Emily Thompson

We’re in self-isolation, due to two of our family members being immunosuppressed. For now, it’s frustrating but not the end of the world. I have friends dropping off coffee and bread every few days, the kids are able to log in to school to do their work each day and my wonderful gp did my regular appointment over the phone so I could avoid the clinic this week. I am determined to use this time well, and to make this a positive experience for my husband and I as well as the kids. How you ask?

Project Gutenberg offers free eBooks, lots of wonderful classics that I’ve “been meaning to read”. However first I’m going to reread my absolute favourite- Dracula. It’s still the only book that has ever scared me. Speaking of books, my local book shop is currently happy to do phone orders and post them out, I’ve just bought the new Marian Keyes book from them.

Coursera offers free short courses. I’ve done a sustainability course through the University of Illinois, a course about how to be more organised as a teacher (that I didn’t finish. I’m a very, very, very creative teacher, but certainly not an organised one), and I’ve just enrolled in an art appreciation course through MOMA. They got me in with their van Gogh painting. Speaking of van Gogh…

Virtual museum tours are available through google arts and culture- both an app and a website. From your couch you can explore Yellowstone national park, Pompeii, head backstage at the Paris Opera and stroll through the Van Gogh Museum. There is a projector option- you can use your phone or tablet to project life sized paintings in front of you. It’s breathtaking. Yes, I have Starry Night projected in front of me as I type this.

MasterChef recipes are all available online. Despite watching every episode of MasterChef to ever air, and trying a lot of the recipes out myself, I’ve never made a croquembouche tower. Today is the day I will change that, or more likely, burn down my kitchen while trying.  Move over salad, it’s a dessert-for-dinner kind of day.

Uber eats & Menulog are there for you if you don’t feel like cooking. I live in country NSW and still our Menulog options are great. I can only imagine the joy of living in a city and being spoiled for choice. Throw in duolingo for some language exposure and you’ve turned ordering noodles into a cultural learning opportunity. Try and beat that, school curriculum.

Netflix & Stan are your bffs this week. Honestly, has there ever been a better time to be at home for a while? We have long been Netflix subscribers, but have recently joined Stan too. We are enjoying the extensive comedy shows available on both, a wonderful, lighthearted distraction.

And this is the thing, you might need a bit of a distraction today. Washing hands, practicing social distancing and self-isolation if you are sick or immunocompromised are the best defenses right now. But it doesn’t mean you have to be locked in a state of panic with 24hour rolling news coverage. Fear and uncertainty over the future isn’t going to improve anything.  Read a book, bake an overly complicated French dessert. Build a pillow fort with the family and settle into the couch. Just don’t forget to project a Van Gogh onto the wall behind you.

Emily Thompson also writes at www.thegoodenoughparentblog.com