19 Lessons I learned from the COVID-19
By: Lubna Bashiti, a mother of two
I’m not a health practitioner nor a health specialist, but here are the things I have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequential lockdown, I hope you would find it useful in some way:
- Sitting at home is not that bad. At first when the rumours of the lockdown were circulating and when it was announced, I thought of it as a pause button to my daily juggle between school, activities, work and not to mention the struggle to fit some “me time” in the very small windows of time I have during the day like taking a gym class at 6:30 AM three times a week, and driving for a total of two hours daily!
- We should always be thankful for everything, and I mean everything. As cheesy as this may sound, but I am usually carried away by how busy I am and as much as I try to structure my days and weeks, I tend to forget that everything is a blessing, being able to go the pediatrician at any point in time or getting milk right before I get home, or just any of these trivial trips.
That mobility is usually taken for granted, and that ability to buy anything at any point in time should not be underrated not to mention that ability to go and/or travel anywhere we want whenever we want
- Social distancing does not mean disconnecting. During the Easter break week of the lockdown, I have decided to get in touch with old friends, particularly those who are out of town. I was happy to be checked on by friends whom I haven’t seen in years, and I have done the same! I typically don’t have the time to that in normal days, and my social circle has become my immediate circle of family and friends which are of close radius.
- NETFLIX can never be over-rated. I know that NETFLIX has been around for quite some time, but I have pushed back on having a smart TV in my house in support of my fight battling screen time with my kids, this is in addition to the fact that I do not have time to watch TV myself. With this lockdown, I’d say NETFLIX is the second-best invention after the Internet!
Don’t get me wrong, I still try to limit screen time as much as possible, I was referring to it being a blessing for me. Watching whatever you want whenever you want and as much as you want is just brilliant! I am saying this because my NETFLIX addiction has just started.
- Not every infection is a bacterial one. So we were in week two since the lockdown, and after an outdoor walk, my daughter’s eye got a bit swollen, only to become worse the next morning to the point that she cannot open it. This has happened before, with less severity, nonetheless. The name of the eye drops, and ointment just popped up in my brain, and I had them delivered; the drops worked for two days and then the swelling stopped responding to those eye drops.
The swelling then went down to the respective part of the face to that as the eye. I then panicked from the fact that I was unable to see a doctor more than the swelling. I then resorted to broad-spectrum antibiotics, along with a completely new set of eye drops and ointment, all of which went in vain.
I finally found a pediatrician who can make a home visit and explained that my daughter has a rare kind of virus which hits one side of the face starting with the eye, and that she should be fine in a week or two. After tossing everything I have used, and a possible placebo effect from the doctor’s visit,
My daughter’s eye was back to normal, and the swelling was gone! Lessons learned; WhatsApp and phone consultation doesn’t cut it and don’t rush into using antibiotics.
- It is possible to work from home, but it is not the same. A big chunk of the world’s population is doing this, yes I know, and I am no exception. From my personal experience, I found it more challenging to work from home, not having all my notes, with the kids buzzing in the background, constantly battling screen time, and mainly not having a defined structure to the day.
With all this, I managed to get a few things out of the way, a document drafted and reviewed, yes at a slower pace, but things got done. Don’t get me wrong, I do see people working sufficiently from home, but this varies from one person to another, I will continue delivering, but I do know that I am not working at full capacity.
- As much as your spring-cleaning efforts spike, there will always be this corner or this room to be checked on. I, personally, enjoy this and work diligently to have a nicely “displayed” cabinets and storage areas. As much as I have tried to tackle all parts of the house, there will always be this one area that I am scared to start with. Until I re-charge my energy and get my organizational skills back in place, I will be going there and finalizing the annual spring cleaning.
- A home office is a must! I never had a home office, just an old laptop lurking around the living room, this is because I always felt that home is my sanctuary and that it is the place where I disconnect from work and have less screen time, and I also relied on having all the kids printable homework done from work since I am daily in my office.
To cut the story short, I luckily managed to buy a printer, and got my laptop from work and had it all set up. My mind was geared on securing the printer in time before the lockdown, but BAM I completely forgot the papers! I panicked for two days, but then managed to get a pack just in time before the full closure of the city.
- You can also have a haircut at home in addition to other grooming efforts. Yes, I have trimmed my daughter’s hair, and then mine which took more time, but was doable. After that, I have decided that all of my grooming efforts will be done from home and will not be going to hairdressers nor beauty centres for the next couple of months, not before the virus spread cools off.
Point is, whatever it is, it can be done from home, probably not with the desired professional outcome or look, but results should be ok.
