While 2020 was truly the 1ply toilet paper of years, for Candice and David Warner, the pandemic-induced restrictions have had their benefits.
With David travelling less last year due to COVID, the cricketer was able to spend his days at home for once – meaning the family got to share some rare milestones for the very first time.
WATCH: David and Candice Warner take on Flip The Switch challenge
It was not even a week ago that David Warner, 34, returned from his Brisbane “cricket bubble” after Australia lost to India in this year’s Test.
The plus side of the defeat was that the 34-year-old was finally reunited with his wife and daughters Ivy Mae, six, Indi Rae, five, and Isla Rose, one.
Speaking of middle child Indi’s recent birthday celebrations, Candice confesses that David’s absence meant that “this year was very low key”.
“It wasn’t much of a party because David was playing cricket and was in his cricket bubble and he wasn’t able to join us and we couldn’t be together”.
But while David is usually the one away from the pack, last year saw Candice, 35, part from her family and star on extreme reality show, SAS Australia.
The former Iron Woman competed alongside sixteen other recruits in what can only be described as extremely gruelling mental and physical challenges.
Though fans were devastated when the 35-year-old was booted from the show, Candice has admitted that her time on SAS led to so much more than she could have imagined, even though she didn’t make it through the selection process.
“At the time I thought I was doing (the show) for my friends and my family. And I was. But, I think, now that the show’s gone to air, it’s the difference that I’ve made in so many other people’s lives that I didn’t realise,” she says.
“For them to feel like they can reach out to me with their problems or they’ve been in similar situations in the past and finally being able to open up to someone has actually blown me away.
“You know, people not even knowing me and saying ‘I’ve never written to anyone before but this is what I’ve been through and seeing your story and your honesty has really helped me’. Knowing I’ve done that to other people is more than I ever anticipated or would have thought.”
With mother, and more often father, away from their kids due to work commitments, last year’s lockdown saw the Warner family united for the longest they have been in a while.
It is for this reason the mum-of-three confesses she and David “embraced” the isolation period as it meant the entire family could finally share some milestones that they never had before.
“David for the first time wasn’t travelling with the cricket,” Candice says. “So he was able to be home and be with the family. We spent a wedding anniversary together for the first time, he got to see his daughter go to school for the first time. There were so many firsts. He got to see his daughter walk for the first time”.
Proud parents Candice and David have been married since 2015 and, though they were over the moon to engage in some much-cherished family time, Candice confesses that lockdown was not without its challenges, particularly when it came to home-schooling.
“Ivy, my eldest, had just started kindergarten and was learning to read and write, So it wasn’t easy managing the attention span of a six-year-old, however with ABC’S Reading Eggs app, that did make my job as a mum and as a makeshift teacher that little bit easier.”
The couple’s middle child, Indi, is following her older sister Ivy to big school this year, but Candice admits there are some reservations about the five-year-old taking this step.
“I thought (Indi) was excited, and she is excited, but she put on her school uniform for the first time today and hates it. And hates school shoes. So I think that’s going to be our next challenge for next week.
“She’s very stubborn so persuading her sometimes can be a little difficult.”
Despite the hardships of motherhood, Candice acknowledges that her family is the most important thing in her life.
“Everything I do is for my kids,” Candice says.
“They just inspire me every single day to be a better person, to make better decisions, to be selfless”.
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