Highlights
- Reginald and Revilyn ensure that their kids understand what lockdown meant for them.
- Sebi and Mia enjoy learning at home under their parents’ supervision.
- The family plans activities together to cope with the fatigue of being stuck at home.
They explained to their kids what lockdown meant for them, and what changes they needed to make to cope.
At home with the Gonzales family
Sebi, 6, is in year one and attends after school care while Mia, 2, goes to a daycare centre.
Since both Reginald and Revilyn work in the healthcare sector, the parents rely on these educational institutions to look after their children while they earn a living.
But when the lockdown was enforced, they had to make the necessary adjustments.
The Gonzales family enjoying the snow at Corrin Forest before the ACT lockdown. Source: Revilyn Gonzales
“The first thing we did when the lockdown was announced was thought of a way to discuss with our kids the situation. I knew that it was going to be hard, especially for them,” Reginald recalled.
The parents encouraged their children to ask questions and gave them time to understand what lockdown is.
They also explained to them why people have to wear face masks and the reason why they are stuck at home.
Besides having series of discussions with Sebi and Mia, they also organise planning sessions with the kids to know what activities they want to partake in while at home.
From helping mum prepare meals to playing basketball in the backyard with dad, the family of four find joy during this challenging time to keep them going.
“We organise playtimes and let the kids participate with my cooking. If the weather permits, we also go to the cubby house in our backyard and read stories to them,” Revilyn shared.
Being stuck at home meant more quality time together - the precious silver lining.
Sebi helps prepare spring rolls for lunch Source: Revilyn Gonzales
Sebi and Mia clean around their cubby house to get ready for playtime. Source: Revilyn Gonzales
Although their activities are aplenty, this doesn’t mean that Sebi gets away from doing his schoolwork.
And Mia also gets to do her own, too.
Focusing on online modules that Sebi enjoys completing Source: Revilyn Gonzales
Remote learning is a priority that Reginald and Revilyn strictly supervise.
Mum mostly facilitates Sebi’s online modules. She starts with Mathletics and ends it with Encyclopedia Britannica on some days, while there is a Google meet which Sebi joins weekly.
Mia, on the other hand, does educational activities as well, like learning the colours, shapes, and the alphabet.
But their routine was slightly interrupted when ACT Health sent an email to Revilyn one evening to inform them that they were identified as close contacts of a positive COVID-19 case.
Mia plays with coloured chalks while scribbling on their garage’s floor. Source: Revilyn Gonzales
The challenge of Covid-19
Sebi’s after school care was identified as one of the COVID hotspots at the start of the lockdown - so he and his mum, who picks him up from the centre, were ordered to quarantine and be tested for Covid twice.
Reginald and Mia also had to quarantine at home as per ACT Health’s advice.
But instead of dwelling on negative thoughts, the family stayed resilient and strictly followed the instructions given to them by the state government.
The mother and son endured a long waiting time at the drive-through testing centre to comply with their first swab test.
Although Reginald and Revilyn already received full COVID vaccination, the fear was mainly for their children.
Rev and Sebi while waiting for their turn at the COVID drive-through testing centre Source: Revilyn Gonzales
Fortunately, the test returned a negative result that gave them all peace of mind.
The second test, which they took two weeks after the first one, also came back negative.
Besides the COVID tests, the family also had to complete the mandatory 14-day quarantine at home as identified primary contacts.
“When our quarantine ended, Reginald was allowed to go back to the aged care facility where he works while I remained at home with the kids. Lockdown is still ongoing so whatever we are doing, we just carried on,” Revilyn shared.
Reginald preparing activity materials for Sebi and Mia while in lockdown Source: Revilyn Gonzales
Gonzales family draws strength from each other
The optimism in the Gonzales household is so vibrant that their kids are surprisingly enjoying lockdown.
They lock out negativity together.
Now that the ACT is going into its fifth week of lockdown, the Gonzales family continues to deal with the daily struggles of COVID-19 with brimming hope.
“It will never be easy. That’s why planning and devising a new routine is important,” Revilyn shared.
Family bonds over watching movies Source: Revilyn Gonzales
The way out of lockdown could be a long march, but the Gonzales family is dealing with it one day at a time – as a team.
