COVID-2019 — How life changed for a Software Engineer +Mother

Memories — SG Government gave 500ml free sanitiser for every household in Singapore

Today, we are living in a global pandemic where our lives have changed like we never imagined, where we have been questioned for the very basic things, and where I have discovered some amazing things about me -

I work as a Software Engineer in a MNC. With the global recession coming in, it might not affect my work or the thing I do at office drastically. I am fortunate to have reached this stage where I dont live on a brink of livelihood and can sustain amidst a recession. This pandemic has however made me do things which I never thought I will be able to do and here are some of those :

1. Not going to malls/No online shopping — I have lived in Singapore since I was 24. I didnt have a huge group of close friends here so mall were always a place where I would like to spend time, see the crowd and do shopping(mostly window shopping though) Mall was the place where I would also hang out with my daughter and my husband since it easily keeps us entertained and saves us from the gruelling heat in Singapore. But with COVID-19 outbreak I stopped going to malls for obvious reasons of reducing risk of infections. Not that I have done an extra ordinary sacrifice by doing it, but I felt that I am not really as addicted to malls as I thought I am.
2. Living with in-laws- Its been 5 years of staying with my inlaws. They are just like any other parents- loving, cranky etc. And I dont particularly enjoy at this age another pair of eyes continuosly judging me. But having to work from home since 3 weeks now, I realised living with them isnt such a herculean task. They do give me my space, and so do I. We stay pretty happily together.
3. Daughter Time — I have been working since 2010(10 years now). I took break only for 4 months after my daughter was born. Which means I never got to spend unlimited time with my daughter. I loved being a working mom, but there were times when I used to feel like just giving up on that office and being in her innocent world for the day. With COVID-19, I stopped sending my daughter to school. Which meant, it was the first time that we were at our house whole day together. This is our second week. She loves her school, but she loves being at home. That feeling makes me feel so proud. Shes a sweet heart and I love the time we are spending each day together at the moment.
4. Reflection- Life was quite fast paced, and that idiom of “Where did all those years go by” fits perfectly well for me too. This time at home, is probably the first time I reflected back in my life. How did I reach here, what good have I dont, where can I improve. It helped me think and judge myself more holistically than ever before.
5. Husband Time — My husband is a full time sports professional. Sport events usually happen during weekends, which is also when the IT sector celebrates after toiling for the whole week. Thats why post marriage the IT + Sports combination never really worked in our favour. When I used to be in a mood to relax and watch movie on a Friday night, my husband would have been sleeping by 10pm so as to rest well for his weekend tournaments. Before marriage we were in a long distance relationship. In short, we never really got time to spend with each other unless we planned that time deliberately. With COVID-2019 life seem to have paused. Maybe the recession had badly hit his business but we were together for coffees, for chats, for board games, for going to the playground and appreciating how flexible our daughter is, for going to the grocery shop to buy vegetables, for going to the icecream shop for satisfying our sugar cravings, for running those miles to get fitter, for climbing those 60 floors in hopes to loose weight, for eating bread pakodas with chai and for many priceless moments. Moments we never spent before.