I have shared a Day in the Life post of photos over on my business blog, if you'd like to have a look: Our Day // November 14, 2019.
I'll admit, the words are lacking - waiting to be transcribed from the voice recorder on my phone - but even only 6 months later this feels like such a gift to have captured this day.
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It's past 11pm as I sit down to write this, so I shouldn't take long. Emma doesn't have a snooze button I can turn on in the morning, although Milly does love to climb into bed beside me and be handed the phone to watch videos as I doze.
Tonight the Prime Minister announced that public gatherings have been restricted to a maximum of 2 people, excepting people who live in the same house together. The message is now clearer - "Everyone should stay home unless you are: shopping for essentials, receiving medical care, exercising or travelling to work or education." That's taken directly from the News section of the Australian Governments Whatsapp Channel, which was also announced at tonight's press conference. What is considered essential shopping is definitely open to interpretation given retail shops are welcome to keep trading, provided they abide by the 4 square metres per person indoor rule, but he was clear that working and educating should happen at home if possible.
I think this was also the first time I've heard him refer to restrictions being likely for the next 6 months.
My girls might not spend time with their grandparents for 6 months. They might basically not see anyone for 6 months.
I can't think like that though. It's just too sad.
And I don't think that will be true. Not that there wont be restrictions or that the way we live wont be significantly impacted for months to come, but... I don't know. Maybe that there will come to be a new normal that isn't quite as isolated. Maybe we're waving instead of hugging, but there has to be something. People are social creatures and 6 months without that is world-changing. Particularly for the girls. Milly is a reserved kid, sticking close amongst crowds and strangers, and I can't imagine the impact on her venturing out again after 6 months at home. Even as I type this I'm realising that we can't let that happen. Maybe it's something as simple as a weekly drive to wave at the grandparents house, but we can't let her be trapped here.
I think it's been 5 days since I left our home now, and that hasn't been a problem so far. Definitely haven't showered every one of those days, but that's par for the course for this homebody. Mike is at work right now, his second last shift for a month, and that girls spent the day at their grandparents' (Mike's parents') house. As Julie dropped them home I did wonder if that was going to be the last time they had a Grandma/Grandpa Day in a very long time. Our parents are in their mid-60s and maybe we shouldn't see them now. We might have reached that time.
Largely I'm thinking of all the things I would like to do around home or at my computer. I'm looking forward to spending the next month with Mike and the girls, playing, relaxing, getting things done. It's when I think beyond the next month that things don't feel so optimistic. There are definite moments of grief, particularly for what the girls will miss out on, but that's okay. This is hard and we're allowed to feel all the feelings.
As of 3pm today: 3966 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia, with 769 of those in Victoria. That figure rose 331 in the 24 hours prior.
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As of midday tomorrow, cafes and restaurants in Australia are closed. Places of worship are closed. Clubs and pubs and sporting venues are closed.
The day after, Tuesday, school holidays will begin here in Victoria, 3 days early. They might reopen as scheduled 3 weeks later, but that will be subject to medical advice. I doubt they will.
We are entering a 6 month period of living our lives very, very differently, we were just told by Australia's Chief Medical Officer in a press conference with the Prime Minister.
Two weekends ago we headed away to Ocean Grove for a few days with my parents, my sister and her family, including baby Rudy who is 3 months old tomorrow. That's when these photos were taken. (The girls adore him by the way, particularly Emma who still regularly asks me 'where Rudy?') I don't think I'd even heard of Social Distancing then, or the need to Flatten the Curve. Coronovirus was something that was happening elsewhere. Not anymore.
After a weekend where many people flouted requests to follow new Social Distancing guidelines - keep 1.5 metres away from others, no gatherings of 500 or more outside, no gatherings of 100 or more indoors, 4 square metres of space per person required in an enclosed space - and the number of confirmed cases here in Australia continued to rise sharply, Phase One of restrictions are coming into effect nationally.
