Maggie’s Diary from Coronavirus (Manchester UK)

When the schools were ‘Lockdowned’ (is that a word?), I asked , via Twitter, whether there were any school children who would like to write a 7 Day Diary about ‘Life under Lockdown’, which I would publish in the Virtual Tea Towel Museum in a section called ‘We’re all in this together’.  As in any other Museum, a ‘real’ Museum, there are often Special Collections.  It seemed to me that it was important to record how people are feeling, what they are doing during this strange period.  If you post your thoughts on Twitter, it is a fleeting comment but in the Museum, it will be there for evermore.

Maggie was one of the first people to volunteer.  She is the granddaughter of @thebakingnanna1, for Twitter fans.  I was expecting a lot about baking online but this was a very thoughtful, and reflective, piece.

I always said that each diary would be ‘linked’ to a tea towel (and that I would provide the tea towel); I chose these two because of Maggie’s reference to a proposed trip to China later in the year and The fact that some of her family live there.  The tea towel of the Great Wall of China was a Calendar Tea Towel that I bought when I was there in 1987; the second, scary, tea towel is of Mao Zedong.  It was brought back from China, last year, as a present for me.  It is strange wiping up with Mao Zedong looking up at me.

Here is Maggie’s Diary:

Monday 23 March 2020

It’s only been one week since I started  staying at home, but, it feels unreal.  Nothing like this has really happened in life before and when something new hits you (and you haven’t experienced it) and have got to deal with it, it puts you under stress:(.  I keep seeing updates on the news…….”COVID-19 this……COVID-19 that…..) and we (family) are finding it hard to shop as people aren’t thinking twice about what they are doing and panic-buying lots of supplies like toilet rolls, eggs and pasta.  It’s like an apocalypse!!!   Anyway, I have hardly got a reason to worry as only 1 or 2 people have it in my area…..but should I be worried?  

Tuesday 24 March 2020

Nothing very good has happened yet…we’re still waiting for the news:/. You can’t run away from it (if you know what I mean), it’s always grabbing you back and pulling you away from doing anything fun.  One thing that really annoys me is that a lot of people that I know have suddenly turned into Expert Scientists and think they know everything about COVID-19……I was in a panic because we were planning to go to China later this year and a lot of my family live over there, where it started and has been so bad.  I just still can’t believe how big it’s gotten.

Wednesday 25 March 2020

I woke up today feeling a little brighter.  I’d finally gotten used to this whole situation and just accepted that it was happening.  I have to HomeSchool/online work now and it’s weird not seeing my classmates every day, but just speaking to them on Class Apps.  They’ve also said they’re feeling the same way as most people in quarantine: bored.  When you stay home for a long period of time you realise that it’s….boring.  I thought it’d be a good thing to get away from school and the outside world, but now, not so much.

Thursday 26 March 2020

Today, I finished my week’s worth of work and it was tricky as there was no teacher;  the only help I had was my Mum but she’s working from home too so she can’t provide me with help all of the time.  I’ve just found out that tonight at 8pm people all across the UK are clapping outside their houses to say thank you to NHS for helping us through this hard time.  It’s a very nice thing to do and I wonder who came up with it?

Friday 27 March 2020

Last night people in our area (and lots of them) actually did clap!  It makes me happy that a lot of people had respect for them.  We’re also officially on lockdown which just shows how serious this is getting for the UK.  It’s night time now and we’re having a ‘Movie Night’ where we all sit together and watch a movie:).  we’re watching the new ‘Lady and the Tramp’ which is one of mine and Mum’s favourites.

Saturday 28 March 2020

Today some unsurprising news was released.  Boris Johnson has tested positive for COVID-19.  It was ALL OVER the news and now he’s working from his home.  Though, the worrying thing is that he shook hands with people, before he was diagnosed, or so I’ve heard.  I’ve been talking to my classmates and keeping up with them, it’s quite fun and is one of the things I do when I’m bored now :).  I miss them.

Sunday 29 March 2020

It’s annoying how nice the weather is when we can’t go out and enjoy it.  The only place to go is the back garden (if you have one).  It’s supposed to be nice and warm soon which will be better than cold and rain :).  I’ve been talking to my relatives today but we can only talk to them through a phone call or FaceTime due to the Social Distancing Policy.  I had no more work to do today which was quite relaxing.  It’s been fun keeping a diary of my thoughts and feelings.  we don’t know how long this is going to go on for and it’s been a rollercoaster so far.  Who knows what the future will bring.  Stay safe everyone.  Maggie 

Thank you so much, Maggie, for sharing your thoughts and feelings.  There will be lots of other people who will be feeling the same as you: bewildered, bored, uncertain.  Thank you for also making me learn how to do 🙂 and :(, although I’m not sure ill ever use them again.