Ciao… It’s Me and Mister C…

We say Ciao (hello) in the Italian language this week; originating of course from Italy, the formal hello is Salve, also meaning hello. I personally love all things originating from Italy, the glorious country itself (I am yet to visit), food and amazing wine (as does Husband) to name a few. At home, the family and I love spaghetti and meatballs for a delicious (and fairly quick) tea; Husband and Mister C love to throw pasta up to the ceiling, to see if it sticks anywhere! (I did hear somewhere, that if it sticks it means it is cooked?!). I have attempted to make home-made pasta, but of course it’s not the same as professionally (home) made all the way from Italy (the best) …

Firstly, I wanted to acknowledge my dear friend and her family, who sadly and suddenly lost their special Mother and Grandmother last week. It was heart-breaking to hear the sad news and even more heart-wrenching, seeing my dear friend so heart-broken. As a friend, I initially felt quite helpless, not knowing what to do. I quickly rang the local florist who (to my dismay) had no flowers left (it was Friday morning); but I was later pleased when offered a beautiful plant delivery instead (which I accepted). I was also later pleased, when my friend asked if I could help out with the house and pets, so the family could travel up North to be with family and arrange a special service- it was the least thing I could do really. (Our thoughts are with you all over this very difficult time- we love you H & J.C). As many know, I lost my infant son Liam, my dad, my fix-it dad and both my dear Nan and Oma over the past 20 years during my adult life (seems like only yesterday some days); losing a loved one is never easy (even when time does pass), it is so important to (in our own unique way) grieve and reminisce over our loved ones, to assist with comfort and closure (however long a time frame is needed to do so). I always found writing and creating poetry one thing I could do, to create a sense of healing and empowerment; whatever your way is, it is the right way forward for you…

Well, now into week eight of our local ‘lockdown’; for me, I know that I can really feel some of the strain this week, knowing that some restrictions have eased in most NSW LGA’s (Local Government Areas). Unfortunately for our town, we are still experiencing new daily cases (not many, but still worrying), so, our restrictions have not completely lifted yet. I’m in two minds about the restrictions easing; on one hand I am pleased, as families can see each other again (which is priceless), but on the other, I am slightly worried about any further growth in positive cases in our area and the risk this poses on our older persons in our community and my special workplace too. On the positive side, I was able to book the girls and myself in for a much-needed hair trim (has been many months really) for this Saturday; after speaking to my hairdresser over the phone (after explaining that Flossy’s hair had grown down almost reaching her knees), I grabbed the last time slot for the entire week (so excited- thanks so much!).

Now week two of the final term for the year, Mister C was reluctant to re-start home-schooling again (as we all know!). Husband and I had set some little incentives for him to work towards, like an extra hour on the computer and a trip to Maccas drive-thru (not much to offer this week, hopefully the movies will reopen soon?). This worked for about one day, now Mister C has lost his school mojo again… Being the last term of the year, most children are tired and are in need of a good break (a bit like us parents?); but with the latest Covid ‘lockdown’, has also compounded the children’s usual routines and norms, with an extra stress of the unknown. As a family, we are hoping to be able to travel up to Sydney to visit some of our dear family, while also have a much needed getaway in the New Year. Sometimes it’s hard to continue to sit still and wait for the good things to come (right, huh?), but I know the good things (whatever they might be) will be along soon…

Righto, let’s work on more stories from 2020… I recall it was now the end of March, the Book fest (our local library event) was sadly cancelled and we were all feeling a bit worried about the looming cases of Corona virus, that were now spreading across our shores. I recall Sydney and Melbourne were worst hit, with many cases and sadly many deaths too. Husband commented, “The Corona virus is making big news everywhere, there are many hundreds now confirmed cases in Australia. I have been working from home on a roster for the last ten days, this is an unprecedented event in everyone on earth’s life! On social media and international news, I switch between the channels and all of them are about the Corona virus. Two days ago, I tried to take Mister C to the local park and we learned it, along with all parks and skateparks have been closed, plus no more than two people in an outdoor gathering.” Life had begun to be a lot busier and somewhat more stressful, when schools had to close and we were all to ‘stay at home’ on orders in our local area; our first ‘lockdown’ commenced the last week in March for approximately six weeks (more for some businesses).

