Digital Kingston

Everyone has a story to tell about how they are living in the covid-19 situation, but it's not all bleak. I am writing this not to brag, but to hopefully balance some of the anecdotes that others will be sharing.

We are 4 in our house - two adults, two teens. We were quite nervous when the entire “stay home” movement began, just before March Break. The oldest (Kid#1) was supposed to go on a school trip to Spain, but that was cancelled in February. The youngest (Kid#2) was supposed to participate in school competitions around the March Break, which were cancelled only a day prior. It was a bizarre time. However, it was March Break so we let the kids sleep in, eat whatever, hang out on their computers - we figured that after March Break, school would be back in session and they would return to a regular schedule.

As we now know, this was not to be. The Ontario government basically gave public schools a two-week hiatus, and the kids did nothing. I mean nothing. Teachers were not expected to teach, and students were not expected to learn. There was some “online courses” that the Ontario government developed, but really there was nothing suitable for either of my grade 10 or grade 12 students - not the courses they were taking, and since there was no credit, there was no incentive to do something new. Another wasted two weeks - but at least they were getting lots of sleep.

In the meantime, the adults were extremely fortunate - we worked from home, as our jobs allowed us to do, and continued to get paid. I realize we are truly blessed with our good fortune. We were able to buy groceries (curb-side pick up) and we kept busy with meaningful work. The kids stayed healthy, and so did all of the grandparents (one set lives in a retirement community, which has been untouched so far by covid-19; the other set was going to be moving, but cancelled all those plans and they are thankfully still in their house, also safe but far away from Kingston).

We take it one day at a time. We get out for neighbourhood walks when we can, often solo as it's hard to convince everyone to get out at the same time. We try to do family dinners together when we can. We watch movies at night - at least 3 of us do because the 4th prefers MineCraft, which is honestly just fine.

There's a lot that we've let go of - the teens sleep until noon and stay up past midnight. Oh well. We never really know what will be in our grocery pick-up, and with a vegetarian in the house, that can be a little stressful. Oh well. There have been entire weeks when I haven't gotten out of the house for a walk because there is more than enough keeping me busy inside. Oh well. 

This has been an exercise in resilience, as the kids learn how to manage their online schooling (a memorable rant by Kid#2 involved hating teachers, D2L, computers, schools, various courses and books and just about everything else - it would be funny only in hindsight). But it has also been an exercise in acceptance, in appreciation, in creativity. We have found new ways to spend time together, we have eliminated the superfluous and we really do enjoy a slower pace of life and the ability to sit at dinner together (even if not all of us are eating because we're not really on the same schedule) more often than not. 

All the running around - gone. All the lack of sleep - gone. No more dealing with stupid drivers on the road because we don't drive anywhere. No more dealing with all the logistics of people going off in all different directions because we don't go anywhere. There is a lot that's going well, and it's important to recognize that and document it so that we can take it forward.

There is no question that times are tough for many - tragically difficult in many situations. It's also important to remember to still appreciate the good stuff and count your blessings. That's also resilience in action. Learn the important lessons - we're all in this together and we will get through it by helping each other, even if that “help” means staying home so that others who need to can go out. I hope that we're all learning that we're part of one big global community - and some of the previously-aggravating things can just be let go. Oh well.

Sincerely, 
Lisa