Diary of a family in quarantine #10

Here we go again: lockdown lowdown

During the first COVID-19 lockdown, the Advertiser ran a weekly column with the McLure family of Smiths Beach to see how they were coping in quarantine.
Given stage 3 restrictions have now been reimposed, we again visit the family, who have lived on the island for 16 years. Mum Lisa is a hairdresser at Elements Hair Room in Cowes, and 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.
Lisa – well known for her upbeat take on life – will again share stories of how the family is getting through the isolation.

“Oh dear, I just got kicked in the head with a Swiss ball.

When we came out of lockdown last time, we decided to start our house renovation, which we’d delayed because of restrictions. We’ve got a new bathroom and the plasterers are currently working upstairs. So I’ve moved downstairs into my fitness studio with the kids to do home schooling.

But being in a room that is eight metres by two metres with a dog, cat, two kids and a couple of Swiss balls is not going so well right now.

We started the reno when everything opened up. It didn’t take long once life got back to normal to get busy again. I didn’t realise how much we cram into life. It was such a contrast.

Every week became busier and busier, not just the reno, but we did dance, footy, swimming, personal training, not just for the kids, but Tim and me. Slowly but surely the busy routine crept back in. We even went to Wilsons Prom in our new van, the weekend before restrictions came in.

Now everything has stopped I’m actually enjoying this time a lot more. It’s now about seizing the moment.

When it was busy I realised I missed the quiet moments, walking with a friend or swimming with the kids. Every night at dinner we ask the kids what they loved most about their day and they never say ‘being on the iPad’, but going for a walk as a family or being on the beach.

I think it’s important just to be aware of this.

It’s taught me not to sit around and wait, just do it. Normally I’d sit on the beach and think it’s too cold to go for a swim with the kids, but instead I bought a wetsuit and I’m now swimming with them. No one looks attractive in a wetsuit, but we’re all having a ball. I may not get another opportunity to go in the water, so let’s do it today.

The kids have never been to Forrest Caves, so we took them for the first time on the weekend and they absolutely loved it.

I’m also coming into this lockdown healthier after doing dry July.

Last time if I had a hard day I’d have a drink and if I’d had a good day I’d also drink to celebrate and two drinks would turn into four. But the next day I’d feel sluggish and moody. Once restrictions eased I got back into my work clothes and they were snug. So I thought, I can’t do this to myself any more.

Coming off drinking was hard, because it was such a daily habit. It had become a reward. But having done dry July and now not drinking at all, my energy is through the roof and my anxiety levels are way down. I wake up feeling so much better, clear headed, not bloated. I wake up, go for a run and even yesterday I finished the run with a swim, fully clothed, walking up the street dripping. I would have stripped off naked but it would have been too hard to get dressed wet.

So this time it’s totally different: a new, improved isolation 2.0. This time round I’m thinking about the future.

When people ask our kids what isolation was like for them, I don’t want them to remember me wrecked. I want them to say ‘we didn’t see our friends but we had more time with mum and dad, we went on adventures and had fun as a family’. I want their memories to be good ones.

No matter how much you want to be out of restrictions, we are here and we can’t change it. So it’s all about what we make of it.”