Today my son goes back to school. It has been three months since our world went crazy. Today life starts getting back to normal.

We left for Malaysia for a relaxing 10 day holiday. We stayed for three weeks. Another holiday that did not go as expected.

Two days into what was supposed to be a time for us to be together as a family, the Chinese government announced a comprehensive plan to fight the corona virus that was spreading throughout the country. Our school would be closed for an extra two weeks. My husband, a school principal, went into crisis management mode, communicating with staff and parents the school’s plans while the situation changed on a daily basis.

My son started remote learning, his lessons sent online by his amazing teachers. I had committed to full-time university study. Luckily (or unluckily) my subjects were already online as I was studying externally.

For the next three weeks we worked out of a series of hotel rooms while we waited for school to re-open. There was no relaxing family time together. (Although we did get to see some amazing sunsets.)

Then the announcement that school would be closed indefinitely. We couldn’t continue working out of hotel rooms. We couldn’t afford it. So we went to Australia to stay with my family. At the time Australia seemed the safest place to be.

My son continued remote learning and had his first experience of attending school in Australia. My husband continued in crisis management mode trying to keep a school community together that was spread across the world. And I kept studying!

For the next four weeks we worked at my parents dining table while we waited for school to re-open. We got to spend time with my parents, siblings, nieces and nephews. (It was the longest time I have spent with my family since I left home when I was 18!)

Four weeks later we could see that China was starting to get things under control. In the meantime, the rest of the world was starting to feel the effects. My husband was called back to work to prepare for a re-opening sometime in the future. We decided to go with him because we thought that if we stayed in Australia we probably wouldn’t see each other for what could be months. (In hindsight this would have been our reality as China soon closed its borders to foreign nationals.)

Then followed one of the scariest times of my life. Flying into a foreign country not knowing what we would find there. What would happen?

Luckily we were quarantined for two weeks in our apartment. Only allowed to open our door once or twice a day to pass out rubbish and collect food deliveries. (And yes, we are the lucky ones as we got to stay in our own home and sleep in our own beds that we hadn’t been in for seven weeks.)

Two weeks of more study, remote learning, crisis communication. Never leaving our apartment. Then freedom to move (but wearing a mask all the time and washing our hands regularly). School reopening dates announced.

Today my son goes back to school. It has been three months since our world went crazy. Today life starts getting back to normal.

For family and friends around the world still in lock down or similar; stay safe, keep calm, remain patient, this too will pass. We all have a responsibility to do what we can to help save lives.