Postcards with love

It has taken a long time to get my head round the whole Coronavirus Lockdown thing and now, three weeks into it, I am finally feeling a little more relaxed about it all (with a gargantuan effort) However, it seems the local schools were extremely well prepared from the off.

The Friday before Lockdown, the girls came home with their school iPads and a load of books and on the Sunday night before their first day of online school, we had emails, with a detailed schedule for my 13-year-old secondary school daughter. This schedule involved days beginning online at 08:30 and finishing between 16:30 and 17:30. My Mittelstufe 10-year-old daughter had a more relaxed schedule, with a list of work needing to be completed each day by herself but which involved online work and online messaging with her other classmates.

But the very best thing was a delivery on the first week from school into our mailbox of 20 franked postcards. Every week, each child is given the name of another classmate to whom they must write a little positive letter. She loves looking for her postcards each week and reading them. She keeps them in pride of place on her wall, in a growing collection of positivity.

I thought this is a wonderful way of connecting the children during quarantine. We have also done cards for family in the UK and on Monday I sent two parcels to a friend in Switzerland who is really struggling to work from home with her little ones onboard. They were just parcels made up of things my children have grown out with, including a Wallace & Gromit DVD, which I know they will love. She sent me a gorgeous little video message with their glowing faces and thank yous.

As well as Facetime and Zoom apps perhaps we can also return to snail mail at this time. It’s such a lovely way to keep in touch and there is nothing better than getting a personal letter or little package in the post. My children love it – even my normally moody 13-year-old can’t resist her pleasure at receiving post.

So yes, I’m still struggling with this weird Coronavirus twilight world we’re living in but focusing on small details of love is helping enormously.

Share a little of that Christmas excess with those in need

For many people, Christmas is a time of excess, with sumptuous food and lots of presents. Others have very little, even at Christmas. But here in Switzerland you can help!

The 19th ‘2 x Christmas’ campaign starts on Thursday 24 December 2015 and will run until Saturday 9 January 2016. The basic idea behind the campaign is to share a bit of this excess with others.

If you would like to get involved and help to make someone in need especially happy this holiday season you have two possibilities. You can buy a parcel online or put together your own parcel and drop it off at any Post Office near to you. The Post transports the parcels to the Swiss Red Cross free of charge and volunteers sort the contents.

Half of the donations will then be distributed through cantonal Red Cross associations to social institutions and people in need across Switzerland. The rest of the goods will be transported to Eastern Europe: mainly Armenia, Belarus and Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Moldova. The local Red Cross societies are ensuring the correct distribution to the people in need which are mostly elderly, families with many children or social institutions.

Things to put in your parcel:

• Non-perishable foodstuffs such as pasta, rice, oil and tinned goods with a shelf life of at least six months
• Toiletries such as soap, shampoo and toothpaste
• School equipment such as stationery, crayons and exercise books for children
• New children's shoes

There is no need for special packaging. An old card board box that closes well is sufficient. Please don't donate any clothes because they are already provided via old clothes collections, and sorting them generates a lot of additional effort. Cuddly toys are also not needed.

Take your parcel to the nearest post office between 24 December 2015 and 9 January 2016, free of charge. The Post offices have printed address labels ready. All you have to say is say ‘2 x Christmas’.

www.2xweihnachten.ch/en