Day 28: Tania and Tom Gasnier, with Hazel, 4, and Jack, 1, from Mt Wellington.
Day 28: Tania and Tom Gasnier, with Hazel, 4, and Jack, 1, from Mt Wellington.
An Auckland family is combating coronavirus lockdown boredom by dressing up in different costumes every day.
Tania and Tom Gasnier, along with their two children Hazel, 4, and 1-year-old Jack, have enjoyed the stress-busting fancy dress bubble challenge every day of the Covid-19 alert level 4 lockdown.
The Gasniers marked Anzac Day today by dressing up at their front gate. Photo / Supplied
Friends have been buoyed to see their daily online updates with fun, striking photographs of them posing as pirates, robbers, prisoners on the run, and re-enacting scenes and characters from films and shows like The Matrix, Joe Dirt, Jurassic Park and Tiger King.
And today, they marked Anzac Day by dressing up in camouflaged army fatigues at their letterbox with a homemade poppy sign.
Tania, a 39-year-old graphic designer for a travel company, said the idea came as lockdown loomed large and she envisaged the challenges that lay ahead.
"I really wanted to find something to keep things a little more upbeat," she said.
Day 1: Belated St Pats day. Photo / Supplied
Day 10: Crikey! Photo / Supplied
Day 12: I was made for lovin' you, baby. Photo / Supplied
Day 29: Jurassic Park. Photo / Supplied
"You're obviously really aware of all the bad things happening worldwide and I just didn't want to get bogged down with that.
"It just started off as a personal mental health project for myself. I wanted to have a little fun every day and have something to look forward to as something to do as a family."
"We're big kids at heart and have always enjoyed dressing up for parties," Tania said.
"Whenever we travel somewhere, we usually try to bring back something from that place, so when we went to Egypt we brought back the Egyptian head pieces."
Tania Gasnier has especially enjoyed re-enacting scenes from famous movies, like The Matrix. Photo / Supplied
Day 19: Tiger King. Photo / Supplied
Taking the kids on walks around their Mount Wellington neighbourhood has attracted some double-takes, Tania said, but they've had lots of positive feedback.
And the kids – especially 4-year-old Hazel – have embraced the challenge.
"She's a little star in the making and loves to be in front of the camera," her mum said.
They've not missed a day yet, although Tania says that on lockdown day 19 she could only post a photo with the words "On strike" written on her forehead.
Day 28: Tania and Tom Gasnier, with Hazel, 4, and Jack, 1, from Mt Wellington.
"I was really struggling that day, having an absolutely low day where everything just hit me, so I tried to go on strike but no one was letting me have it," she said.
"There's been lots of lovely feedback, with people saying it's been keeping them going and giving them something to look forward to. If I'm a little bit late in posting, they're very quick to tell me."
The Gasniers have already made costume plans for the last two days of alert level 4 lockdown – but after Monday, like most other Kiwis, they hope that life will begin to return to a level of normality.