Family life had changed dramatically with the girls and Mister C home from school (a part from two essential nursing days, I had to work in the week), including the April school holidays and Easter celebrations (and other festive activities in other communities). Husband was home more often, but with this first ‘lockdown’, he was surprisingly still able to travel to ACT for work each week (how strange- unlike now in 2021). Surprisingly too, our regions were not mandated to have to wear masks either. I was to wear a mask at my then work place (due to the nature of nursing), but other than that it was a strange thing to see some people at the shops wearing masks and other strange apparatuses. I recall Mister C worried the ‘Bunny’ wouldn’t be able to visit people’s homes due to Covid. The Prime Minister at the time (Morrison) wrote a lovely letter to all of the schools, explaining that the Easter Bunny was able to come and deliver the surprise eggs this year. Mister C were so excited (and relieved) on hearing me read the letter to him (and the girls); it was a thoughtful gesture at the time and helped alleviate the worried minds of children like Mister C.

Luckily, we had received some extra funds from the Government mid-April (didn’t happen very often- but it was a nice surprise), we bought the kids a new large size trampoline and had fun building a fun play-gym for the kids, to get outside and play in between home-school. It certainly was money well spent, as even today (in 2021), the kids still enjoy bouncing together on the (now slightly worn) trampoline and climbing the (now faded) play-gym (I must re-stain it all soon?). It did help to entertain the girls and boisterous Mister C (who was still only taking his fish oil every day). I recall, it was difficult getting Mister C to sit still for more than twenty minutes, to do some school work, but we managed to get it done in between a few trampoline and food breaks.

I had two small boxes of our first children’s book sitting idly in the lounge room over this time. I had the new poster and business cards I had also ordered in time for the book fest event, but wasn’t able to use any of them (so sad). I decided to not let it get me down too much (a day of complete sadness did occur); I picked myself up and then thought of some ways I could promote and sell the books during this ‘lockdown’ (with not having a proper book signing event at the time). I was able to send books to family and friends around Australia via the Post, which was great. I then started getting orders via FB and I ended up doing ‘book runs’ around the local town area and in ACT, on a few separate occasions too. It was fun to drop off the books to people and it was also satisfying to know, that some children had something new to read while at home. I would leave the book on the front door step in a bag and the funds would be in the letter box or also under the door mat; it worked very well and it was also nice to speak to people (from a distance of course) and have a chat about how we were all going through the tough time. I think I did these ‘book runs’ for several months and I found quite a lot of peace and humility doing so (thank-you to everyone who did purchase the book over that time) …

A Word from Mister C…

Mister C was sleeping in his new room upstairs, I checked on him before I went to bed later that night. Mister C rolled over and I tucked him in; he looked up and then closed his eyes, he sighed and then murmured, “No, Mummy, no… No home-schooling now!” I giggled and tucked him in again, then whispered, “No home-school now, my son, it’s night time. I love you, sweet dreams.” In the morning, Mister C said, “Did you speak to me in my sleep, Mummy? I saw you in my dream at school, you had glasses on and a big school book in your hand. You were teaching me more writing stuff; I didn’t want to do!” Both laughed…  😏

Stay tuned…

For more 2020 stories, with Flossy’s ‘lockdown’ birthday coming up in May and Husband turns sixty (mental age) but late forties biological age (ha! Husband did say this) and we celebrate his birthday early June. We are getting closer to our special book event at our local (wonderful) library in November. Good news, I was able to take two days leave from my work (thanks!), so I can concentrate on the two event days… Happier days to come with warmer weather and less restrictions to follow very soon… Hugs Mister C… 💗