Has Covid changed cruising?

After our cruise last year, when I and my husband both unfortunately caught Covid on board, I wrote a post about how Covid has changed cruising. At the time I would have said that Covid had definitely changed cruising. But having recently returned from two short cruises, one with Royal Caribbean and one with Disney, I thought I'd write an update post about how things area looking nearly a year on. Pre-Covid, cruise ships were already notorious for spreading illness quickly, and at the beginning of the pandemic there were many large Covid outbreaks on board cruise ships.

The biggest difference from our cruise last year is that you no longer need to provide any information about vaccination or produce any negative tests. You do always have to fill out a health questionnaire before cruising. In the past this was aimed at catching the norovirus type sickness bugs but now it asks for things like a temperature, cough, loss of taste or smell and so on. 

On our last cruise all the crew were wearing masks at all times but this was no longer the case. This time I spotted a single passenger wearing a mask on the first day, and after that none. 

We noticed that Royal Caribbean still had plenty of hand sanitiser stations dotted around the ship, in particular outside restaurants (along with full sink hand washing facilities), by the lifts and at the main entrances to the deck areas. On the Disney ship we didn't see a single extra hand sanitiser station, just the usual hand washing areas outside restaurants.

On the Disney Wish, which is a newer ship that first launched after Covid, we did notice that some of the areas in the main buffet are behind screens and you ask for the food that you would like to be served to you. Also on both ships you can no longer help yourself to ice-cream. However on the Wish there are still many drinks stations and other food areas where you can help yourself so I'm not sure that the screens can really make much difference. 

There are many times on a cruise that you are in a tightly packed area - for example while dining, in lifts, in theatres, in queues to get on and off the ship or for excursions. It's impossible to social distance at these times and no-one seemed to be worried. 

In the two Facebook groups for the cruises I didn't see any anxiety about Covid before we sailed. And in only one of the groups did anyone admit to having come back with Covid. On the last cruise it felt as though most of the ship brought it home! So maybe with so many people either being vaccinated or already having been exposed to Covid it just isn't so much of a risk anymore, and you are no more likely to catch Covid on a cruise than anywhere else.

So I would have to say that no, a couple of years on, Covid hasn't changed cruising. When the cruises first started back up there many have been a few additional changes made, vaccination requirements, extra signage and so on, but they have now disappeared and only the usual pre-Covid health measures like encouraging frequent hand washing have remained.

How cruising has changed since Covid

A couple of weeks ago we embarked on our first family cruise post-Covid. My husband found an amazing last minute deal on Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas - a ship that we were actually due to sail on back in April 2020. We cruised for a week from Southampton, visiting La Rochelle and Le Havre in France and La Coruna and Bilbao in Spain. 

Cruise ship testing rules are changing all the time. When we cruised, all over 12s needed to be fully vaccinated and all passengers needed to have a supervised negative lateral flow test result within 48 hours of the cruise date (unvaccinated children under 12 within 24 hours). We did our lateral flow test online with DocHQ the day before which was very straightforward, although I did feel that I couldn't start properly packing until we had received that negative result!

Once onboard we noticed very little change to our usual cruising experience. We purchased expensive FFP2 masks which we wore whenever we were walking around the ship and we avoided the lifts and other crowded areas whenever we could. However we were definitely in the minority. Although the crew wore masks, only a handful of fellow passengers wore them.

There were a lot more hand sanitiser stations than I've been used to seeing on a ship, but generally handwashing is very much encouraged on cruise ships anyway. There was plenty of signage to encourage social distancing but no actual enforcement. The buffet and other eating areas were operating as normal. 

Of course we knew that the Covid risk on a cruise ship would be very high, and so despite the precautions that we took we weren't particular surprised that both me and my husband caught Covid on board. Judging by the comments in our cruise Facebook group we were far from alone, and a huge number of people came down with it. 

It's difficult to know what we personally could have done differently to avoid it. Perhaps mask wearing needs to be more strictly enforced among passengers, but I'm not sure that would make much difference. 

I think if you are taking a cruise holiday you just have to be realistic about the fact that there's a good chance you'll be bringing Covid home and if you are particularly at risk of serious complications from Covid then you need to consider whether it's the right holiday for you at this time.

