On Sunday morning, as we approached the end of the fifth week of lockdown 2.0, I found myself glued to the TV set waiting with bated breath for the start of the news conference with the Victorian Premier. Like many Victorian families and other small business operators, I watched the news conference with much trepidation. The last few months has been extremely challenging. Pushing many of us to near breaking point.

At the news conference, the Victorian Premier announced the roadmap for both metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria. Unfortunately but not surprisingly, here in metropolitan Melbourne, our current lockdown stage was extended by two weeks. Many people, including myself, were disappointed by the news. Although we are super eager for the kids to return back to school, cafes and restaurants to reopen and extracurricular activities to restart, I want this lockdown to be our last lockdown. If it means we need a few more extra weeks of lockdown to achieve this, I’m willing to wait. I’m not interested in playing the blame game, I just want to get on with it and get to the other end of the lockdown tunnel.

At the end of this week, it is the start of our Term 3 school holidays. Normally, this would be the time that we go away on holiday as a family. Obviously, this will not be happening this year. With the 5km restriction firmly in place, the 3 weeks of school holidays will seem very long. Not sure what we will do yet, I will definitely reach out to other parents for some ideas. Maybe some art and craft? Longer walks around the neighbourhood. Family boardgames evenings - Scrabble, Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit. Gardening - planting some seedlings. Loads of baking and testing new recipes. Or possibly teach our youngest to ride her bike.

An important lesson that I’ve learnt from the global pandemic, to appreciate what we have and not take our health or family and friends for granted. Life is too short for regrets. This year, with the multiple lockdowns and the long periods of isolation, many families have been separated from their loved ones. Us, included. I’m looking forward to the day when I grab a coffee with a friend, eat a delicious meal with my family and travel interstate or overseas. The latter, might be awhile off but it won’t stop me dreaming of our next big adventure .