While the spread of corona continues to escalate in many parts of the world, and so many negative statistics about the terrible impact of coronavirus in some homes, I have taken a breather to think about some of the positives that I have noticed. In other words, things for which I am grateful. Often, it´s the small things.
- A lack of options makes home appealing- this one especially applies to our trainees at the project. We have 2 men in particular who stay at the project full-time and, with fewer distractions available for going out and about they have been able to focus more and keep on the straight and narrow. It was a joy to celebrate Marcos’ birthday last week. He is in his 40s and said he’d never had a birthday party.
2. Sibling love- my two do not always get on like a house on fire but when you don´t have any mates´houses to visit, you´re just going to have to find a way to play together
3. Creativity- within our surroundings we have all worked at making fun out of what we have. Activities have ranged from gardening, baking, homemade tent making, painting, skateboarding and kite flying.
4. Routine- I am fortunate to have school materials to draw on to keep the kids busy for part of the day, and we manage a rough schedule most days.
5. Time- our school runs plus the 45 minute gap between Stephanie and Antonio´s finish means I normally spend over 2 hours each day amidst pick-ups. The lack of the car journey and perhaps more placid homeschool life has meant I have also managed to remove Stephanie´s daily nap (most days anyway!) You would think that would mean for an earlier bed time and quiet nights….but not quite mastered that 100%! Without our normal activities, I have had more free evenings and have chatted more with Daniel in 3 months than perhaps the last year altogether. Realised I still quite like him.
6. Internet- an obvious one but it means we can be in touch via zoom, telegram, whatsapp etc and I don´t know if I would still be sane without Netflix. We have benefitted from joining in online toddler song sessions, online services and Sunday school, and I have even tried to get a bit healthier doing some exercise from YouTube videos.
7. Work- fortunately people are still calling on the team for all manner of metal and other jobs! We have also been blessed with another area of land which we will use for further activities. The construction needed has been a blessing for our guys to have something to get their teeth stuck into amidst the strange circumstances outside.
8. Joy in the mundane – some of the simple things that have brightened my days have been a new mascara from Scotland which I still had to open, homegrown bananas, a new and effective broom (the front terrace doubles as the car port and we drive on all kinds of terrain, so imagine the dust levels!) and finding wraps and affordable icing sugar in the supermaket.
So there you have it, coronavirus isn’t all bad after all. Give thanks in all circumstances!
Daniel and Linsey 