Oddly for me, Covid-19 has been the most stressful and liberating time of my life. At first I was not sure how in the world I was going to juggle work, family, and homeschooling. But as we ALL (in my house) settled into our new routines, I started to find little chunks of time that I was able to use to my advantage.
I found less time in the car, meant more time in the house. My breakfast routine lasted a little longer, as did my lunch break. Dinners were less stressful because I could multi-task and start a sauce simmering while wrapping up a report. The stress of changing routines, and topping up on technological skills, slowly fell to the wayside. Taking deep breaths helped me appreciate that we were all going to be okay.
But the best thing that has happened (so far) because of this odd break in our way of life, is this thing called virtual. Virtual school and virtual work gave my daughter and me the time and flexibility to visit my ageing father. Our road trip was 9 hours, but between podcasts, conference calls, and video Zoom we were both able to "tend to our business."
Upon our arrival we did all the "protocol stuff" as did my dad. Most of our "visiting" was outside, but it was certainly better than nothing. We don't know how much time he has (with or without corona), but with learning and working virtually we were able to take some chunks of time and make them work for us!
- Donatella P.