Life in the time of Corona – a Mum’s perspective

This is one title that I didn’t have to break my head over as it flowed out naturally when I started writing. “Corona” – Unless you happen to live in a surreal world, meditating peacefully in a hut on the Himalayas, blissfully unaware of the turmoil that the world is going through, you would know that I am referring to the virus that has invaded our lives – work, home, schools – it seems to be everywhere!

Facebook posts, parenting newsletters, news, websites – all of these seem to be filled with this virus too, as anyone and everyone wants to give their two bits about the virus, how it started, how did it spread, where it is going, what to do to avoid it and blah, blah, blah! How could I resist the temptation of joining the gang 🙂 so here are my 2 bits about how my life as been affected by this bug! 

Corona is the reason that I’m currently in home-town Mumbai. We had come here to attend a family wedding during the Chinese New Year break and ended up extending our holiday as all schools and universities in Hong Kong are declared shut by the government. While I am sitting here in peacefully on my balcony swing with my laptop on my lap, my fingers dancing on the keys as I type this post, two weeks ago, I was in a mad frenzy trying to decide whether I should stay and whether I should head back to HK, worrying about not having our school books, my son’s laptop,  fretting over my older son’s upcoming IGCSE exams, about my own business, the meetings I had fixed, the events I had planned. We finally took a decision and postponed our flight. That was just one thing done.

I was very impressed with our school when they started their online learning sessions almost immediately after. This gave some the much-needed structure to our day and after some initial minor hiccups, my kids were sailing through the sessions. This is Week 2 of our e-learning, which is a combination of home work given on emails and live video calls on an app called Zoom. Being in Mumbai which is 2.5 hours behind Hong Kong time, kids have to wake up a bit early for their Zoom calls and the rest they can work upon during at their own time through the day and I must say that the teachers are doing a great job, teaching via a new communication system and the kids have adapted quickly so this is our new routine! Sharing our day’s schedule which I given for both my boys as per their age

15 year old 

5:30            – Wake up

6:00-6:30 – Zoom video call

6:30-6:40 – Check on emails and plan the day

6:40-8:30 – Work on assigned tasks

8:30-8:45 – Breakfast

8:45-9:15    – Zoom video call

9:15-10:45 – Work on assigned tasks

10:45-11:15 – Break time – Go to the park and pet the dogs!

11:15-12:00 – Zoom video call / Work on assigned tasks

12:00 – 12:30 – Lunch

12:30-14:30 – Break – Read a book / Play video games!

14:30 – 16:00 –  Revision (School tasks over)

16:00 – 17:00 – Chinese / Maths tuition  (video call on Skype/Zoom)

17:00 – 17:30 – Check emails from schools. Plan and prepare for Zoom lessons/homework for next day.

17:30 – 18:00 – Read a book, play with cousins, hand around!

18:00 – 19:00 – Jog/ football/ workout

19:00 – 20:00 – Shower/change

20:00- 21:00 – Dinner with family

21:00-21:30 – Social time with family

22:00 – Bed time!

11-year old

7:00 – Wake up

7:15 – 7:45  – Exercise /  jogging

8:30-8:40 – Check emails, assigned tasks, plan the day

8:40 – 9:00 – Breakfast

9:00 – 10:15 – Work on assigned tasks

10:15- 10:30 – Stretching break!

10:30 -11:00 – Work on assigned tasks/  Zoom video call

11:00 -11:30 – Break time – Go to the park and pet dogs!

11:30 -12:15 – Work on assigned tasks

12:15 – 12:45 – Lunch

12:45 – 15:00 –  Break time – Read a book / Play video games!

15:00 -16:00 – Continue with assigned tasks

16:00 – 16:15 – Quick break/ walk around time/ Write in the diary

16:15 – 17:00  – Finish assigned tasks

17:00 – 19:30 – Break time/ Play in the park with cousins

19:30 – 20:00 – Read a book/ TV time

20:00- 21:00 – Dinner with family

21:00-21:30 – Social time with family

22:00           – Bed time!

The schedule given above is just a rough indication of their day as video calls and assigned tasks vary each day. I use a planner at home for them to plan their Zoom meetings and homework tasks a day in advance so that they can keep an eye on their schedule while they work and feel good when they check-off the tasks completed! While both boys can manage independently, an adult’s presence does help just to give little reminders and keep them going as per schedule as much as possible. Being in India is both advantageous and disadvantageous, cause while I don’t have to manage household chores or cooking, leaving me more time at hand, the number of distractions that we have in terms of family visits, phone calls, door bell rings, street noise are a part and parcel of life in Mumbai. Although I try to match both their schedules as much as possible in order to have some consistency and also to plan my work day along with theirs, younger kids can’t focus for a longer periods as compared to the older ones, and need more break time, snack time in between. Exercise and play is an important part of the whole day and while it might get difficult for some with the current ‘quarantine’ situation in HK, maybe the building podium area or playground or even just the balcony at home can serve the purpose. Being in Mumbai having access to plenty of street dogs, building dogs, neighbour’s dogs is a boon as that helps relieve any stress or tension that we feel through the day.

All in all while home schooling is not my cup of tea, given the circumstances we can manage this little “diversion” by setting some basic rules and sticking to them. Every household is different and every situation is unique and I am sure that after a few teething problems we can all work a way around this new system. And just as I am about to post this – I get a new update from the Education Bureau! Schools will not resume classes for another 2 weeks! 

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