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Preparing to Ride the COVID-19 Storm



Backpacks and lunchboxes get washed on the last day of school.


Three weeks ago, we started stockpiling non-perishables. Why? Coronavirus. We are a family of five and we consume a lot; a little extra, just in case, is probably not a bad idea. We are concerned, not so much about getting COVID-19, but about the inevitable disruptions. We want to prepare, not panic.

I grew up in Guyana in a time when scarcity was commonplace. I remember the lines for everything - food, cooking gas, toilet paper! I have vague memories of sitting for hours at a clinic, waiting for vaccinations and, I think, powdered milk, or maybe it was another place, another queue. The run on grocery stores that we are experiencing now in the U.S. gives me flashbacks. I presume that the majority of shoppers have never seen anything as widespread as this in their lives, not here in the U.S. anyway.

As it happens, we were living in Lagos, Nigeria during the Ebola outbreak in 2014. Social distancing, increased hand washing, even temperature checks at the grocery store were routine. We do not feel anxious about the things we need to do to stay healthy and protect the more vulnerable. We feel fortunate that our life experiences have uniquely prepared us and we are ready to ride the storm.

Friday, March 13, was the last day of school for our children. I embrace the closure. Social distancing is the only way to slow the spread. I had the most anxiety in the days leading up to the closure because at one point it seemed like the plan was to wait for positive cases and then close individual facilities. I had made up my mind to take the kids out of school for two weeks with the hope that a countywide closure would come within that period. Thankfully, the powers that be made the call to close starting Monday. When the children came home from school on Friday, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted.

The first thing I did was to wash their backpacks and lunchboxes, something I always do on the last day of school. I am also focusing on cleaning anything that went outside the house before we began social distancing. My goal is to limit the circulation of any old germs as we take steps to limit the introduction of new ones.

I have reverted to a wiping down all our groceries with disinfectant before packing them away; this is a routine I followed while living in Nigeria and India. If the virus lives on surfaces for an unspecified time, this could only help. I am also seriously considering sanitizing our raw fruits and vegetables in bleach solution, like we had become used to while living overseas.

In addition, I am wiping down our phones, kindles, keyboards, door handles, doorknobs, keys, and other frequently touched areas and items more regularly. I imagine, that housekeeping won't suffer during the next few weeks.

We are now faced with home schooling the kids. This is something I have always said I could never do so this is definitely a journey into the unknown. So far, all I have done is organized each child's materials into individual fabric cubes. Their teachers did an amazing job sending home enough to guide several weeks of homework, and our PTA is offering many suggestions for digital learning options. There is no lack of learning materials. What I fear is a shortage of patience.

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