Changes begin

To paraphrase Neil Armstrong, we've had some giant leaps for the country and some small steps for our household.

On Monday, we set off to have dinner with my parents, but by the time we got there, the prime minister had decreed that all unnecessary social contact should cease. We did stay and eat dinner, but we have no idea when we'll see each other again. Possibly I'll do some doorstep deliveries. My parents are both over 70 and I don't want them shopping.

On Tuesday, I was supposed to see an old school friend and meet her husband and baby, on their way down to Cornwall to visit her parents. We decided best to call that off.

On Wednesday, we finally got a much anticipated announcement: schools would close at the end of the week. We held a family meeting that night and worked out a homeschool timetable to keep up with lessons.

My social media has been filled with lockdown posts for weeks... Wednesday was the first day somebody posted that they were sick, with the fever and cough that fit Covid-19. Even the weather was wet and gloomy and the fog closing in felt like a metaphor for all the unknown quantities of our life right now.

On Thursday, I had what was probably my last day of work as a supply teacher, in the special needs department of the local secondary. I wasn't strictly needed, as so many kids were out, we ended up with five staff to three pupils. However, the usual staff were busy making preparations for the closure, so I became the extra body who could sit with the three girls as they did their set work. I spent the day colouring in a dragon, testing times tables, suggesting things to write for their mothers' day project, sewing (horrifically badly) a cloak and playing BINGO. We laughed, sang Lion King songs, and somebody made me a cup of tea.

I'll miss working.

Today, Friday, as the kids finished up their last day of school, I had to make a quick run to the doctor's with my son. We were triaged over the phone: "Do you have a fever? Do you have a cough? Have you been in contact with anybody abroad?" As the answer was "no" to all three, we were allowed to come in for an appointment. When we entered, we found traffic cones to enforce distance from the reception desk as you checked in. A sign requested that only the patient enter, although this was waived in view of my son's age. In the waiting room, the chairs were spread two feet apart. (Not the requisite 2 metres for social distancing, but there were only four other people in there and none of us sat anywhere near each other.)

Planning, Always Planning

I'm not sick, but at this point I have Covid-19 Brain. In its ADD fashion, my brain latched onto the plague about three weeks ago and has spent every waking hour since running through the what-ifs. It's not anxiety, fortunately—I'm not scared—but the constant mental processing has left me exhausted. On the plus side, I've felt prepared throughout this week of news and updates. I'd already thought through everything.

I wasn't as sure how the children would react... I figured their interpretation of the schools closing would be: "Weekend Every Day!" But when I informed them that we would be creating a homeschooling timetable for every day, they were surprisingly into it—once we established they would definitely be getting an Easter Holiday. My son says he's always wanted to be homeschooled.

Technically, it's supposed to be distance-learning. The school has spent the past couple of weeks getting the children set up on an online learning app called Class Dojo. The theory was that they would receive and submit their work through that. The reality is that not all the parents have set that up their accounts yet, so we've been started off with a pack of lesson suggestions and links to online resources. I'm grateful I have the time and experience to do this... I pity the parents who have to plan and give lessons while working from home!

We found it really odd walking home from school for the last time today. My son, who starts secondary school in September, may never go back to the village school. Their June field trip to the Isles of Scilly seems unlikely to happen now. An hour after we got back, my daughter sort of deflated on the sofa. At my suggestion, she took herself for a short walk to regroup. When she came back, she had a tiny posy of spring flowers for me: daffodil, primrose, dandelion and periwinkle.

Waiting, Ever Waiting

My relationship with my boyfriend is effectively on hold, due to pandemic etiquette: Firstly, babysitting isn't quite in the spirit of social distancing. Secondly, he lives on the other side of Dartmoor and it doesn't seem terribly responsible for us to create a jumping point for the virus.

On the other hand, most of our relationship involves us hiking wide open spaces, so we can continue that... It's just not exactly a date when we're keeping 2m apart and being chaperoned by my children. Still, he works in a hospital; boosting his morale is my patriotic duty!

The pandemic is also throwing a spanner into the works of getting a UK driving licence and enrolling on my EYITT course. Waiting to hear on the latter, but my driving theory test was cancelled yesterday with instructions not to rebook until further notice. I need to get my licence by June or I'll have to stop driving.

But that's a worry for later. In the meantime, I've joined a volunteer group that's emerged in the village to help self-isolating, quarantined and vulnerable people. Since my last blog, a family friend has volunteered to have the kids in the event that I am hospitalised. Even at 2m of social distancing, people are coming together and that's lovely to see.

Cornwall remains quiet with only 10 confirmed cases of Covid-19. What we worry about are people coming to Cornwall either because they have a second home there and would rather ride out the pandemic somewhere more rural, or because they want to have a break, take their Easter Holiday and pretend life is normal. The trouble is, Cornwall's going to be a lovely place to self-isolate... and a terrible place to be sick. We only have one hospital. If we get an influx of visitors bringing the virus with them, we're going to overwhelm the local resources very very quickly.

Again, no point worrying about what we can't control especially when it hasn't happened yet. In the meantime, this spring is going to be received very well by two members of our household: the cats. Long, sunny days lie ahead with laps aplenty, all day long.