- Distance learning with my kids was also educational for me. I have learned a lot about both my kids, I have noticed that my daughter reads much better than I thought and that I have no recollection of some topics in grade two science, which I have to read about before explaining it to my boy. I have also learned that I would never seek teaching as a job! I can handle my kids – well sometimes – but probably not kids in general.
- You can cook and bake anything. With more time lying at our hands, and the possible threat of not having bread at the start of the lockdown, my mom experimented with two lovely bread recipes, which if followed religiously, the taste would be impeccable. So, everything, literally everything - I mean food - can be done at home.
- You can exercise at home and still break a sweat. I do not classify myself as a hard-core athlete, but I do like to move. I typically workout three times a week, and I am not the type of person who works out when traveling or gets upset if a class gets cancelled. However, with the lockdown taking longer than anticipated,
I thought that moving around the house will not cut it, and to be honest, it does not count as an exercise. So my sister recommended the Nike Training App, NTC, which I have been using for a week and I’m happy with my ability to catch up with the trainers
- You should manage the daily news dose you take in every day. This is a tricky one, because you do need to know what’s going on, meanwhile not get depressed by what is taking place in Europe and the numbers of the death toll thus far. For example, a documentary on how the dead are buried in Italy was heart-breaking yet informative, but it was a terrible idea to start the day with. Keep a close eye on the news and the sources of information and do try to filter how much you watch and what you watch.
- Have faith in your government. I have to say that I am a strong advocate of the lockdown and the severe and strict measures taken by our government. Officials were pragmatic and were not reactive like numerous other countries. It is amazing how much can be done under pressure, like discipline, e-government, e-learning (even for public schools). I do believe the handling on all fronts (and I mean it – all fronts) couldn’t have been executed any better.
Just wondering if all policies were adhered to with the same rhythm then the country will stride to another level and be as competent as first world countries (I also mean it!).
- Manage your energy and not your time. I apply this on all days and not just during lockdown days. This being, managing what gets me going to do what I have to do with the right beat, as opposed to managing our tasks into defined timeslots. This works for me because sometimes a task can take 30 minutes, while on a different day the same task can take up to 2 hours or more, it all has with how clear your mind is and how “energetic” you feel that day.
So do more of what makes you energetic, deliver more and focus more, and do less of what drains you, sounds simple, but we should be conscious of what we do, and the simple ripple effects it will leave on the remainder of our day.
- Walking is the best medicine. This may also sound cheesy, but truly a simple walk can relieve stress and give you the drive to do more. For me, walking clears my mind and is an escape from walls and screens.
- Online shopping will be the way moving forward. I have a confession; I have never shopped online! yes, I know it’s 2020, but I have never shopped online! Never. Number one; is because of a few transactions that did not go through and took months to reserve on my card.
And number two; I assume because I like to shop and I even enjoy grocery shopping, just to explore new possible try-outs for me in the kitchen, in addition to picking the fruits and vegetables myself and saying hi to the helpful butcher Ahmad, while he re-assures me that he knows what my order is and nods confirming that he will pack it that way I want. This will all change from now on, and I will enjoy the convenience for as long as it takes, until going out will be safe again.
- Don’t stress about the financials of your business. It is just a small part of a global dip, so take care with this ride, and fingers crossed there will be an upturn. With the start of the year, my sister and I took the leap to open a new shop; in addition to launching three sales channels for the brands I work with. I was never reluctant with that step although the investment was high, I felt the spot was not to be missed and that by summer things will be positive. With a month of closure and the possibility of extending to another month, things are dry.
I try not to stress about it, constantly reminding myself that my business is just one of the million other businesses going through the same cycle. I will do my best to stay resilient and endure this downturn until things start to pick up. Most importantly, this will not stray me and my partner (who is my sister) from our long term hopes and positivity for growth after this tide.
- For me, Home is where the husband is, but my familys’ home is ALWAYS my home away from home. With the husband away for work and not being able to come back before the lockdown, it’s been a month since I moved to my parents’ home, and I have to say I thought it would be a matter of a week or so. From the looks of it, it looks like we’ll be here for another month or a few more weeks, to say the least.
Parents’ home is always great, with my father being a “father figure” for my son, teaching him tons of things; from barbeques, gardening, maintenance, car-washing, fixing the pool tiles and the list goes on… This is no replacement for my husband being around but it has balanced a family life for my kids, making them happy and emotionally satisfied at this stage. A big thank you goes to mom and dad for this their endless support, and until we meet again (us three and the husband), we love you and miss you…
