Kiddipedia
When I moved to Australia, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to see my family as much as I would have liked. But we always had a plan in place. Either I was going back to England or my parents were coming here. Plans might be a year apart, but there was always a date to focus on and events planned. It made all our visits more purposeful and meaningful.
Then along came Covid
I spent Christmas 2019 in the UK and my parents came to Australia in February 2020. They were in Australia when the Covid situation started to rise. When they left, they only just managed to get back to England before lockdowns were brought in and international travel was restricted.
I am used to going for long periods of time without seeing my parents, so the situation only hit me this January because they couldn’t come out as usual. Not only have they not come, but there is no way to make plans for them to come over soon. No dates can be set. No tickets can be booked. No events can be planned.
Gotta keep moving on
Day-to-day, it’s not too bad. Life keeps on moving forward. We still speak to them regularly on Facetime and the kids constantly ask when we are going to stay with Granny and Pada. My daughter reads them her stories that she makes up and my son shows them the intricacies of his Transformers.
As it’s school holidays, we plan on creating lots of drawings to post back to England. I may have to fill the envelope with glitter so the grandparents can feel part of things they are missing out on, even the mess that’s created daily!
So we are working to keep that connection tight.
Mixing bowl of emotions
When special days like Mother’s Day rolls around, its bittersweet.
I love getting the hand-made gifts that their school do with the kids. I love getting breakfast in bed or going out for lunch. It’s nice to receive appreciation as their mother.
It will also just remind me that it’s been yet another year since I saw my own mother. A reminder that not only do I miss her, but there is no set date to see her again. Just an abyss of time, floating around with no meaning.
We’ve never made much of a big deal about Mother’s Day in the past. But when the choice to be with your loved ones is taken away, it makes you appreciate the smaller things.
So instead of getting too morose about things I cannot change, I will look for ways to make the best of it.
- I will encourage those with mums close by to visit them for Mother’s Day, even if it’s just for the hugs that I miss.
- I will share the sadness of those who are apart from their family like I am.
- I will comfort my friends who no longer have their mother in their life.
And I will definitely be calling my mum to tell her how much she means to me.
Light at the end of the tunnel
There is a glimmer of hope though. Vaccines are giving people more confidence that life will get back to a bit more normalcy. Certain countries are allowing travel bubbles so people can start moving again.
My parents are in the middle of getting their vaccines completed. I am pinning my hopes on them getting their last needle and hopping on a plane into my bubble for that long awaited hug.
So if you see me at the arrivals gate at Perth Airport, stand aside. And make sure there are plenty of tissues available for both me and my mother.
Katie Dimario is a Perth based copywriter who has her own blog, What Katie Wrote. She shares stories about her children, nicknamed “Bear” and “Frog” and writes about life as the mother of an autistic child.
Her other professional content creation can be found on her website katiedimario.com.
