Confinement diary. For pandemic prevention

Status
Not open for further replies.
Thanks you @Annie, for prayer ad support! I pray that everything will be fine for your family!

My oldest is 3 and half years old. She knows that some people die from the virus because we speak with my husband and she is here when we turn the TV on and heard the number of deaths (not a good habit!). She also understand the confinement, even if she doesn’t consider herself confined- it is just almost her normal life.
She knows what death is. We go to burials with her, pray for ours deads with her, and she had seen our dead cat. It does not seems to frightening her a lot, but she is little…
Yet, a few days ago she shows me a photography and asks: “is it a sleeping cat or a dead cat?”
So maybe it works on her…

She lives the pandemic as us. Yesterday she played “disinsfection” for her toys because of the coronavirus!
 
Last edited:
Thursday April 2,

Daily news on the public TV. It’s the second consecutive days that I see the TV journalist that correct her own error. SThe lack of staff (you know why! )made things more difficult and everybody can see it! 😉

I am sad at the perspective of staying at home for Palm Sunday, the holy week the pascal Vigil and Easter… It’s the most important date of the calendar and I waited for it. The only positive point is that my child don’t want to go to Easter… She is little and don’t want to see Jesus to die… It’s too violent. Se wants to stay at Christmas and Nativity!

My child: “mom, you will be hospitalized and die. -Why?? - because of the confinement and the coronavirus! …” and continue the activity as if she said nothing…
Definitely the situation affect everybody…

… Including me. Since I am confined I receive phone calls from friends who asks for news. I phone them too. It permits to know on what friend you can count. And sadly for me, the one that with I am the more intimate, that I share eveything, that was there always for two years is missing. Only silence for many weeks despite many attempts of my part. I am collaspsed since. I hoped that the confinement may favor a new start, but still not. It’s not the confinement the responsible of that, but it can accentuated the damage I feel. I cry constantly so it’s difficult for my family too.
A little light, this evening the Godmother of my child called. She has always been trustfull and generous so I let open my heart. Long talking, and she said she wants to be here for me.
It does not repare the extreme pain I feel, but It is a relieve.

She said one important thing: “Jesus has die for everyone, including this lady you speak of and you. In Heaven we will be free of all the pain, the depression, the negative feeling. We have to choose to do the good.” Wise words from someone who experienced hardly a bereavement…
I am ready to let it go, and forgive this person?
Still not. My bereavement is not done and I still hope to be a part of this person’s life. But I am more and more afraid that I may be corned to this only solution one day: to forgive. Or not and to stay in this depressive situation.

The conclusion:
This special time is historical. We accept the confinement because the human’s life is more important than economy. It is an unique opportunity to focus on our relationships and the human being. To slow down our life and to have less footprint impact on the planet. We can make it a great opportunity to redefine our life. But we can miss all this meaning because of our wrong choices or because we suffer from the choices of others.

Sorry to be depressed.

An more importantly, readers how do you feel in this time? How do you live it?

I feel and pray fof you as the pandemic affect the US badly.
 
Last edited:
Anicette,

I have been following your confinement diary.

Have they given even a possible end date to the confinement?

Where I am in the US, we are under stay at home orders. Allowed out to go to the grocery store or doctors appointment. But no one (police) is stopping people from going out of their houses or anything like you are experiencing.

We do not watch the news on tv at all. We know it’s still ongoing and there is nothing we can do except wait it out.

Lots of visiting with CAF friends online. 🙂 Watching shows with multiple seasons on Netflix. Cooking special or new recipes for dinner. Praying alone or with things online.

I hope that you hear from your friend and that everything will get back to normal for you very soon.
 