We're receiving some conflicting advice at the moment, with the Victorian Premier announcing in a press release earlier today that "Victoria will proceed over the next 48 hours to implement a shutdown of all non-essential activity across our state to combat the spread of Coronavirus", while the Prime Minister is limiting the closures to places of social gatherings. There is obvious disagreement about school closures (federally schools remain open with parents being able to keep children home at their discretion) but at least on that topic the Prime Minister articulated Victoria's plan. Tomorrow we will find out whether Victoria is implementing much tougher restrictions or falling into line with the PM. This disharmony between state and federal government is just incredible. Tasmania and South Australia have closed their borders, in addition to the Australian borders being closed.
It has been such an odd week or so, watching the situation unfold. It felt like world was changing under my feet, feeling so off-kilter and swinging between thinking that I'm overreacting or not doing enough. For all the amusement/distraction/hysteria of toilet paper shortages, I was so conscious of the economic disaster that is pending.
I had reasonable financial expectations of my photography business this year, but enquiries disappeared. I don't think I will get a booking for months but, as silly as it might sound, this has occurred at a 'good' time for me. A year earlier and this might have wreaked my enthusiasm and confidence, a year later and we might have been relying on the income.
Mike works for an airline and will find out tomorrow what his (initial) stand down period will be. He expects somewhere between 4 to 6 weeks. We feel so grateful that money isn't going to be a huge concern. We'll be conscious and considered in our spending but we should be fine. Seeing the impacts to both small businesses and huge businesses, the event and tourism industries implode... The extent of this economically, even in best case scenarios for the spread of the virus, is staggering.
At least with the Phase One restrictions announced tonight, the closure of places of social gatherings including restaurants and cafes, it takes away ambiguity. Life right now needs to change. Movements must be restricted. In-person interactions must be limited. As much as I want to support the local cafe or small business, that's not possible in person right now.
Milly, who is 4 now, came home from kinder on Monday telling me that there were germs making people sick and now sings Happy Birthday (two times she says) as she washes her hands. I hope we can keep her at that level of informed but not concerned.
There is no doubt that this is a historic, world-altering event. Even in these early stages, it feels like things aren't going to fit back together quite as we left them. That's why I wanted to write this tonight. Here, now, this is what I'm thinking. Feeling.
I don't think I have written anything here about the health side of the Coronovirus pandemic, but I have a horrible feeling it wont stay that way.
As of this morning: 1098 confirmed cases in Australia, with 229 of those in Victoria. That figure had jumped 224 overnight.
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December 23rd, Christmas Eve eve, Milly and I were picked up by friends for Carols by Candlelight, rehearsal night. The queue in was long, but the kids ran and played together while we waited.
Just as I was about to sit down inside, I got a very special FaceTime call. Jenna, Darren and my brand new, hour old nephew Rudy. While we did quickly feast on cheese and biscuits before taking the kids to the bouncy castle and other entertainments out the back, the Carols were pretty overshadowed for me.
Mike picked Milly and I up out the front and we headed to the hospital to meet baby Rudy. Darren's parents, sister and partner, all over from Adelaide, and my parents all ended up there too, conveniently in the large delivery room as they awaited room transfer. It was such a joyous atmosphere, complete with a shared celebratory bottle of champagne, as we all met and cuddled Rudy. Milly was pretty enchanted, even if she didn't want to hold Rudy, and I'm so appreciative of the brand new parents (and rest of the families) who still made a lovely fuss on Milly.
On Christmas Eve those same friends, Nicole, Paul and April, came over for a swim in the pool and dinner. Thankfully, because I was in no way organised even though I knew they were coming and this is our second year running doing this, they bought all the fixings for chicken rolls. I had left over cheesecake and icecream to offer for dessert.
Mike worked Christmas Eve night (and Christmas night too) so when they said goodbye they wished me luck, corralling two overtired girls and a long to do list to get ready for Christmas Day. We laid out Santa sacks, juice and biscuits for Santa, a carrot for the reindeer, and read some Christmas books before bed. The girls actually went to bed better than I'd hoped, Milly pretending to snore to be asleep for Santa, but I finally finished my homemade cheesecake and cleaning after 1am.