Emerging from Covid

Last week Covid-19 finally caught up with me. By now I had assumed that I was either immune or had already had it but been asymptomatic, so it was a bit of an unwelcome shock to actually test positive. Although it wasn't exactly unexpected - I caught it on a cruise and was fully aware that it was a high risk holiday.  I also wasn't alone, my husband caught it again too as well as a large percentage of the people on our sailing judging by the cruise Facebook group. 

But it did surprise me just how ill I have been with it. I'm not overweight, I exercise regularly and I'm in general good health. Even though I didn't really suffer any respiratory symptoms apart from congestion and a cough I did have a couple of days in bed with a fever and dizziness, and then after that it's been fatigue and just generally feeling unwell. 

I'm into the second week now, and after spending far too long lying about on the sofa mindlessly scrolling through my phone I'm finally beginning to feel a bit more like myself. I've managed to take the children out to the beach, I've caught up with the holiday washing, sorted out some of the poor dead plants in the garden that died during the heatwave and even made a half-hearted attempt at cutting back some of our overgrown front hedge.

Soon I'm hoping to turn to the tasks that need a bit more brain power - I feel like everything is still all foggy! I have lots of e-mails to answer, blog posts to write, not to mention trying to do a bit of the work that I do from home. I've just not been able to concentrate properly on anything!

I'm definitely on the mend and I had my first negative test today so it has officially left my system, just hoping that I'm starting to feel normal again soon!

Photo credit John Cameron via Unsplash

How I've changed over the last year

I've recently read lots of articles marking one year since the start of lockdown in the UK on the 23rd March 2020. I don't think any of us imagined that we'd still be in almost the same place a whole year later! But with things hopefully moving in the right direction I thought that it wouldn't hurt to pause for a moment and think about all the ways that I've changed over the last year.

I'm more aware of my anxiety. I've always been anxious about things, but not to an extent that it interfered too much with my daily life. But at certain times over the last year I noticed physical anxiety symptoms, in particular a racing heartbeat, which I had never experienced before. Luckily that was just a temporary thing, and in fact many of my usual sources of anxiety were removed this year, for example the school run!

My meal planning has improved now that I no longer pop to the supermarket every other day for quick top ups. I have meals ready that I can make from store cupboard basics, and I've become used to planning meals in advance and buying everything at once. I haven't stockpiled, but I am careful to make sure that we have a good amount of long life food in the house, and always enough to make several days worth of food (essentially that means plenty of pasta, tomato sauce and frozen veg!)

I am very familiar with the local walking and running routes. Possibly a little too over familiar with the streets around my house.

I read a lot more. The short walk to my local library has become a big part of my routine, and the fact that I can currently reserve any book that I want to read for free has been brilliant.

I'm used to a lack of social contact. I used to think that I felt lonely when Ram went away for work and I didn't speak to any other adults for several days at a time. Now it's the norm!

I'm more aware of my home surroundings because I always at home. This isn't always a good thing, because mess bothers me, and sometimes it feels as though I'm constantly tidying up after everyone.

The children are more independent. Thanks to becoming used to doing their school work in their rooms they now spend more time there whereas in the past they tended to follow me around the house. This is part of growing up as well of course, but I always felt they were a bit too stuck to me so it's nice to have some space, especially when I need to work.

I spend more time in the garden. I've been very appreciative of our garden over the last year. It's not fancy but it's a good size and we have some comfortable garden furniture. I don't remember much really sitting out there for pleasure before.

Screen time has become more productive. With more time at home to fill the children have turned to their screens, but they've also been using them in ways that I feel are beneficial. Harry has been teaching himself coding in Python, and learning how to solve Rubik's cubes. Mia plays games but it's a way for her to socialise and she has also started creating short videos for a YouTube channel with her friends. 

I use social media less. Over the summer I was on my phone far too much and it wasn't good for my mental health so I made a big effort to cut back. A key thing was to unfollow many accounts on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, and then to make an effort to flag up content that wasn't relevant or didn't interest me. This means that when I do log in I find the content more relevant, and it's also quicker to go through.

I've lost weight and become fitter. I did put on weight during the first lockdown, from stress, boredom and excess summer eating. But over the last six months I have cut back and increased the exercise, with the result that I'm currently really happy with my weight and fitness levels. I also feel motivated to keep it up going forwards.

I'm used to sharing the house. It was difficult at first with Ram at home all day, especially as he was usually away for a night or two every week. Then of course the children have been at home for the majority of the last year. But I've become used to it and I can hardly remember what it was like before. I've also come to appreciate having everyone around (even if I do long for some space sometimes!)

