Lockdown....on crack

You look out of the window and see this view. There's a ding and a paper bag with a meal is left outside your door.

Now imagine being in a room with this view without the ability to open a window much less go outside. Now imagine that with three hyperactive kids under 8. Now imagine that for 21 days. This was the story of our family over the last three weeks.

When I told people we had to quarantine in a hotel for 21 days on arrival in HK, everyone's reaction was the same "What? 21 days? That's crazy". But that’s not even the biggest hurdle. HK has one of the most stringent Covid policies in the world. Not only are you required to quarantine in a hotel for 21 days on arrival, but if you test positive there is none of the soft stuff of self- isolation we are used to in the Western world. You are carted off to the hospital where you remain until you test negative or have a sufficient level of antibodies. You are an infant or child? Makes no difference - they will take you (in some cases without your parents). Test negative, but someone on your flight tests positive - don’t breathe a sigh of relief - you may not be heading to the hospital, but you could be deemed a ‘close contact’ and whisked off to the government quarantine center at Penny Bay, which makes prison look like a vacation.

Using the word stressed to describe our state of mind travelling with 3 unvaccinated minors is the understatement of the year. Even if you test negative at the airport you can’t relax just yet - you get tested 3 more times over the course of 21 days - on Day 2, 12, 19 and even on Day 26 after you leave the hotel (if you make it out). Our only human interaction over the three weeks (besides each other) were government officials arriving in full blue suited PPE gear to take our temperature and shove swabs up our nose and throat. Its Our 18th day as I type this.

Has it been as brutal as I thought? Yes and no. We were 'lucky' that we were in a nice hotel, had enough space with interconnecting suites and good food delivered to us daily (I have to admit I will miss someone else planning and hand delivering meals to me!). Its not our first taste of lockdown either. We experienced several lockdowns in London as the government dilly dallied over opening and closing shops, restaurants and schools over the last year and a half.

But our saviour through those times - Greenwich park, going for bike and scooter rides and driving out to new parks around London and the comfort of our own home and beds. Other parts of the world have had it much worse with strict lockdowns that prohibited leaving home, similar to our hotel experience. To those people - kudos to you. Hubby and I always said how lucky we were to be in London where 'lockdown' wasn't really so bad - sure we couldn't eat in our favourite restaurants or shop and had to homeschool for a while, but no one restricted us from going for a walk or a run or enjoying the sun (or lack of in England). I never realized how challenging entertaining kids indoors for weeks on end could be. Without the ability to expend energy running outside, all that pent up energy has to find an outlet...in a room.

Hubby laughed as I spent months preparing for the quarantine donating lots of money to Hobbycraft, the Entertainer and Amazon for toys and crafts to keep them busy. As with most things (insert hubby snicker here), I realised I was right. The key to sanity - toys and snacks. Oh and lets not forget Lego - thank you grandparents and friends for the ample amount of Lego that have kept them building for hours.

Its amazing how children have the ability to keep you grounded and drive you insane at the same time. Twenty one days is a really long time, but in reality, between dealing with jetlag (thank you 2 am wakeups) feeding, bathing and being the entertainer to three kids, I had little time to think about anything, much less obsess about time. One day blurred into the other (think groundhog day here) and I actually had to look up at my calendar to figure out what day were on. I can't imagine having to do 21 days alone (or maybe I just don't like my own company), so while 3 kids were a challenge and I jokingly said to hubby, "I wouldn't mind a 21 day solo quarantine for some peace", in reality they probably helped keep my sanity.

The key to mummy's sanity - copious amounts of Nespresso and dark chocolate. V can now say "coffee" when he sees a cup in my hand.

There were of course plenty of days where I thought I would lose my mind with the constant sibling squabbles and three little voices shouting "Amma" "Mummy" "Mumsy" all day long.

Just this morning my little minx V found a marker on the floor left by one of his sisters and drew all over the fabric wall. Cue mummy frantically googling "how to get marker off fabric strains". Hitting myself for not packing the magic eraser with three kids - should have been at the top of my list! Thankfully soap and hand sanitizer (who would have thought) minimized the damage.

But jokes aside, I count my blessings - as mundane as it felt to build yet a other Lego tower and re-read that same book with the level of enthusiasm V has come to expect EVERY time, I know I’ll look back on these days where I had nothing to do (besides hand washing laundry for a family of 5 in a bathtub and wiping the floors on all fours with Clorox wipes - yes true story) with fond memories (minus scrubbing the wall!)

This last week has been the hardest. The sameness of it all has gotten to all of us - even L, who until a few days ago loved quarantine (all all the bonus screen time that comes with it). Sometimes kids say the most apt things. L said to me this evening "Mummy, when are we getting out? I feel like we are on an up escalator that isn't going up."

With a few days left till our 'release' I may still emerge looking like Tom Hanks from Castaway, but I think I can safely (crossing my fingers here) say I will still have my head (with a lot more grey hair).