As we all hug our families a little tighter before bed I am feeling so many emotions all at once. The excitement on the face of my five year old as he squeezed his special Doggy Teddy tight was infectious but it also hit me like a tonne of bricks that one day in the not too distant future, Doggy Teddy will be relogated to the back of a cupboard as an uncool relic of his childhood. His Cath Kidston London themed room will seem babyish and decorated over with some teenage trend of doom and his desired goodnight kiss will become an embarrassing display of affection from a seriously ‘sad’ mother.
I feel very grateful to have the opportunity to press pause and fully soak in this fleeting moment of their childhood. Wilfred is off to Kindergarten in a few months and somehow things are never quite the same when the regimented school week interrupts plans for fun and spontaneity. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching his character develop and though I fear we are in for a very different sort of parent’s evening over the years, he is impossible not to like and truly hilarious with his wonderfully old fashioned turn of phrase. The boys have had moments of despair and aggravation at each other but for the most part have settled into a fantastic routine and seem closer than ever.
Then the hard bit creeps in. Like so many used to seeing parents and family at least once a week, it seems inconceivable to line up for the expected announcement later we have another three weeks at least of lockdown. It is necessary and the power of FaceTime and family quizzes are making us all closer than ever, but it is so hard.
The deaths on the news are a sombre reminder of the seriousness of the pandemic and each one carries the thought of an entire family lost, alone and unable to grieve in the usual way. The NHS and carers facing the real possibility that they too might not survive but get up and go to work anyway as their duty of care is the greater pull.
In the darkness there is light though with people like Captain Tom in the world. Smashing his £1000 target to do 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday, going on to raise over £12Million and counting.
CBeebies have also come to their senses and filmed a whole week of stories with Tom Hardy. Obviously the children really wanted this, not the mothers at all…
Be rude not to tune in though right?
The Lincolnshire Mummy 