I sigh as I put down the phone, leaving another parent upset. We are adjusting as fast as we can and probably faster than most. Misunderstanding the reason for closing schools and settings has been a central facet of my week. It wasn’t helped by the ‘list’. Who is ‘entitled’? Well, not the people who normally are; some things money can’t buy.
We were assiduous in who we offered places to, and this was hard. We have been through a paradigm shift and at one stage I looked dolefully at our childcare manager and asked her: was it me that was mad and everyone else that was sane because it felt like we were swimming against an ever-strengthening tide. What mattered was that we didn’t become part of the problem and that the vulnerable in our community didn’t pay the price for convenience.
If it hadn’t been for my team – loyal, sensible, clear and honest – I think I would have thrown in the towel. It brought home to me that in building a happy, effective team, everyone is supported. In these times when nothing is certain, you can see the truth of a person – and I am proud and somewhat humbled by what I have seen.
So, to hope. I hope that some of the hard lessons we are learning won’t be forgotten when everything ‘returns to normal’. I hope that we will value more of what has been taken away; the hello to a stranger, the joy of conversation, the hug from a family member or friend, a loaf of bread on the shelf, going to work, being at school and the freedom to walk where we want, when we want.
I hope that the vague, slightly unnatural, virtual world we have created is put into its proper place – a sideshow to the main event. I hope that the importance of those that ‘service’ our lives and the value that we place on them is translated from a Thursday-evening clap to a deeper sense of worth, reflected in their status.
I hope we show our planet the respect it deserves, reassess our value system and remember not to take a kind heart and warm smile for granted. There is true hope in tragedy, and the opportunity for something so much better, kinder and realer to rise from the ashes is where we can focus our minds for the coming weeks and months.