Hello Everyone!

Thank you for joining me this week.  Firstly, I would like to thank those of you that have contacted me to tell me what information you would like me to give/share with you. If you have no idea what I am talking about – read this post to find out!

Today, I would like to talk to you a little about what is going on in the world right now – the coronavirus. I have found this a difficult subject to write about. There are a few reasons for this.

• It is effects everyone in many ways.
• It is affecting everyone in different ways.
• Everyone feels differently about the measures that each country has put in place to help reduce the risks for everyone.
• There are many theories about the coronavirus.
• Everyone is dealing with the issues that the various rules and regulations their country has put on them.

Luckily for me, some things have stayed the same.

• I work from home, the same as before.
• I home educate our children, as I have done for five years.
• My husband is still working – thank goodness his trade is an essential service.

But there are other things we have had to deal with, like everybody else.

Here is Australia, like other countries, we have only four reasons to leave our homes (and the police are really cracking down on this and issuing a lot of fines!):

• Work
• Exercise – locally to our homes only
• Doctors
• Shopping for essentials – it is suggested that only one person from the home does this at a time, not as a family outing.

I have to time my shopping for when my husband can be home with our children, which can be difficult as his shifts are at any time of the day or night and are prone to change with not much notice.

I can not take the children to our usual homeschool group catch-ups, which are an essential part of a child’s growth.

I am unable to take the children to the library for research into their study subjects, or to borrow a book or DVD for recreation, as all libraries are closed.

I cannot treat the children to lunch at a café.

We are unable to visit my grandparents, of which I am lucky enough to still have all four.

We cannot visit my mother, whom I am so close to. How I need a hug from my mum!

We cannot visit any other members of our family for a cuppa and a catch up, letting the kids all play together as we usually do.

We cannot go camping, fishing or hunting. It was a very different Easter we had this year.

This is the life we are living at the moment, and I know that everyone is going through the same thing, if not worse. People have lost their lives or lost loved ones, and my heart goes out to you all.

I didn’t write this as a ‘pity’ post, I just wanted you all to know that I have not been ignoring the global situation we find ourselves in, in fact it has been quite the opposite. I have been feeling overwhelmed by it all. I didn’t know what to write, or even how to approach the subject. I have been reading so much in the media and on blogs, that while I kept saying to myself ‘me too’, ‘I know how that feels’ or ‘please, no more’, I didn’t feel I could share my thoughts or feelings coherently. I’m not even sure I have now! But I had to try. So, I opened a new document and started typing. Not knowing where this piece would end up.

I suppose all I really wanted to say, and I know you’ve heard it before, is that you are not alone in this. It probably sounds cliched, but it’s true. It is something I have to remind myself of sometimes, even though I have my husband and children around me, every now and then I still feel a little lonely. But we will get through this, as best we can.

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If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to contact me via my Contact Me page or leave a comment below. To find out more about my services, visit My Services page. You can also find me on Facebook by clicking the ‘F’ icon at the bottom of any page on my website.

Jenni Wade is a fiction copyeditor, line editor and proofreader who specialises in helping self-publishing authors, first-time authors, and helping businesses with their documentation. She is the Advertising Manager and an Assistant Editor for the Home Education Australia magazine Otherways.