Thursday, Apr 2, 2020
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Jaime Rapley with children (from left) Jack, 4, Piper, 3, and baby Harry, 1.
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A whirlwind of activity, every day By Sue Newman
Adapting to life
THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF MID CANTERBURY
With three children under five, the Covid-19 lockdown means there are no quiet moments in Jaime and Paul Rapley’s lives. Jack, 4, Piper, 3 and Harry, 1 create a home that’s a whirlwind of activity all day, every day. Paul, an engineer, is not working, and for that Jaime’s grateful, it’s someone to share the care load. She, however, counts herself lucky that for a few hours each week she can walk out the door and head to work. It’s her job to keep tabs on the chlorine supplies for Ashburton’s drinking
water supplies as part of the Aqua Care team and she’s always happy when the call comes that a supply needs to be topped up because that means a childfree hour or two. One week into lockdown, the couple have no complaints. As a family they’re simply enjoying spending time together. “So far it’s going well. We just take each day as it comes. It’s great when it’s fine weather but when it’s raining it’s a bit rough though,” she said. They’ve established what she describes as a “lax routine”. “We get up, have breakfast and then set a goal, one big job for the day. Then there’s outdoor play and in the after-
noon we do another activity.” The family escapes outdoors as often as possible, and count themselves lucky to have a large backyard with a trampoline. They also hit the footpaths along with many others. “When we’re out walking now, it’s insane the number of others out walking, it’s great to see,” Jaime said. Jack and Piper are usually at preschool for some of the week and the care load is often shared with her mother who comes down from Christchurch. For her mum, the lockdown is hard, but regular Skype and message dates allow her to keep in contact with her grandchildren.
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