I am very grateful for the fact that this last year hasn't been nearly as difficult for me and my family as it has for many others. But it has been an unsettling year full of changes, and I know that it's going to take a while for things to get back to something resembling normality. I think that I've definitely made some positive changes, and while anxiety remains that things might fall apart again I'm hopeful for the future.

What I learned from temporary home schooling

I'm hoping that we have finally said goodbye to the home learning. I've thought this before of course, but this time things seem to be moving in the right direction, and I feel more confident that the schools won't be closing again.

I was relieved to see the back of home learning, and I don't at all envy the poor teachers trying to help children get used to being in the classroom again, without their Roblox and constant access to snacks. But having the children at home gave me the chance to spend more time with them, as well as get a small insight into their school day. And looking back, it wasn't too bad overall.

So here are some of the things that I learned from home schooling the children:

* Teachers deserve a great deal of respect. I can't imagine how stressful it must have been to have planned out all the work for the year, then at the last minute (and not once but twice!) having to rewrite everything and adapt it so that it could be taught remotely. It must have been such a change to their normal working patterns and I don't know how they did it.

* I always thought that I would have liked to be a teacher, but now I know for sure that I don't have the patience. It was hard enough trying to deal with two children, let alone an entire classroom.

* I also always thought that home schooling permanently might be fun. But it wouldn't be for me.

* I'm so glad that my job is part time, hours can be worked to suit, and I don't have to do any live meetings or calls. With my husband's job being so demanding it would have been impossible to juggle everything.

* I had to learn to step back and not get overinvested, and I had to learn to stop myself jumping in to correct spelling and grammar.

* I found that the children are more independent than I give them credit for, and I often do things for them that they are more than capable of doing for themselves. When left to their own devices they had no problems understanding and completing the work set, they just enjoyed the reassurance of me being involved.

* It was interesting to see the areas where the children need some extra help. Fractions and decimals in particular proved to be tricky.

* Their different personalities mean that their learning styles are different. Harry likes structure and clear instructions, Mia enjoys more open-ended tasks. I had to help them adapt to home learning in different ways.

* I found out how much maths in particular has changed since I was at school. While I could always find the answer to a maths problem, it wasn't usually in the way that the teacher wanted me to find it!

Second time around it was all much easier, and if it does happen that we need to learn from home again, perhaps due to a positive case in the class, we are all much more confident with the situation. But fingers crossed, this time they'll be remaining in the classrooms!

Sorting through my 2020 photos

Every year in January I set aside some time to sort through our photos from the previous year. I get rid of the blurry ones, choose the best picture from a series of near identical shots, and remove any unflattering photographs of me. Then I use my favourite photos to make a slideshow for my computer.

Normally it takes me several days, this year I managed to sort them all in under an hour. With no holidays or days out to document, along with me blogging less frequently, we don't have nearly as many photos as we usually do. Nevertheless I found plenty of photos which I love, and I thought I'd share a few of my favourites here. 

The first photo was taken way back in February 2020. Ram was very ill for several weeks with all the Covid symptoms, although I guess we'll never know if he actually had it or not. It was half term and I'd been staying in with the children to look after him while it rained for weeks. I finally managed to drag the children out for a walk and we scooted around this flooded area near our house. The area has been purposely built to take excess rainwater away from the estate, but this is the wettest I've ever seen it!

Most of my photos from 2020 were taken in the garden. We were so lucky with the weather over the summer! After all that rain at the beginning of the year it didn't rain properly again for months and we spent so much time enjoying the outdoors.

We tried to get the children out for longer walks at the weekend and we spent lots of time exploring the places that we can walk to from our house. This is taken from a nearby hill, really not that far to walk and with beautiful views across the sea and country.

This is one of my favourite photos of the year, and I've used it several times on the blog. It was taken on a summer evening at our nearest beach, when the restrictions had been eased to allow us to travel for exercise. We discovered these markings painted along the seafront and I couldn't resist documenting them. It seemed strange at the time as it was one of our first trips 'out' but now of course we are used to staying away from other people in public!

In July we actually managed to get away on holiday for a week! We spent a week in a self-catered apartment in Westward Ho! and we did a day trip to Bude. Bude itself was very busy so we didn't stay long, but we managed to fit in a visit to the famous Bude Tunnel!