Christmas morning Milly came into our room saying 'I'm so excited!' When she saw her makeup table from the balcony she headed downstairs, sitting at the table and putting on the pretend lipstick and doing her nails with the pretend nail polish. Loved it. You could tell she was noticeably faster opening her presents this year, even putting her head fully into the Santa sack to make sure she had got every one. Emma didn’t even finish opening all her Santa presents on Christmas Day. She saw the car and that was it for Emma. That was the big one. She kept going back and climbing into it all morning. When I asked Milly what her favourite present was though, "None. I like all of them.”
There were the 9 of us for lunch - my parents, Mike's parents and his brother. We ate outside in the courtyard. I loved the sense of community, of family, with everyone pitching in to get things ready and carry them out and get set up. It was a bit hot out there though, so we didn’t really linger.
Mike gave me a heavy boxing bag and a cordless post digger, (with an additional present still yet to arrive.) He joked that I have my first power tool. During the morning Dad pointed to the unwrapped presents and asked me if they were mine. 'Yep'. Really, he asked to confirm. Because he'd been kidding.
After saying goodbye to Mike, then our guests, the girls and I headed to the hospital to visit Jenna, Darren and Rudy. It was Emma's first time meeting Rudy and she was fascinated. 'Little baby' she said as she pointed to him. Milly sat on the bed with Jenna, carefully looking after her own baby.
My MIL Julie had asked Milly what Jenna's baby's name was. "Rudy the red nosed reindeer", answered Milly.
Home again, I called Milly down to dinner. "I'm just putting on my makeup!” The girls got dressed into their new pajamas, a gift from Jenna and Darren to match baby Rudy's outfit. New Christmas tradition here I think. And after I'd put Emma into bed, Milly and I built their fridge, a new Christmas toy.
And Boxing Day was spent with Mike's family, at my brother- and sister-in-laws' house. There was presents, feasting and remote control car racing on my nephew's new ramp.
All 4 kids sat down together at the kid’s table for lunch. It's so interesting watching the dynamic between the older 3, as Milly is definitely relaxed around them and more outgoing (standing up for herself when required) than I often get to see. It was just a lovely, relaxed day.
Driving home, Milly commented about the car loaded with presents, "It's strong, like you Daddy.” She actually reasoned out that the presents were the reason we drove in Mike's car, instead of my smaller one. The girls really were lucky kids!.
And that was Christmas 2019.
Driving to Carols on the 23rd, I'd commented that I wasn't ready for Christmas to be over, which it felt like it almost already was. (Nicole agreed, feeling the same.) But those last few days were wonderful and enough.
A lovely, full crazy December.
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Well, 2019 was pretty dismal on the blogging front, but maybe I can do better for 2020!? I hope so. There are so many great snippets of my life recorded here over the years.
Anyway, here was our December. In a mass of photos.
On December 1st the girls each received an advent calendar and Christmas box, filled with some Christmas books, outfit, crafts and an ornament. Although I did started this tradition for the girls last year too, the personalised boxes are new and I love them. L O V E love them. Milly's disappeared upstairs under her bed (notably away from Emma) so I'll need to reclaim to put away for next year soon.
We celebrated one year living in this house with cake. Milly tells me her favourite thing about 'new house' is the pool. Mike and I both love it here, although acknowledge there are certain elements of this house and property that will just get easier and easier as the kids get older.
We also attempted to take a family photo. Emphasis on the attempted.
We picked a 3 metre Christmas tree from a local Christmas tree farm. Milly helped decorate (and supervise), although I never did work out why the decorations needed to go in her toy microwave before they could go on the tree. Emma spent the month randomly taking decorations off the tree. And when I convinced Milly to let me take her photo as she played on the couch, we had to take a similar photo of her baby too.
We had a crazy wonderful day when the girls and I headed into the city with friends (Nicole, Paul, Grace, Caitlin and April) in the morning, before going to a festival in the evening with Mike and other friends (Ben, Esther and Annabelle). We visited Santa, saw the Myer Christmas windows and the gingerbread village and posted Milly's letter to Santa.
