A chat with a local family to see how social isolation is going for them

Staying indoors, schooling online, and finding ways to keep away the boredom are just some of the challenges faced by parents everywhere. This week, the Press chatted with Shannon Fluney-Acker who, along with her two youngest children, Prezlie (9) and Darris (13), and her husband Darrell, is trying to find rainbows amongst the clouds.

“When we first found out this would be happening, that the schools would be closed and we had to stay home, it was really scary. Everyone was worried about how it would happen, and no-one had any answers. Everything was basically in a blender getting pulled apart.” Her children were both active in extra-curricular activities which were abruptly stopped. “My son’s hockey team had just won its first playoff game and were days away from its second game where they could have won gold. They were all so excited and when they found out the season was done and they wouldn’t get a chance to play again, it was devastating.”

With the initial shock slowly dissipating, Fluney-Acker said she is getting into a rhythm and things are starting to feel better. Most recently, her children started schooling from home through Google Classroom. “They are doing really well with it. It’s set up well and the teachers are doing a great job especially the elementary teachers because the younger kids hadn’t used this program before, so they had to work extra hard to get everyone on track. The teachers are awesome, seriously.”

Not being able to have visitors pop by the house has been a big change for the family as normally friends and family would make regular stops. “My mom would come over almost every day and now we can’t do that so it’s hard. I’m stuck in the house all day long without that adult interaction unless I talk on the phone. Having that face to face interaction is really important to me.”

Filling in the time at home as been a bit of a challenge but she said they have been doing their best to keep busy. “The kids play video games and watch movies, but they also play with toys they didn’t play with as much before. We have been watching movies together as a family and my husband recently taught our son how to make jalapeño cheese bread. It was fun watching them get their hands full of dough and have fun with it,” she said. “I was quite surprised at how well they worked together.”

Her daughter has been getting into baking, too, and they have plans to make more goodies together soon. “She helped me make banana bread. She wasn’t as into it as her brother was, but she stirred things and had fun.” Fluney-Acker said that although the situation with COVID-19 is scary to think about, she is focusing on cherishing the moments with her family and enjoying the extra time they are getting to spend together. “I’ve been learning about what my kids learn in school and I’m learning how to help them and understand what they are doing. I like that,” she explained.

“I’m really happy we have a yard for them to run around in and expel some energy and that they have been really good at finding things to do.” She said they are sad they can’t see their friends, but they are making the best of it. “My son said he wishes he could go to school because he is bored at home, but he knows why he can’t. He understands. I plan on teaching him how to clean more,” she laughed. “There’s always something that can be cleaned at home.” They recently did some minor renovations at home and Darris worked alongside his dad.

Star Wars movies, relaxing, and extra cuddles are on the calendar for the foreseeable future and, after that, she said they will find new things to do. “We are going to take advantage of this time at home together so when we look back on this pandemic, we will remember doing fun things together and not so much about the scary stuff. I think, as parents, it’s important for us to make our kids feel safe and loved and that’s exactly what we are going to do.”