Our household has now become a number in the pandemic.
To be honest, for a while there it felt like we might be immune. While I know that's not a realistic possibility, the close calls had been numerous, and even a cheeky cold had made itself a bother, but stillthe RAT tests remained single-lined and the supermarket visits numerous.
Oh how glorious the good old days were. Need bread and some salt? Off we would wander, not a care in the world, to go and spend $73 and get home and realise we hadn't even got the salt.
Even deep in the middle of a national lockdown, a well planned supermarket visit was still on the cards, but not when you're a positive-case household.
"You'll be negative," joked our 11-year-old to Miss 13, as the swab swirled the inside of her nose.
"Probably," she replied, echoing the rest of the family's thoughts. I still had the panicked thoughts of "What am I going to buy for Mothers' Day" rolling through my mind as I aimlessly strolled out the door to the garage to check the lawnmower fuel.
"She's got Covid!" yelled the kids somewhat excitedly, considering the implications.
I thought they were joking. I saw the test. Two lines. Could she have faked it? Again, wishful thinking.
It was only through a stroke of luck timing-wise, and good fortune, that the cupboards were well stocked and I'd bought up a few boxes of painkillers, I know some are not so fortunate.
The rest of the family got swabbing furiously, internally examining ourselves, "Is my throat sore? Have I sneezed lately? What are the other symptoms?"
It was one-liners all round. We got to work distancing ourselves from our now very sneezy little mate, and hoped for the best.
Mothers' Day came and went, and I was thankful for some cheeky frozen seafood I could prepare for my wife (sorry we couldn't take you out to that super fancy very expensive restaurant and on the helicopter ride and all that other stuff I had definitely planned weeks in advance Honey).
A Monday morning swab for me was met with a somewhat damp reception in my nose, but nothing I was overly concerned about, but my blasé attitude was soon to be cut down as I joined the world of the two-liners.
I'll never take a supermarket visit for granted again.