The Santa letter was A Big Deal this year. As we are getting ready to leave, walking to the car, Milly gasps, ‘My letter!” She’d forgotten her Christmas letter that she had written a few weeks earlier. I hadn’t even thought to bring it. She’d stored it carefully in my office and knew exactly where the letter was. Walking up the stairs to the car, Milly tells me, ‘It’s so important. If Santa doesn’t get my letter, I wont get the presents that I want.” I asked her if I could take a photo of her and her letter. ‘No. Too important!” And she told me she had been working on it very hard.
Milly had been wanting to see Santa earlier, but faced with the opportunity she suddenly wasn’t keen. Nicole and I coaxed her into it, with mention of her letter. She got it out of the pram and held it carefully. We placed Emma on Santa’s lap, which she didn’t love but we took photos and removed before any screaming. Milly stood next to Santa, with me there too. Holding her letter, I asked if she wanted to give her letter to Santa but she wasn’t keen. I don’t think she uttered a single word! Santa suggested that putting it in his official mail box might be a good idea.
As I watched Milly ride the carousel on her own, with her hair pulled back in a ponytail, I wondered where my little girl had gone! And Emma, she LOVES jumping castles. Each time - I think she went on 4 times - she wouldn't get off voluntarily and the ride operator helped her off.
I took the girls to the Wiggles Concert in the city, which was an absolute challenge. I think I inadvertently got Emma hyped up on sugar. A wriggly kid at the best of times, my goodness she did not pause for a moment!
Santa came down our street on a fire truck. He had a little chat with Milly, (and she actually talked to him) and gave her a lollipop. Afterwards, she told my Dad and I that Santa was very nice, but she'd already known that.
Milly, Mum and I attended an Australian Ballet performance of The Nutcracker. When I’d seen an ad for this, I had tickets booked within about 10 minutes, including inviting Mum to join us. Aimed at 3 year olds and older, it was probably a little beyond Milly's concentration as she was a wiggle little thing. I found it stunning though, and I'm not sure I’ve ever seen ballet preformed before. I was surprised how many Nutcracker songs I recognised, although quite possible the entirety on my classical music knowledge ended up being Nutcracker songs. Milly said her favourite character was the Sugar Plum Fairy, wearing a sparkly purple dress, and I wonder if she wasn’t disappointed there weren’t more tutus. After the performance we headed into the city for a little shopping, showing Nanna the Myer windows and dinner, before catching the train back home.
Milly and I baked biscuits that were later decorated with a very pregnant Aunty Jenna. I think this is the third year running for this particular Jenna/Milly tradition.
We celebrated Emma turning 1 and a half with half a cake. Poor kiddo wasn't herself in the lead up to Christmas, sick with a virus that put her off food and bedtime. Not the best timing for us parents either! This adorable girl definitely deserves her own post to share more, but I will say her language is exploding right now. She has started saying the cutest 'tank too' and sings the Baby Shark song to herself.
Milly finished her year of 3 year old kinder with a party and little performance. I volunteered in her classroom that final day, helping set up their feast, and man, it makes me happy to see the person she is growing into. She's so loved kinder this year, and although she is a little nervous about 'big girl kinder' in 2020, I know she will again thrive. The bag she received, which included her portfolio of work for the year, also had a little painted reindeer tree ornament which I adore. It's the start of kid ornaments which makes my heart happy.
Milly also had her end of year ballet performance. She has been taking ballet classes for a few terms now, after I found a class that is focused on little kids and is laid back and fun. The end of year performance is really just like a normal class, in their regular room at their regular time, but with guests, applause and medal given out at the end. Both grandmothers, Mike and I were all able to watch our little ballerina.
There was Christmas crafting and an evening excursion to see Christmas lights. With two young kids their bedtime is actually before sunset, but we still managed to make a couple of stops.
Mike was unfortunately working, but the girls and I attended Wood family Christmas (with Dad's family) at my parents' house. Emma actually napped for most of it - down before people arrived and still sleeping when some left - but both girls were very lucky with presents. Milly's 'best friend' Ellie was there, my youngest cousin who Milly has taken a great shine too.
And this is the point I stop for part 2, after realising this post is already incredibly long.
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