It was a strange and quiet Christmas this year but we tried to keep our usual traditions going and we made our usual gingerbread houses. I'm glad that the children were able to be at school leading up to Christmas, as although it wasn't quite the same as usual they were still able to do some of the usual Christmassy things. 

I'm going to try and make more effort to take photos this year, especially over the next few months when I suspect that we're going to be at home with limited opportunities for external entertainment. I do love looking back through photos and reliving the memories.

Things that I achieved this weekend

Sometimes a weekend, especially one in which entertainment options are limited, can feel as though it passes by in the blink of an eye without me actually doing anything. So I thought I'd make a list of all the things that I achieved this weekend! 

My Tax Return. Yay! We both have to complete one and usually leave it to the last minute. Mine is quite simple to do but I need to wait for Ram track down all the interest statements and to double check it for me. We did make a mistake and managed to overpay my National Insurance contributions by a small amount. They don't make it easy to find the correct figure to pay! Hopefully they'll either refund the difference or it will come out next year...

Harry's presents. It's his birthday this week and it has rather crept up on me. I have a few extra presents to wrap this year as family have sent them direct to us from Amazon. When I went to wrap them I discovered that I didn't have much 'boy' wrapping paper left so he has a mixture of blue, pink and Christmas wrapping paper. Luckily he says he doesn't mind!

Sorting out the junk corner. In our guest room I've been collecting things that the children have cleared out for garage sales, school fair sales and so on. Obviously these were all cancelled this year so I've had a sort through and got rid of some things and streamlined the rest so it all looks a bit neater.

Sorting out the cruise box. We last cruised in November 2019 and booked a Disney cruise placeholder as we were confident we'd be cruising again soon. Unfortunately cruising isn't going to happen again for a while so I sorted through the bits that I keep aside for cruises, gifts for exchanges and so on, and packed it away. 

Dragged the children out for some fresh air. We visited our closest beach for a quick walk and some fun chasing the waves. It was a bit of a mission to get out and we encountered a fair bit of resistance, but it was well worth it for the fun that they had once we were out.

Reading. I finished Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell which I'd been wanting to read for a long time. I enjoyed it very much, although it did make me feel quite sad. I liked picking out the references and inspirations for Hamlet. Now I'm reading The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow which is also shaping up to be a great read.

Exercising. Normally I do my exercise during the week, but Ram was keen to go for a run and then we ended up doing some Joe Wicks workout videos together. It was his first attempt at a Joe Wicks video - they aren't for the faint hearted!

We had a family Zoom call for my niece's birthday which was lovely. I'm not very good at video calling but I do like to see everyone on screen.

Baking. I made rice crispie cakes with Mia which has become our lockdown baking staple, and I also made a batch of easy brownies.

Maybe I was quite productive after all!

Back to home learning

So for the next few weeks we are back to learning at home. I don't like to call it home schooling because I'm not a teacher, but I do need to be in constant supervision of the children for the duration of the school day. Luckily our school is very supportive and the children are given plenty of work to do, so I don't need to worry about planning or setting the work myself!

It's a bit different to back in the spring though. Now that Harry is in the senior school he has live lessons on Google classroom which follow his usual timetable through the day. So he can sit up in his room in front of the laptop and pretty much get on with it by himself with me checking in occasionally and providing snacks. He's getting on well, he was exhausted after the first day but he's coping better now that he knows what he's doing. 

Mia uses Seesaw and it's very similar to last time, so she's familiar with what she needs to do. She has tidied up her bedroom so that she has a clear desk to work at, and although she is given all her work for the day in one go, she's keen to follow a timetable where she can. We try and get most of the difficult work (that would be the maths!) done first thing to get it out of the way. Although I'd like her to be more independent, the reality is that she does still need quite a bit of help. She also misses having Harry around, so she relies on me for company and entertainment.

It's so much easier second time round as the teachers and children are more prepared and everything is already in place. I also find life easier during the school week as the children thrive on the structure - getting up at a certain time, getting dressed and regular breaks. During the holidays they have a tendency to go a bit feral, with late nights and staying in pyjamas all day!

I'm holding on to the belief that the children will be back at school after the February half-term and this time they'll be staying there. Fingers crossed!

