Secrets to looking after little ones when you’ve got coronavirus
Rachel Cook is recovering from a bout of Covid-19 – and watching hours of kids’ TV in quarantine
All I can say is, thank God for Frozen 2. Like most parents, I try to limit my daughter Imogen’s screen time. But this week streaming saved my life. When I was at the peak of my illness we watched a month’s worth of telly in three days. There was nothing else for it. My bout of Covid-19 was more tolerable than it will be for many, but being that sick with a child in the house is challenging to say the least.
The cough everyone fears began last Thursday evening – dry, persistent and troubling. By the following lunch time I’d developed a raging fever, and by the weekend a tightness across my chest and difficulty taking deep breaths.
As long as you don’t need to go into hospital, Government advice is to isolate in a bedroom for a week. I’d like to see anyone try that with a toddler at home and a freelance husband who needs to get some work done. Wash your hands constantly and maintain a two-metre distance from everyone in your house, they say. Difficult to explain that to a small child while they are crawling all over you and sticking their hands in their mouth. “Get off Mummy, darling. NHS advice states you’re not allowed to touch me for a week.” I realised quickly this wasn’t realistic.
So Imogen and I battled it out together. She was a little poorly herself (with a fever that, thankfully, went as quickly as it came), so we decamped to the sofa. I’d have liked nothing more than to be holed up in bed in front of Netflix, but as Imogen wouldn’t have put up with that, there was no bingeing on old Friends episodes for me. Alas, this was “the one where you have coronavirus and a small child”
– so hours of Paw Patrol became the backdrop to my fever dreams. Kids’ TV is particularly trippy when you’re running a high temperature and quietly panicking about what happens if you have to go to hospital. I couldn’t face cooking, so we ate toast and bananas for a couple of days (plus paracetamol for me), which is her dream diet anyway.
As the fever lifted, we were able to go back to something resembling normal. Except nothing is normal now for any of us. We’re still in isolation and I’m not quite sure how we’re going to manage, though I’m thankful we at least have a garden. I can’t imagine not being able to get outside for at least half an hour.
Now that I’m feeling a little better, I’m trying to drag us both away from screens. We’ve been coming up with lesson plans and are getting through by giving each day a theme. First, we did kings and queens: think crown-making
Can I recommend Skype play dates to any parent currently tearing their hair out
and castles. Then there was St Patrick’s Day – baking soda bread and a parade around the garden, naturally.
We’ve also had Skype play dates and I recommend these to any parent currently tearing their hair out. A friend and I sat our children in front of the screen with Play-doh, so they could show each other what they were making, while we sat chatting and drinking tea. Obviously, it’s for Imogen’s sake, but it’s keeping me sane, too.
I managed to escape to the post box one day, which felt illicit and glorious. Meanwhile, kind friends have left cheese scones on our doorstep and sent flowers. Our larder is in a pretty sorry state. Having turned our noses up at all the stockpilers, we were caught off-guard when I fell ill, so I dispatched the husband to see what he could find in the shops. He did well, although in our panic bought some odd things – pot noodles and a shed load of lentils, like we’ve decided the quarantined versions of ourselves are totally different people.
The good news is that coronavirus has finally given me time to take the Christmas decorations down after I noticed – in the background of a quarantine selfie I’d sent to friends – that there was a great big Santa lantern in the background.
I’m grateful that my illness was comparatively mild. I’m now at the end of my isolation period and heading back to work next week, but my husband and Imogen are in quarantine for another seven days in case they become unwell.
Who knows what the coming weeks will bring. For now, Skype dates with friends and making sure we’ve got childcare in place to cope with nursery closures. My brush with coronavirus wasn’t much fun, but in a way I’m sort of glad I’ve had it now. I’m just not sure I can watch Paw Patrol or Frozen 2 ever again.