Diary of a family in quarantine #1

Many of you may know the McLure family of Smiths Beach.

Mum Lisa is a hairdresser at Elements Hair Room in Cowes, and is a personal trainer at the YMCA and in her home studio. Dad Tim is a welder and mechanic at an engineering company in Wonthaggi. And then there are the two kids, Angus, 10, in grade four at Cowes Primary and Evie, six, in grade one.

The family have lived on the island for 16 years and have agreed to take part in a weekly quarantine diary with the Advertiser. Lisa – well known for her upbeat take on life – will share stories of how the family is getting through the isolation, how the kids are coping, what exercise and diet is best, and how to get through the crisis with mental health intact.

"The week before the world went crazy Tim and I went on a one-week holiday to Sumatra, for a jungle trek, to celebrate my birthday. It was a big birthday for me, 42, because it was the same age my mum had died when I was 16.

I needed to do something outrageous and so we went to the middle of nowhere and it was beautiful. But then we came back and there was no toilet paper and everyone was wearing face masks. We left the world normal and came back and it was bizarre.

I also came back with a cold so Leanne (the owner of Elements Hair Room) said maybe I should take time at home and get tested for coronavirus.

So I went to Wonthaggi hospital where they did a nasal swab into the middle of my brain and scraped my cerebral cortex. It’s a pretty invasive test. The poor nurse. She called me on a Saturday night to say my test was negative and she added “I think I’ll be doing a lot more of these”.

So I feel like I’ve been isolated for a while now. I went back to work for two days and then the salon closed.

Everything was going ok until last Thursday. I got on the phone to Tim bawling my eyes out.

One minute I was in the jungle and the next I had two small people staring at me, eating everything in the house and not going anywhere.

At first we didn’t tell the kids about Coronavirus and I organised craft activities, letter writing, making cakes, walks on the beach for scavenger hunts. I micro-managed them to keep them busy and happy and so life was exciting. But then by Thursday night I couldn’t do it anymore. We sat them down and told them about it; why they can’t see their mates or go to school; and the fact I’ll be their teacher and they just went ‘ok’.

Since then they’ve been pretty self-contained and cruisy. Evie decided to sort Lego into colours and that kept her busy for two days. Then she found a snail and built it a house.

We decided to rip down the side fence and use the wood for a cubbyhouse and we gave Angus a sledgehammer for that. He was throwing some wood on the pile and he misfired and it went through the window and smashed the glass instead.

It used to be that I wouldn’t have a drink until 6pm, but that day it was more like 3.30pm.

One day the kids were having a massive blue and then two seconds later were laughing.

I thank Cowes Primary School for that. They let the kids come to their own conclusions and work through issues with them. It makes them learn cause and effect. It doesn’t always work of course.

I think the thing I’ve missed the most being in quarantine is hugging. I’m a huge hugger. My poor kids, I’ve worn them out with hugging. If there’s a limit then I’ve reached it. Hugging is my fuel. It hit me like a tonne of bricks when I couldn’t go to a friend and give her a hug.

I’ve been having a lot of group texts, chats, and catch ups over Zoom (online video conferencing).

I miss being in front of another person, just watching their emotions. When I’m out riding my bike I like to say hello to passers-by, or when I go into the shops I like to chat to the person behind the desk.

A friend is a nurse at Wonthaggi Hospital emergency and she told me she had the worst day the other day and so I went down to G’Day Tiger and got her a coffee, a cookie and a couple of little bottles of Prosecco, put them on her doorstep, knocked and left.

I also got a few bottles of little gin and a block of chocolate and left them on the doorstep of four girlfriends and then we all had a drink and catch up on Zoom.

Sometimes it all gets so busy we miss doing this. We should do it more.

My mum always used to say if you can make one person smile in a day, it’s a good day. And so I try to take an interest in people. I’m interested in their stories.”

For the latest chapter in the quarantine diary of the Mclure house, see next week’s Advertiser.