World War 3

Matt likes to talk about the COVID-19 pandemic as World War 3. So here's what World War 3 has been like for me and my family.

March started out pretty typical with Sakura making her morning eggs and helping Matt complete his lego gift.

University classes were going well and I joined a group of student partners and leaders where we can plan how to help be involved and make the campus experience better. I had to take Sakura to one of my meetings on campus and had my friend Xen-Xen watch her while I was busy.

Gluten and Dairy Free Pizza!

One morning before uni I met up with my friend Jennis at a museum for some craft projects. The museum also displays her recent art project showing acts of kindness people submitted (including myself).

Sakura and I attended a council event where she had LOADS of fun and we decided she most definitely is going to be a gymnast :). The gymnastics people thought she was awesome and I was thinking I might go to their open gym sessions once in a while on Wednesday mornings.

I had a nasty cold that lingered for 4 weeks, which was uncomfortable when the Coronavirus started to spread. Luckily I was just stuffy, but everything else seemed totally normal for us until...

I was getting a hair treatment done Friday 13 March and during a pause listened to a message from childcare that I needed to call them - it was an emergency. I called Matt who was luckily off work and able to go pick her up. She had been jumping from block to block at childcare and jumped a little too far and caught the edge which made the block tip forward and her fall backward onto her back. Soon after that, it was nap time and she had calmed down. After she woke up though she was really upset and they decided to call us. She refused to stand up and we thought perhaps it was an internal bruise - everything seemed fine, not inflamed or anything. She would let me move her feet and legs but seemed to have soreness in her ankle. We just held her and watched movies.

The next morning when she wouldn't stand we were concerned. It wasn't until my sister reminded me we could just go see a doctor for free here that I decided better to get it checked. The doctor wrapped it and did not think it was broken, but perhaps it was soft tissue damage and recommend a CT-scan. Sakura would not hold still for the CT-scan so we did an x-ray instead. The guy there confirmed there was definitely damage. I was shocked when I saw the x-ray.

When I told him my next doctor's appointment was Monday he told me I needed to go back to them right away before they closed. So we went back to the doctor who gave us a referral to go to the emergency room. At this stage, people with flu symptoms were going to the emergency room so we had to keep a 2-meter distance from the person in front of us in line.

Sakura did really well in the emergency room watching things on her tablet until they finally came and put a cast on her. They did a quick bandage around it and set us an appointment for that Friday at the fracture clinic for another assessment. They were all surprised at her greenstick fracture and had to consult with a couple of doctors before confirming whether a cast was sufficient enough. Apparently, it's a very unusual bend in the bone. They heal fantastically in young kids though. So we took our girl home with a full leg cast on.

Coronavirus was the least of my worries for a while - would I be able to still put Sakura in childcare? Was I going to be able to get my homework done with her high needs? How long was this going to last? Sakura is SUPER needy, but she loves watching movies that don't require her to move around. Childcare was also able to still take her so I could work and go to uni. All things considered, it could be worse.

Then everything changed. Church meetings were canceled, university classes were all switched online and Matt didn't have work for a time. I wasn't going many places with Sakura anyway in her condition, but the circumstances put a lot of extra pressure on me. We weren't hurting financially yet, but I knew in a month's time things would not be pretty. My uni had a week break so we could transition to online material. This resulted in me having two weeks worth of homework in one week. I also needed to apply to get government financial aid amidst all this mess.

Things aren't terrible, but my stress is through the roof trying to do all that needs to be done. I envy the people isolated without kids. Although their future is likely just as uncertain, the demands on their time may not be as high. I'm also not sleeping well which doesn't help much. I'm trying to take things just one day at a time so we shall see how things go. On the bright side, I did really well on my statistics exam last week.

Sakura is none the wiser of the current situation. Within a few days, she was walking with her cast and is now able to run. She is really enjoying our temporary subscription of Disney+ and switched from asking for Finding Nemo/Finding Dory to the snowman movie Frozen/Frozen II. Both are favourites in this house so we have been happy with her constant movie choices. She also loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse which I like as it has a bit more of an educational element to it. I hate the excessive screen time she gets, but with my current stress levels, it is a blessing because it gives me room to breathe.

We have been actively doing other activities like building marble runs with a gift from my mom and sister, bike rides with a borrowed bike trailer from a friend, painting, drawing, music time, and more.

I've squeezed in a few sewing projects like a quick sock for her cast so she would stop ripping up the bandages, a bag to put my phone and keys in (perfect if I don't have pockets or for bike rides), and my first shirt. I'm trying to remember to always keep some time in my schedule for just doing something for me.

I'm an extrovert that actually also likes alone time. I'm totally fine with the isolation and lack of hanging out with friends, but only if I can still meet social needs in some other way. So we have now converted our game nights to an online system. I have done one successful online game night with friends, and two game nights with family in the U.S. I'm grateful for uni which gives me a premium Zoom subscription so I can easily host these things. We used up splurge money for game purchases so we have a decent variety and I'm glad we have found a solution that works. The main difficulty is that it requires me to use my computer and sometimes I have to run out to help Sakura. Still, it has been totally worth it.

Other things worth mentioning:
- I did another three-day water fast
- I've read or listened to heaps of motivational material and highly recommend The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan.
- We watched the Saturday sessions of General Conference yesterday
- Below is my favourite quote shared with me during the COVID-19 craziness

A friend shared this recently...
It was written by C.S Lewis, in 1942 during World War II

Satan- "I will cause anxiety, fear, and panic. I will shut down businesses, schools, places of worship and sports events."

Jesus- "I will bring together neighbors, restore the family unit. I will bring dinner back to the kitchen table. I will help people slow down their lives and appreciate what really matters. I will teach my children to rely on me and not the world. I will teach my children to trust me, and not their money and material resources."