Irishmom2 said:
Have they given even a possible end date to the confinement?
Click to expand...
The confinement is up to April 15, at the minimum.
The governement have said yesterday (Thursday evening on TV) that it would be prolonged if necessary. And I am almost sure it would be.
But it is not a surprise. We were aware very soon that It would probably last at least 6 weeks so up to around May 4.
Irishmom2 said:
Where I am in the US, we are under stay at home orders. Allowed out to go to the grocery store or doctors appointment. But no one (police) is stopping people from going out of their houses or anything like you are experiencing.
Click to expand...
yes, we do more!

It is strange to see people on CAF to speak of confession because here churches are closed and no religious services is offered except funeral. Baptisms and marriages are postpone. Mass only said with closed doors in very few places.

My husband filled the mooving attestation to go to the letter box, only a few steps away!

Everything should be carefully justified. We can make a walk or a running to go out. But only one time a day, only by feet and not more far than 1 km. If we have a garden far away, we can’t go to it.

For eg, my husband has an association and they need to feed animals. He asks to the town hall an exemption to make the walk between home and them but had no reply. So it is an illegal travel and if the police want to be zealous they can give the feeder a penalty.

Another eg, one of the grandfather is confined in his house on the sea with 3 grandchildren. Many people decided to be confined in their second house. So there is as many people in the town as if we were in June. So there is chronical food shortage in the little store. They cannot be stocked more as it is not planned for these season and it is very difficult to find truck transporter with the pandemic. People may go to the larger city, but it is against the rules and the spirit of confinement, as more mooving and social interaction bring more virus. We should go to our stores area only and are forbidden to go out of the city for groceries if we have a store.
The beach is fordidden of course, but a lot of people walk on the dike, even with bikes, and that’s bring sanitary problem because of the closeness between people. Bikes are not forbiden on the dike on April, but because of the confinemenytwe should walk and bikes are only accepted to go to work or if no other choice. It seems some people are not carefull enough and feel like they are in holidays.
 
Last edited:
Friday April 3,

My first day of going out since the sunday March 15!
I was anxious and procrastinated but I have to make groceries as my husband had a allergic crisis and going out with “symptoms” is dangerous and forbidden.

I make a shopping list as clear as possible to not loose time.

The streets are mostly empty. Only neigboors are walking or running, alone or by too. I supected two groups of two ladies to not live under the same roof, so to break the rules. I see no policemen.
The parking is almost empty, only neighboors cars. The streets of the center of the city where the shops are are full of the cars of th residents that are parked, but no men walking.

The bus is still in service.

The waiting line is controlled by a security agent with a mask. There is directives written, such as to do te grocreies quickly, to tounch only products that we buy, and to come alone and with preference in hours of less influx=. Customers waited between barriers and there is marks in the ground to delimit healthy boundiaries (at least 1 meter between two people as you know!).

Mothers who came with teenagers were arrested by the agent, and the second person should waiedt in the car. Twins sisters were arrested too and prevent to go. Yet, as they negociated with the agent a moe or less “group” of around 20 people came, some of them as couples, and all not very concerned with boundiaries. The agent saw them and ask them if they are all togethers. I didn’t heard the answered but he let them in peace! I suspected a double standards for … some reasons.
My neighboor spontaneously said to me that she saw a group of … people that threaten the agent, so all might be explained…

I did the shopping quickly, and I respected more well the security directives than I was worried. i had sometimes been too close to some people, because of my lack of awarness, or teir impatience, or lack of space. I had touch one vegetable that I had not bought, but no more. If I found after touching it that the product wasn’t the one I want to bought, I did kept it. And I didn’t cough, cry or touch my face so I am proud of myself! Small victory! 🙂

The
There is no more eggs and bread flour in the store. Eggs because we have a problem of eggs transportation in France since the confinement. Bread floor; because that obvious that as people limit their mooves and are at home, they make their bread. I dind’t see the newspaper too!

I think if I had to take more risk to have this products and i even called my husband to know what to do. Finally I decided to try to byu them. the first newspaper marchant was closed. He only is open the morning, since the confinement. The second was closed too: he close his shop at 17pm for the same reason! The third one had only one newspaper left! Goal achieve! He was only protected by a food plastic film that separate a little himself from the customer!
 
