Diary of a family in quarantine: the last chapter

With a semblance of normality returning, this last lockdown lowdown from the McLure family of Smiths Beach looks back at the past two months, and what lies ahead.
Older son Angus returned to Cowes Primary this week, joining his younger sister Evie, while mum Lisa is looking forward to having clients back in her personal training studio at the end of June.
Dad Tim continues to work, but drove the family’s new caravan up the driveway last week, which was ordered pre-pandemic in the hope of family weekends away.

“In some ways it feels like life is back to normal. Evie wasn’t looking forward to Angus going back to school because she’s been the queen of the primary without all the big kids. Angus has enjoyed being a man of leisure. He and his mates say they liked home schooling. They’d finish their work and play on the iPad or games.

With the kids all returning to school one of the mums at Cowes Primary (Lorey) organised, via Facebook, a big thank you video to the teachers and school staff. More than 100 kids joined in, each sending a five to 10-second video, which were all collated and edited into a video collage of about 13 minutes, which was presented to Rod (the principal) and shown in the staff room. Some kids did dance moves or tricks on their skateboards. Evie and Angus held up a sign saying ‘thank you teachers, we love you’ with the dog and cat.

As well as doing the video, Lorey asked parents for donations. She thought maybe there would be enough money to take staff out to lunch, but in the end it went gangbusters and she got $1700 and so bought an artwork for the staff room.

The teachers were all so grateful they wanted to thank the kids, they were thrilled, so it felt like a thank you circle.
Everyone has been so grateful and happy, they just wanted to give back to the teachers, especially given some of them were home schooling their own kids.

Both the kids have had friends around in the past week and it has been lovely just having kid laughter again. The house has been quiet over lockdown, so having crazy, happy noise in the house – kids calling out to each other – has been great.

Before lockdown, we ordered a caravan so we could take the family away on weekends and Tim went and got it last week. Driving it up the driveaway it felt like a kind of finality to all this. We could have gone away on the long weekend, but we figured every man and his dog would be going away, so we’ll go another weekend, maybe to Wilsons Prom to celebrate the end of all this.

I’m looking forward to having my personal training clients in the studio again at the end of June. I’ll have to adapt – they’ll bring their own yoga mats and towels and I’ll clean everything down at the end of each session. Everyone is itching to get back, including to the gym.

Not everything is back to normal though. At the salon we still have a maximum of eight people at a time and it will stay that way until restrictions ease. Because the salon looks empty, people keep coming in asking for a blow wave, so we had to put a sign on the door saying we were booked out.

I’m still on JobKeeper so it makes no difference whether I work two or 20 hours, but I want to work to look after my clients.

I definitely think I’ve come out of lockdown a better person, even though I may not have thought so at the time.
I wouldn’t use the word ‘precious’ in describing the past two months. It hasn’t been all daisy chains and kale smoothies.

I’m not 10kg lighter, or a French-speaking fitness fanatic. I even managed to put on 5kg in lockdown, but I like to support my PT clients that way. What has changed is that I really appreciate we live in such a beautiful, peaceful place; we’re so fortunate to be here and supported by friends and teachers.

The medical profession in Australia tell us even if there is a second wave we are going to be ok. The doctors and nurses who come into the salon say they’re ready now.

The pandemic and lockdown made me realise what can be taken away so quickly.

I feel like it has bought us all together, even as a couple Tim and I have supported each other more as a team. Just dropping the kids at school, normally I’d be ‘see ya’, but now I take an extra minute, breath it in, realise it’s all going to be ok and know we’re very fortunate.”