Lockdown Thoughts

As we head into (officially) week 3 of the UK lock down, I thought I would compile some ‘lockdown thoughts’ about the whole process, and how it has affected us.

I work in an Opticians, so we were quite late to close, as we provide an emergency service. I have been off with the kids for just over a week and I am now teacher, mom, cook, cleaner, judge and jailer. Although, I suppose that’s no different to how things were before, it’s just more intense now!

Dad is still at work, as he is a production manager, and is not in a public facing role. He is classed as a ‘key worker’ as he manufactures parts for hospital equipment.

Stuck At Home

So the kids and I are stuck at home. I am severely anxious about entering any kind of supermarket. We cannot see our family members, or friends, or drive to our normal walking destinations when we want to blow off some steam.

But, I have noticed a few things. The kids are so much closer to me now. They want my attention. They want a cuddle 20 thousand times a day. I’m not sure whether this borders on clingy, but I like it! We laugh, we dance and we are silly with each other.

I admit, for the first week, I worried about their schooling. Whether I’m good enough to teach them everything they need to know. But, Google is our friend, and has got us out of a few sticky situations. I swear, primary work is so much harder than when I was a kid!

Learning To Relax

I have learned to relax and just go with the flow. It’s so much nicer now we aren’t having to adhere to timed schedules. But, it’s taken a lot for me to realise that. I am very controlling (!!) so it is hard for me to loosen the reigns. It has been a complete mindset change.

So I suppose I am quite grateful for the situation as it stands for us. We are fortunate that we haven’t been directly affected by the virus. I am, however, deeply saddened that it has entered so many peoples’ lives, so we will do our part to control the spread.

If I have to go out with the kids, they stay in the car. Or stand outside the shop. (They are safe and watched at all times). When we are out for our daily outdoor time, we stick to our local paths or the park across the road. Luckily, we have that space for the kids to take their bikes, or just run around with a ball. We practice social distancing when needed.

One Thing Outside

Government guidance hasn’t alluded us, but we practice #onethingoutside per day to keep our minds and bodies healthy. I honestly can’t be cooped up without going outdoors. I will go mad!

I’ve realised you can fill your day with so much. We have days when we have completed schoolwork, crafts, baking, outdoor time and still had time to sit and watch a movie or read a book.
Then there are days when we don’t do anything at all! We wake, get dressed and mope around. Before we know it, it’s 5pm and I’ve got to start tea!

I’ve become a master at using up food leftovers, and stretching toilet paper for an extra day. (We weren’t panic buying so have to buy toilet roll as normal!) One nighttime meal can easily become lunch too for the next day, to prolong what we are eating, and spending.

Bittersweet

So it’s a bit serendipitous really. We are having good times mixed in with a sad situation. We WILL be getting on each others nerves from time to time. But we are a strong unit and we will hopefully emerge from this situation even stronger than before.

I will be writing a few gratuitous posts about how I’m feeling and assessing life as it unfolds.

Keep a look out, if you want to read along with me, but these are mostly for the diary side of this blog. So we have somewhere to look in a few years, when we are remembering the year of 2020 and what was in our lockdown thoughts!