Last edited:
The cashiers were well protected by gloves, integral masks. No hair or skin were naked. And the client can’t be too close to them except to pay.

I buy the eggs from another little supermarket, but don’t find bread floor. The health rules are not respected here, and the staff in the shelves had no mask.

I visited three places in the same day/week. It is too much and increase the risks!
 
Sunday 5,

A little sad to have palm sunday on the TV!
I don’t even notice a lot that we are in the holy week…

Religious coloring activities for my child. I let her choose the image in link with palm sunday or the Nativity.

Monday April 6,

Go to post a letter in the box a few steps away. I break the rules by taking my child whereas i could have left her in the home. I of course fill two attestations for ourselves.

I have two friends this weeks who called. One was distant, and didn’t even know the birth of our last one! The other is more closer (godmother of our child), so I let her know the problem with my friend. She is very supportive. Sadly, that’s in this sort of situation that we see who is your friend and who is not.

April 8,

the confinement is prolonged after April 15.

to be continued…
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the update, @Anicette! You are showing me, and others as well, that we don’t have it so bad where we are.

I went to a second store yesterday to get canola oil. That was the only thing on my list the big supermarket was out of. I am set for groceries for a while.

Did you ever hear back from your friend?
 
Thanks you @Irishmom2 for your faithfulness.

Honestly, I prefer our stricts rules of quarantine and control than the spread of the pandemic. And the news that I heard from the TV are not funny for America, particularly in New York Area and Louisiana. Poor people, I pray of you/us.

The United Kingdom is also more badly impact than us. Yet their rules are less stricts and we see pictures of people relaxing in parks without any second thoughts…

Our strategies seems to be curbe a little the infection. It is not the time that people be more relax with the quarantine! It is sunny so…

Groceries day today! We even battle with my husband to know who will do it! Going out become very tempting, but we should resist!

I don’t know exactly where you lived, but I noted that you use the term “canola oil” wich according to wikipedia is an canadian vocabulary that design colza/rapessed. Is that used to in the USA?

That is interesting it is this common product that missed! 😉 Do you know if people makes oil stocks or if there is a problem of availability?

No, my friend still doesn’t contact me. However, I “found” her thanks to her activity on internet. Of course I can’t be sure, but she seems to be healthy and adjust well with the quarantine. Great for her, bad for me. Which makes the lack of answers less and less excusable… :cry:
 
Last edited:
April 10, Holy Friday

Today no chemin de croix! Sadly!

The baccalaureate has been suppressed. The students, for the first time, would be graduated only by the evaluations they made through the school year…

At first the governement had great ambitions for the confinement time: to homeschool the millions of French students. Yet, it had quickly collapsed. The new goal is only keep a link between tecahers and the children, to intectually stimulate them and to maintain what had been already learned.

The first weeks had been very difficult. The ministry of education wants that teachers give lessons to the students via an online offical schooling platform since at least collège (age 11). Yet the teachers were not formed to this technology. There were too much connections and the platform can’t handle them. And it is very difficult for many families, and more when there is many children and if they are poor, to be able to be connected to internet easily.

Many parents feel overwelmed by the simple fact of having their children all the time at home. The norm is to have two children, that both parents work outside the home, for mothers to work quickly after a birth and the children spent the most of the day at school or with a nanny since a young age.

And many parents don’t have the capacity to follow the schooling of their children.

Working fom home wasn’t very common before the crisis, and homeschooling is increasing i numbers but is very confidential and more and more restricted.

My husband don’t have any news or don’t receive the work of some students. Seems they don’t care. He don’t have any access to the platform, so he sent the work to the “school *” that sent it to the parents email, or he directly sent it through traditional post letters. he also have a lot of phone calls or skype with colleagues. He also have several teacher formations via visioconference.

