Tough times

R was told by his boss today that their workplace will be closed indefinitely from the start of next week. His hours had been cut drastically prior to this announcement and to be honest, business was dwindling even with reduced hours. Government has put restrictions on the supply of their services, and no one is really leaving their house except for essentials, so their company has been hard hit. Whilst this was to be expected in light of COVID-19, what irks me the most is the fact that R will not be entitled to any Government support. Like all rushed policies and legislation, there are loopholes where people fall through the gaps, unfortunately, R will  falls within the cracks.

It is frustrating that the hard workers, the investors, the middle-upper middle class are the ones that don’t get any support in times of need, and yet when the country is out of this rut, the very same class of workers are the ones that will bear the brunt of the recovery. R is the most responsible and reliable (to a fault in fact) worker I know, he doesn’t spend much and throws any savings into our mortgage repayments and the like. This is the reason why despite all the COVID implications, I believe we are well placed to weather the storm. But it feels so unfair that dole bludgers get more dole, yet responsible workers get no help when they’re out of a job. Sigh.

Ranting aside, I know I should be thankful that I still have a job. Who knew that I would one day be the sole breadwinner of the family?

I’m praying and wishing that R will keep positive during this tough time. He’s such a workaholic and puts so much of himself in his work that I fear he will be lost and depressed for some time. This is when family comes in and props him up . I hope the kids and I will be a source of positivity for him.

Oh for the sun to shine again …

Big people don’t cry

Saitaoha: Mummy why are you crying?

Me: Mummy’s mah mah passed away.

Saitaoha: Is it my mah mah died? 😢

Me: No, not your mah mah, mummy’s mah mah.

Saitaoha: Mummy, big people don’t cry.

Me: Ok, give me a hug.

Saitaoha: Mummy is it you cry because your mah mah died ?

Me: Yes.

Saitaoha: How did she die? Is it like Elsa? Is it she is in bed?

Me: Yes. She closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Saitaoha: Is she better now?

Me: Yes. She is better now.

Covid Easter

Xiu xiu and Easter

It was a very different Easter holiday. We should have been in Adelaide with the in laws and R’s family, but instead we spent most of Easter holed up at home with the kids.

Saitaoha and Saitaomei painting Easter bunnies

Saitaoha and Saitaomei are lucky to have aunties that dote on them a lot and are always buying them things to play with. They enjoyed painting these bunnies so much that I went out to buy watercolours for them to paint more in the future.

Look of concentration

Smile Saitaomei and she gives me a grimace 😬

Easter egg hunting

They had lots of fun

Dalgona coffee

I jumped on the Dalgona coffee bandwagon and made a few glasses for ah ma, R and myself. Probably won’t have it again but it was interesting and worth a try.

We also finally built the cubby house! It took a lot longer than expected because we painted it and all, R is a perfectionist when it comes to things like that but I think the final product was pretty.

Icecream seller

My little ahjummas selling their wares. I hope they have fun in this house for years to come. Papa did lights for them and everything.

Ah ma made lek tau suan which was so comforting and good, especially with yew char kueh!

Made these salmon and sweet potato patties but the kids didn’t like them! Being at home so much makes my hands itch to cook and bake more but we have too much food at home so ah ma has forbidden me to cook anymore. Sigh.

I had to stop by the office so we brought the kids out for a drive. Poor isolated babies were like country bumpkins and wowing are all the lights and buildings. We must make an effort to bring them out for a drive and see the outdoors now and then.

So it was a very different sort of Easter, but I still enjoyed not having to think about work and being able to just spend time with the family.

I

The new norm

I’m hoping that I will be able to keep this blog for a long time to come, so that 20, 30 years later, I can revisit my blog and remember this crazy crazy time that we’re living in.

It’s been such a shocking year, the rules no longer apply and all norms have been thrown out the window. It’s a year of setting new norms, the new norms of working from home,  having meetings via little windows on your screen, where muting your microphone is now the new work etiquette.

The kids are also settling into their new norms. A daily routine where there is no longer school, no weekend outings, no trips to the shops, no family gatherings. Their world is now a small small world which consists of our little home to their Gung Gung Mah Mah’s house. When we bought my parents’ home a couple years back, we never knew how handy living in close proximity with them would be. Now the kids look forward to their daily walk from their house to their grandparents’ house.

Their playground is now the playground set that their GGMM installed in their backyard.

We go through Saitaoha’s class exercises online, she and her teacher exchange sweet video greetings to each other.

We are trying to do cosmic yoga exercise everyday, Mei Mei is an active participant too.

I’m glad that they’re too small to fear COVID or understand the mayhem that the world is facing. I just hope that this situation won’t last forever that this new norm of very limited social interaction will scar them for life. I hope they remember this time as a time when they got to see a lot of their parents, when mummy and papa ‘going to work’ meant they didn’t actually leave the house.

R has been struggling during this time too. He is recovering, thank goodness. But his work hours have been cut drastically, our trip to Adelaide to visit his family and new born niece has been cancelled. I know he was really looking forward to the trip so I can feel his sadness and disappointment. I’m lucky I have my parents right next to me and my siblings close by, he doesn’t

This new norm of COVID will have lasting repercussions on work for a long time to come I feel. My once super urgent project has come to a halt in light of COVID, we needed the extra time so I’m not too sad about it, but I wonder whether we will ever gain back the momentum when this is all over, or will the moment be lost forever? It was a once in a lifetime project, hampered by a once in a lifetime pandemic.

There will be moments of frustration and stress from being cooped up for so long, but for now, I’m glad my nearest and dearest are safe and sound and we still have our cocoon of a home to shelter us during this tough time.

Happy Easter folks!