Posted on by Writer of Words, etc

Diversions, distractions…the new normal has begun

Alright, it appears many people will be staying home either for precautionary or enforced reasons. Which means, the internet will be booming.

Right?

We need our daily fix, our online entertainment, especially now. I don’t know how long people can binge-watch over a period of two, three or more weeks, especially with the weather finally changing a little, for the better (at least here in Toronto).

I hope wifi becomes an essential service… 😀

I for one prefer reading (and writing) to watching shows. But I suspect I will be watching some shows, just for a change of pace…

Here’s the latest recap from Toronto:

The girl child had a bit of a sore throat. There were no other symptoms. I was going to let her stay home for the last two days of school since March Break (aka Spring Break) was to begin next week anyway, but…

Long story short, he took her in to see a doctor. The doctor arranged to meet her in the parking lot to assess her situation (and rule out Strep, which was a slight possibility). He did – no Strep. Still, he suggested social distancing for her, the newly fashionable term of the day/week/month.

We were doing that anyway. No school, no sports. (She slept it off over a 48 hour period and is back to normal today.)

Have I mentioned March Break? Canadians are still traveling to sunny destinations, hence both school and sport events were low attendance, and, as a result, canceled in some cases even before the whole coronavirus thing exploded exponentially in the past 24 hours.

I kept my girl home from the Bubble rink on Thursday (and was going to even if we hadn’t taken her to get assessed) and her Saturday game is canceled due to travel trips for half the team and low attendance, so really, no major disruption happened here.

Then Hockey Canada canceled everything (along the same lines as the NBA, NHL, MLB…) The teens aren’t thrilled, they want to keep playing, but…those dressing rooms are icky. And naturally, there are crowds in those places…

Next, they canceled all publicly funded schools as of the week after March Break. Catholic followed suit. Essentially, the kids will be home until April, possibly longer.

Home.

In this house.

With me.

(I’m fine. Really. I’m fine.)

😬 😭 😉

Unlike parents with younger children, and full-time jobs out of the house (or even while working from home), I have it relatively easy. My 12 and 15yo are mostly self-sufficient, with the one kid sitting in her corner creating arts and crafts, and the other…

I don’t know what the teen will do. I think I’ll force him to go out for bike rides with me occasionally if the weather allows for it.

Or something.

In the meanwhile, some colleges and universities in Canada are moving the remainder of the semester (a few weeks) to online delivery. The college my partner works for hasn’t officially done this yet but class attendance is dwindling so it may only be a matter of time.

He is also going to be working from home.

So that means three of them are going to be constantly home and dipping into my hidden food stash. 🙄

I’m slowly running out of hiding places. 🙃

Look, as a mostly-introverted person, I don’t really mind being stuck at home. However, it’s been a long winter and I do relish the fact that I have certain freedoms as a SAHM/work-from-home-part-time-occasionally.

When they’re all at work and school, I can focus better on my creative writing projects given that the house is empty and I don’t have a room with a door to go to when they are home. Have I mentioned we live in a very small house? Have I mentioned we are looking to move? Have I mentioned my dream to move out by myself into my own little clutter free loft? (never mind)

I love my family but this upcoming sequestering is very possibly going to kill me cause me a lot little grief. I can hear it already:

What’s for lunch?

What’s for dinner?

Do we have anything to eat?

Why don’t we have any chips, ice-cream, fries, chocolate, candy, pie, cake?

Can we go to McDonalds, Wendy’s, A&W, get pizza?

WHY NOT?

They will ask these redundant questions at regular intervals no matter how often I respond with:

Would you like me to draw you a map to the kitchen?

Note to self: pick up a few more bottles of wine because I think I am going to need them. 🍷 😊 🍷

So, let it begin. This is a new normal we’re entering. Because this and similar viruses are not going to go away just because we want them to and we are going to have to learn how to live along side them, and how to manage them with a clear head and common sense.

 

 

 

39 Replies to “Diversions, distractions…the new normal has begun”

  1. I read this post more than a month after writing. Apparently that moment there was too much uncertainty for what would come next.
    It’s been a month. We are all getting to know adapting to a different way of living. There’s not as much maelstrom of schedules anymore, no shopping or fun outings. Home was once again the center of our lives.
    As always your writing is interesting.
    Greeting.

    Liked by 1 person

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  2. Wine is the answer! But seriously enjoy every freedom while you can. We are locked down, cannot go out of the house u less alone even in the car. Can’t go out after 6pm and no bars, restaurants or shops other than food or chemists are open. And we’ve only had 3 cases on the island!

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  3. I have the same chorus whenever my teens are in the house! Schools/unis as normal here but no sport or cultural gatherings over 500. I have a gig to go to in a fortnight so I am hoping I can still go, and I think the venue is borderline 500. The whole self-isolation thing on tenuous evidence is just weird – where do you draw the line? Currently beloved’s workmate has been in touch with someone returning from the UK, and how he has a sore throat, so beloved is in self-isolation (with me), because we’ve been together and intimate since he worked with this colleague…but what does that mean for me and my kids? We are not doing anything until we hear this colleague’s test results on Tuesday. Not even sure if that’s right – but the person who travelled to the UK is fine – so ??? These degrees of association seem bizarre.

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    1. I think a new normal is going to take effect as I doubt this virus will be going away any time soon.

      It’s not a time to panic, but a time to be cautiously optimistic. Take the isolation seriously and keep dreaming about your trip. Life will return, maybe to a new normal, but still a normal, right?

      Stay well. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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  4. It’s the same here in the UK. Hubby is working from home indefinitely. Son’s university is doing online lectures. I suspect it won’t be long until our schools close too. There goes the peace in the house 😂

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  6. Schools are closed until the end of March here and, with all youth and sport clubs closed as well, I’ve had the boys outside chopping wood all morning.

    I haven’t been told to work from home yet so I shall be going in to the office on Monday. Having all five of us cooped up together for two weeks isn’t likely to end well 😉

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      1. Right now, I don’t think there are any plans to start closing borders and I don’t think it’s likely to happen.

        But discussions are ongoing, so I may be proved wrong by tomorrow.

        Liked by 1 person

  8. Oh good luck! LOL I only have one teen but I hear you on the what is there to eat thing!
    I have a bit of a different set of circumstances but yes, this is really affecting us. Yesterday was getting overwhelming with everything getting closed and cancelled and certain people at work giving updates every 2 seconds. Ugh. 🙂 An event my mom and I were looking forward to on March 28 in Montreal has been postponed to July. As TD said, Via is saying they will give a full refund for the train tickets which I almost feel bad about taking (they must be losing so much money). I work at a University which has moved all classes to online but I am staff so still have to go in to work. Ah well. We will get through it.

    Liked by 1 person

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  13. UofT just announced online classes as of Monday, Mar 16th. So far they say the residences are staying open, but that may change and then I will have to travel and pick up the eldest. Her weekend tournament in Ottawa got cancelled yesterday. Now I need to post all the stuff she needed. VIA Rail gave her a full refund on her ticket, which was great (we had hoped for a partial credit to transfer to a future trip)

    Good luck with everyone home.

    Liked by 1 person

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  14. I hate to tell you this, but we’ve got a big winter storm moving in tonight. Which means you’ll probably have a big winter storm moving in come Sunday or Monday. Hope you’ve got a LOT of wine on hand!

    Liked by 2 people

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