How does school functionned now where you are, readers?
And what are the goals for you in Ireland, @AdamP88?
 
Last edited:
Sorry to hear it’s not going well. Mine are generally responding well to the online schooling. There are a few I haven’t heard from at all but most are working. Though I can’t get the work done that I would have done in class.

Not sure what is going to happen for the Irish state exams. It looks like they will either be cancelled or take place in August or September. I think there will probably be a disruption into next year’s school year as well. Not much we can do about it I suppose. At the moment students and teachers are taking their “Easter break” to give them a break from work as this was scheduled as a holiday anyway.

Personally, I am just getting on with some work around the house, car, garden. I’m also trying to organise a new house to rent because my landlord put up the rent in January and my wife and I decided we aren’t prepared to pay that for the year.
 
Thanks you @AdamP88.

The children that my husband don’t have news are those who don’t have internet at home. And it’s up to 100% of his 12 years old children. But it is special education with very few students.

I find it would have make more sense to have exams in August or July, but… the governement should have pay the teachers to supervised the exams as they don’t work during summer break.Too expensive!.. 😋

We said that the 1968 baccalaurate worth nothing because of the historical movement! After that we will have the 2020 baccalaureate!

Yet they speak of remedical course for some students during summer break…

My husband Easter break starts this evening. But the dates of school break vary according to regions to accomodate tourism.

Sorry for your rent. Are you allowed to moove during the quarantine time?
In France it is strongly advise against, but possible if we have no other choice and are able to find swapper who still work… So not easy!
 
Anicette said:
the governement should have pay the teachers to supervised the exams as they don’t work during summer break.Too expensive!.
Click to expand...
In Ireland the teachers get paid to supervise the exams anyway so it will be the same cost for us.
Anicette said:
Yet they speak of remedical course for some students during summer break
Click to expand...
I think some politicians have spoken about this kind of thing here too. Not sure if it will happen though.
Anicette said:
Sorry for your rent. Are you allowed to moove during the quarantine time?
In France it is strongly advise against, but possible if we have no other choice and are able to find swapper who still work… So not easy!
Click to expand...
Yes. I’m wondering if my landlord will seek to negotiate with me because they may be afraid that they won’t get someone in at this time. But we would only be moving to a different property about a kilometre away. I think we have found a place so hopefully we can move. We would have liked to stay where we are but we are trying to save so we can get a mortgage and it’s very difficult when the rent keeps going up. We were a bit salty about it as the landlords didn’t “need” to put it up.
To answer your question, yes we are allowed to move, but there are very few people looking to move right now so I guess that gives us a bit of an advantage now.
 
AdamP88 said:
In Ireland the teachers get paid to supervise the exams anyway so it will be the same cost for us.
Click to expand...
In France, It is part of their service, so no extra paid. But they are paid to correct the exams 5 € for a copy.
AdamP88 said:
Yes. I’m wondering if my landlord will seek to negotiate with me because they may be afraid that they won’t get someone in at this time.
Click to expand...
I hope that you will be able to negociate!

Yes, i agree that to buy a home is ideal compared to rent it.
Yet we have to be fixed in an area before.

Nothing to do with the virus, but my husband learned today that his teaching post have been put “on moove”. That’s mean that an an official ad had been published to called teachers applications.
A teacher who is an holder has priority. The only way he can save his job, as an auxiliary is if nobody else wants the post!
He currently teaches several disciplines to be able to work full time. It would no longer be possible to continue.

That’s hard. He is the only bread winner, we have buy a house recently to him be closer to his work. The area is very rural. There is other posts, but more distant.
I pray that he can keep his post, aNd if not be able, that he can still find somewhere else, and the closer as it can be AND a full time job.
We have to wait and see… but it is very stressfull.
 
@Anicette, why not start a thread in prayer intentions that your husband can keep his job, or that God will offer an even better plan for your family if it is his will? We can all pray for you! 🙂
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top