I'm gearing myself up for self-isolation. I started getting ready on Saturday, as I hadn't been feeling well, so had to call in sick from work, cancel my hair colour appointment and then thought I might as well begin to hunker down. This is the perfect opportunity for me to blend my hair out into it's natural shade - silver. Bring it on.
My older daughter came home from uni, which is now closed. My husband is in London today collecting his screens, so he can work from home. My younger daughter collects her final project from college tomorrow and then we are going into a family lockdown. So far, we have been doing the prep.
I've hoovered and mopped house, disinfected door knobs and we got a food shop in. We decided to be radical and not get any toilet roll, even if there was any left, as we have plenty of newspapers we can use, so time to go 'old school'. We have been washing our hands like nutters and my older daughter and I keep comparing whose hands look most like a 90 year old's. I've even had to take my wedding ring off because the soap makes it so sore.
I mentioned I haven't felt well and because I am a bit of a hypo anyway, I have manifested that I must already have Covid 19. In reality, I just have a sore throat, feel woolly headed and a bit weird. Even so, I am taking no chances. When I went to visit my 73 year year old parents yesterday, I stood two meters away and we did an 'air hug'. It was lovely to see my mum and I wanted to physically hug her so badly but know I would put her at risk if I did, just in case I am carrying Coronavirus.
It's unclear how long this quarantine will last for - it could be two weeks, four months or more. I feel bad for teenagers who have enough stress in their lives with exams, social media and anxiety - now this. I hope they can cope with this added pressure and they get a break. I cannot imagine how awful it is for some people living with abuse, alone and feeling lonely, unwell or in poor housing. The NHS are doing such an outstanding job caring and trying their absolute best to keep patients alive. There is a need to keep morale up with the constant scary news on loop. I love that some Italians stuck in their flats have been singing and playing musical instruments from their balconies to unite and uplift their community.
This seems like a good time to help others with delivering shopping and medication, sending cheerful messages and chatting on the phone. I am looking forward to some time with my family, as we will all be locked in together, chatting around the kitchen table albeit from a safe distance and maybe make them do a jigsaw but we might need to spray each piece with Dettox and hand sanitise each time we fit a piece to make up the picture. I've just added a hand towel for each of us in the bathroom, kitchen and a mug each with own toothbrush and toothpaste to be on the safe side or 'extra' as the youngsters would say.
I am also going to enjoy watching movies, reading books, writing, gardening, going for dog walks and cuddling up with them on the sofa, pottering about my home and just 'being', as I think we have lost the art of that. I hope the world emerges appreciating what really matters in life and gives people time to think about what they really want from life. I hope there is world peace. It seems to be uniting over shared hatred of this killer bug and climate change seems to have been addressed too.
Stay safe everyone and look after your loved ones. See you on the other side...
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