My name is Caroline, I’m 12 years old and I am isolating with my brother, mum and dad in Edinburgh, Scotland. I’m used to having a busy schedule, so it is quite strange to now have lots of time to spare. I have found that I need to retain at least some of my business to stay motivated, so I have been attending virtual ballet, violin and piano lessons via Skype, and of course, writing for The Curious Times!
I am not a fan of early mornings so in a way this has been a blessing, as I get to hold onto an extra hour or so of sleep before waking up at around 8 o’ clock. I then eat a quick breakfast and sit down for the school day. I have been quite enjoying online school, it is a way to keep busy though it is strange not to have other people around. My parents are both working from home for most of the week, and my brother is also attending online school. Because we sometimes have different meeting times, workloads etc, we sometimes don’t actually see each other lots during the day. I have been trying to stick to my timetable by having a break at 10:45 am and lunch at 1:00 pm, occasionally my brother has his break at the same time and we go into the garden for a bit of fresh air, our heated table tennis matches are a highlight of the week!
I’m worried about my grandparents. They live in the north of Scotland and are quite far away from the nearest city. They are fiercely independent and in normal times are often found at the golf course or on long walks, so being cooped up in the house all day is difficult (my Granny has basically torn up the lawn practising her golf.) My Granda has very weak lungs, so it would be very bad if he were to catch Covid-19.
On a more positive note, I have really been enjoying the sense of community in my area, everyone is working as a team and every Thursday at 8 o’clock we all enjoy Clapping for our Carers together. The first thing I am going to do when we get out of lockdown isn’t very exciting, I would go for a walk and not worry so much about keeping my distance from people