Waves on the beach

We've not been up to much at all lately. We had just started getting back into the gym and taking the children swimming, but of course it has closed again now. We have our shopping delivered, we've not been socialising with others, so apart from taking the children to school and back, along with some exercise, we haven't left the house. 

I'm really glad that the children are able to go to school, it's definitely needed for both their education and their mental health. They had to miss a few days before half-term because we had to isolate for a few days while awaiting a test result after Harry developed a temperature, but both schools have remained open so far with no problems.

Last week I was really hoping that Harry would be able to sit his long delayed piano exam. Unfortunately it was cancelled at the very last minute. It was due to be held in a church and I assume they weren't allowed to host it. We have him rebooked next month at a different, not very local, venue but I'm not convinced it will actually go ahead - fingers tightly crossed!

I mentioned leaving the house for exercise - this is one habit that I started when the children went back to school in September and I've successfully continued. I have designated Monday, Wednesday and Friday as exercise days. I usually go out for a run in the streets around my house, and I aim to run at least 5 kilometres, but usually between 6 and 7. It's a distance that I can now run quite comfortably, it's enough to feel like a good workout but not so challenging that I struggle and avoid it. If the weather isn't looking great I've been doing a Joe Wicks workout on YouTube - they are definitely not for the fainthearted, they are very tough and they leave me struggling to walk the next day!

I'm lucky that my husband usually drops the children off at school in the morning. But when I do find myself on the morning school run I've been parking up on the seafront and going for a run along the promenade. It's a lovely clear run with plenty of space, a nice view, and when I've finished I can have a little sit on the pebbles and watch the waves which I find very calming. 

Like everyone, it's difficult to make plans at the moment without knowing what will be happening over the next few weeks. We have a short break booked just before Christmas and then we are planning for a Christmas at home just the four of us. This weekend we'll be putting up the Christmas decorations, I think we are definitely ready for something sparkly to cheer us all up a bit as the dark evenings draw in!

Things I've learned about the children over the last few months

I've seen a few blog posts with this theme so I thought I'd have a think about the things that I've learned over the last few months, particularly when it comes to the children.

Harry struggles with open-ended school tasks. We had a lot of upset if he had an open-ended task to work on, like designing a poster, or sharing his feelings towards a poem. He's much happier when he's given a sheet of maths questions to do that have a right or wrong answer.

Mia prefers creative tasks. She struggled with things that she didn't understand, and got cross when I tried to explain things to her. She loved a creative task, and always put her own individual take on it. 

Harry needs other people around him. I always thought that Harry was happy with his own company, but he was the most upset out of the two to be away from his class. The problem is that he doesn't have any particular friends that he could keep in touch with by text or video call, or meet up with once allowed. Instead he tends to remain on the outside of a group, observing others rather than taking an active role, which is difficult to replicate at home. I was really glad that he had the opportunity to be back in the classroom, if only for a few weeks, just to keep him going until September!

Mia needs time to herself. I thought that Mia always needed company, but she also needs to have time by herself. She spends a lot of time either on the swing or in her room jumping around, and I think that she's doing something which I recently found out is called maladaptive daydreaming. I was the same when I was younger. She's telling a story in her head, and it's easier for her if she's moving while she does it. We spent a few days with family last week and she became very distressed because she didn't have the space or opportunity to do it.

The children really need a routine. Things went way out of shape over the Easter holidays, especially with all the early shock and uncertainty. When term started back up the children needed to log in to their learning platform at 8.30am and it was really good to make sure that we were all up, breakfasted and dressed by then. Now that the summer holidays have started I'm more prepared and there is no screen time until everyone is ready for the day and the children have done ten minutes of times table practice. We also have exercise or outdoor time after lunch, they spend a bit of time in a learning app, and they expect to help me with a few tasks around the house. They also have reading time before bed and Harry has piano practice. 

The children need their screen time. We've never been particularly strict on screen time, but the amount that they use their iPads has gone through the roof. However pretty much all that they do is play Minecraft, which I like to think is a little bit educational. They play with friends, which keeps up their social interaction, and they work together on their builds. This can cause conflict so they need to learn to compromise. It also allows them to escape into their own worlds and use their imagination. When they are back at school properly their time will be limited, so I'm not too worried for the time being.

I need the children to have their screen time. I need time to myself. I need time to get on with housework, work of my own, and to give me some headspace and a break from being needed by everyone. Letting the children have their screen time gives me this (apart from when I'm called upon to deal with arguments and help them to come to an agreement about their Minecraft world!)

