scheduled family ski trip, but by Sunday we knew we needed to cancel our plans. We learned about flattening the curve, and the need to keep our distance from others (2 meters / 6 feet apart). That first week, people (ourselves included) were still getting together with family, playing in the parks in close proximity and scheduling play-dates for their kids. Several people were also on their March break vacation. By the end of the week, most people realized that we need to stop everything and just stay home!
By Monday March 23, parents everywhere started making colour coded schedules for their kids, ramping up their supplies for homeschooling, and creating lists of activities their kids can do while at home. We did this as well, but it was a loose schedule, which included 4 hours of screen time throughout the day (big change for the kids who went from zero screen time during the week). By the end of the first 3 weeks, it becoming evident that we would be in this situation for the long haul. As of right now, schools in Ontario are closed until September 2020.
In Ontario / Canada, most people were receptive to staying at home and making the best of our situation. We were doing well with flattening the curve, especially compared to other hard hit countries like USA, Italy and Spain. Quebec got hit the hardest. One theory is that they had their March Breaks one week before we did, and at that point, we didn’t have any strict measures in place, so a lot of people from Quebec traveled to Europe, USA, and more. Part of the international efforts included closing up of borders for travel; including the USA / Canada border (exceptions were made for work travel). One of the biggest issues was the lack of ventilators and PPE. People were asked to donate any to their local hospital until manufacturing caught up to demand.
Also, at the beginning, a lot of people were hording food like pastas, sauces and beans. Store shelves sat empty and as quickly as they were being restocked, they were emptied out again.Toilet paper was sold out everywhere! Over time, grocery chains were able to keep up with demand, and people didn’t stock up as much. However, certain items were still hard to find including yeast, flour and beans. Oh ya, and toilet paper!
All non-essential workplaces had to close down (people started transitioning to working from home). Specialty parks like Disneyland and various professional sports (NBA & NHL) ended their season early, while MLB didn’t even start the season. All sporting events were cancelled (including my 30km around the bay run in Hamilton, ON and John’s half iron man in Tremblant, Quebec). Some people were either temporarily laid off or lost their job completely while others worked harder than ever. The kids’ extra curricular activities stopped while some moved online. Suddenly our days and weekends were freed up, but we had no where to go.
On the home front, the boys were happy to not be in school and be home with John and I. Overall, their mental health wasn’t suffering. Kyle did say he missed his friends the most. The boys kept busy with Fortnite (which ate up 99% of their screen time), building forts, sports, scavenger hunts, arts and crafts (painting and rock painting were two big phases) and some school work.
However, school was challenging. Kyle is the only one that could read completely independently and none of them were very tech savvy, so any online class required a lot of my input and help. During the two month period, we probably only experienced one day where all 3 boys did school work in one day. We focused on reading and math primarily but mixed in some science and arts. Kyle (grade 4) was studying fractions and various habitats (desert). Ryan worked on his reading and I started teaching Nathan to read as well (with the use of an amazing book called ‘Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons‘). Some days there was no home schooling at all (i.e. if I was too tired, or if the weather was nice and we spent most of the day outdoors, or if the boys were playing nicely independently)
On April 8th we adopted 2 kittens. Before this, the boys were playing with Kitty (our 15 year old cat) tons being home all day but she’s older and couldn’t keep up. Bringing these kittens (Bulldog and Thunder) into our home was such a great decision. The boys didn’t fight as much and it helped them emotionally. We also noticed that the boys started using their imagination more (especially Kyle). He loved creating things out of the boxes we received, painting rocks, building forts in every room of the house, coming up with a plan for a mansion that they dreamed up of, and more.
We also focused on getting them to be more independent and helping out around the house more. The house was never really tidy and often messy and dirty (oh how I miss my cleaning lady). So we got the boys to help out with some house chores included sweeping and vacuuming the floors, cleaning the bathrooms, changing their sheets and feeding the cats. Kyle even made cookies all by himself from start to finish including turning the oven on and off and putting the cookie sheet in and taking it out (using Pillsbury cookie dough).
As for me, I miss my alone time, but I also enjoyed certain aspects of having the boys home with me and really connecting with them. I was worried that this time would be stressful and make me anxious and stressed, but I actually felt calm for most of our time in quarantine. I tried to alternate running and working out at home (following OrangeTheory’s at home workout videos) every day. But there were weeks where I did nothing. I also started bike riding with John. My work slowed down, but it was a blessing as it probably made things less stressful and allowed me to focus on the boys more. I also started doing more creative (not sponsored) stuff for my blog and IG page. I started baking a lot more, which I really enjoyed. Baking Challas every Friday was a highlight of my day. I also pretty much lived in my sweats / workout clothes, as did most people during this crisis. In fact, laundry wasn’t so bad during this time but on the other hand, we ran the dishwasher at least daily, sometimes twice because we ate every meal at home (x 5 people).
I kept in touch with most of my friends via text messages & WhatsApp conversation, but always loved to stop and chat (at a safe distance) when we ran into people during our walks / bike rides. Zoom meetings surged for both businesses and personal needs. Nathan’s teacher did daily zoom classes and Nathan became a guru at using Zoom.
We did most of our grocery shopping online and I either had it delivered or I went to pick it up (they brought it to my car). Loblaws was one of the first grocery stores to make changes to the way people shop and the enforced strict guidelines to keep people safe. Namely, they limited the amount of people in the store. It was not uncommon to see lines form outside of essential stores (LCBO included) where tape was placed on the side walk to indicate every 6 feet. For non-grocery items, we purchased everything else online directly from retailers or from Amazon. Local shops also offered delivery or curb side pickup. However, once a week I would physically go into a store for random purchases.
While we didn’t wear masks initially, by April, everyone started wearing masks when going into other stores. Some stores even started requesting that customers do that. It became normal to see people wearing masks when out in public and people lining up with a 6-feet distance between them.
At this point, it doesn’t look like things will go back to ‘normal’ any time soon. Even in some countries where they lifted some restrictions, it looks like they are asking people to self-isolate again because of an increase in infected individuals after a lull. It’s predicted that this virus will come and go in waves, perhaps indefinitely. It’ll be interesting to see what the next 2-3 months look like and even more so what the next 2-3 years look like. At this point my biggest wonder is if the kids will be back in school by September, and if they are, what that will look like.