Combating coronavirus: Parents and their singular mission today

Dubai - We are getting a lot of this stuff about adding a new and exciting dimension to this stay-home dictate. But for most of us, nothing will change.

Yesterday was a long time ago. And the worrying part is that there is no signposting on this road of how far away the destination is. And truly, if there is a destination, what is its specific texture.

The thing is we have to keep travelling the best we can in whatever transport we have and it is our duty as parents to keep our families safe. More than a duty, it has become a mission.

I was watching a film called 'Courageous' about the role of fathers specifically in a young child's life, and never has that role been more vital or more on centre stage than it is today.

You see we are getting a lot of this stuff about adding a new and exciting dimension to this stay-home dictate. Write a book. Outpaint Rembrandt. Learn a language, learn a new discipline, play the piano. Sounds good and all the gurus and social pundits bent on improving your life advocate some grand opus, but it is not going to happen. For most of us, there will be nothing epic. That book will not be written, the saga of the poem unfinished, the painting an empty canvas, the music lessons untouched. When this blight ends we will not have succeeded in any grand endeavour, certainly for most of us it will be mimeographed days telescoping into each other until you do not know Tuesday from Thursday.

This is because we are human and flawed and live lives of unfulfilled intent. On this background for once we have a common intent. The moral obligation to protect and keep safe and secure our families and be there for the journey. That is a commitment and a mission bigger than any book or painting. So remember and let it not be forgotten that when we do something stupid, take a risk, play the odds, defy the rules, disobey the instructions, we are not beating the system, we are defeating ourselves and placing our families in jeopardy. Besides compromising that singular duty towards them...getting them across to that unknown destination.

So man up and drive carefully. Follow the rules, keep that safe distance, use the child lock on the car, don't be reckless and just like you would drive your car drive your life and stay well, stay safe.