To share plans with the children in advance. If we are planning to go out for a walk or some other activity, the children need to have a heads up, and ideally a time set. So if I tell them that we are going to do something at a particular time they are much happier and more compliant.

This pandemic really has been a unique opportunity to spend time with the family and although it's been tough at times, looking back it has definitely helped me to understand the children a little better!

Things I've done recently that I've never done before

The coronavirus pandemic has changed a lot of things in a very short period of time, and life has changed in ways that we couldn't have imagined.

For example, here are some things that I've recently done for the first time:

Seen my parents and not given them a hug (well until our most recent visit that is!).

Worn a face mask. Not very often admittedly because I don't go out very much, but I'm expecting to wear one much more often in the future.

Had friends over to visit in the garden and not invited them into the house. It feels so rude!

Watched genuinely good quality and educational entertainment on YouTube. I've especially loved some of the National Theatre at home productions.

Taken part in a live streamed exercise class (albeit it only once, Joe Wicks was too much for us!)

Signed off an e-mail to my child's teacher with my first name and a kiss. I feel that I have had such a different relationship with the teachers this term!

Met up with friends and family and consciously stood or sat away from them.

Taken part in a video call with more than one other person.

Made and sent homemade birthday cards.

Bought enough food at a time to last us all over a week. I was so used to doing quick top up shops.

Queued up outside a shop, and then followed a complicated one way system once inside. I'm terrible at finding things. I end up just wandering around, following the arrows and picking things up as I pass them.

Had a video consultation with a doctor. For a child not me, nothing serious, and much easier and quicker to sort out!

Crossed the street or walked far out into the road to avoid someone coming the other way.

Asked my child whether they wanted to go to school the next day or not, and accepted their decision either way.

Taken anti-bacterial wipes to the supermarket to wipe down the trolley.

Stuffed back the cakes and biscuits without worrying about needing to slim down for an upcoming holiday.

What have you been doing differently over the last few months?

The last normal photo on my phone

I really enjoyed reading this article on the BBC the other week - The last 'normal' photo on your phone - and so I thought I'd share mine!

This photo was taken on Saturday 14th March at Goring Beach. Ram was very ill from mid February onwards (with all the Covid-19 signs and symptoms, although unable to be tested as he hadn't been to China!) and so we hadn't been out as a family for a while. As the number of cases increased in the UK he stayed at home as much as he could. He is higher risk with asthma and as he was still recovering we wanted to keep him as safe as possible.

The beach was busy that afternoon, but people were starting to become aware of keeping their distance. This was our last visit to the beach for a long time! We walked to a closer stretch once during lockdown for our daily exercise, but it was a long way and the children complained. It's only been over the last week or so that we've been returning to the beach in the car. Even then we only go during the evening as we don't want to face the crowds during the day.

That evening I went to the theatre to watch Jane Eyre. It was a strange performance because one of the actresses was ill (we were told not to worry, it was unrelated to the virus!) and was replaced by a last minute stand in. She did a brilliant job, reading from a script on stage. But looking back I wonder if the company were desperate to give what became on of their last performances. It was becoming clear that theatres would be closing very soon and that their tour (which should currently be in China) would be forced to stop.

We received an e-mail a couple of days before reassuring us that the theatre was safe to visit, and there were signs to remind us to wash our hands. With Ram's health in mind I did feel anxious sitting down in such close proximity to others. There was definitely a hushed atmosphere on the night, but when I came out of the auditorium I didn't see anyone else using the provided hand sanitiser.

I went to the theatre with a friend that I normally meet every week for a hot drink and cake. I dropped her home at the the end of the evening, and I told her that I couldn't meet that week as we'd decided as a family not to go out for a little while unless it was necessary. I honestly only believed it would be for a few weeks, and that seemed long enough. In the end it was well over two months before I saw her again, sitting on a picnic blanket at the beach and keeping 2 metres apart! I can't imagine when we'll be able to meet in a cafe again.

Looking back, it's hard to believe how quickly everything shut down. The signs of impending doom were there for a few weeks (I have photos on my phone prior to this one showing empty shelves in the supermarket) but I think even at this point we were in total denial about how long this was really going to go on for. I definitely thought that the children would be back in school and back to normal after the Easter holidays, and now I can't believe how naive I was!