Well that’s another week done of lockdown. This week we got the confirmation we had all been waiting for. Schools definitely wouldn’t be back after half term. I guess we all expected it, so it didn’t seem too much of a bitter blow.
As usual I have very little to talk about with life so much like Groundhog Day, so I thought I’d share some of my observations this week.
It’s really hard to stay on top of your calendar when you don’t really do anything so don’t normally need to check it. I dropped and smashed my first important spinning plate this week and forgot to take Sybbie to her second jabs. I felt awful, guilty and fearful of the wrath of the receptionist on the rebook. On reflection, a plate smash was bound to happen at some point so I’ve stopped beating myself up. We got rebooked for early next week so all will be fine.
My mind has so many thoughts spinning all at once, I often have a mental list to google that’s so long, I forget half the things once I’ve got the chance to actually do it. Most of them aren’t vital but more things like “order trousers” for my eldest. The reminder I’ve not done it hits when he puts on some tight cropped trousers that definitely are supposed to be full length. At some point it will be the Ocado order that remains unedited and we end up with whatever random concoction I added to the basket to secure the delivery slot. Telling your husband to remind you definitely isn’t the answer. You end up in a constant conversation loop of asking each other back and forth “What did I tell you to remind me?” Followed by “You forgot to remind me.”
The home school catch phrase here is definitely “The quicker you get your work done, the more time you will have to play.” Time hasn’t helped the concept sink in. It’s still muttered at least 7 times a day ranging from a Mary Poppins voice in the morning, to a gritted teeth sarcastic offering by the afternoon. Anyone else found themselves dreaming “Now how could you add in a conjunction or adjective to that sentence?”
Letting things be really help you feel less guilty. I find it a more positive way of phrasing it as I’m not putting the effort in of letting it go, just letting it be. My main example this week is screen time. Wilf spends so much time on the iPad, if I let it go completely, his American accent impression would become his permanent voice. Letting it be meant I fired up his Amazon kindle fire with lots of educational games and hid my iPad so YouTube kids has a break. He might still spend too long on a screen but at least it’s now educational.
We worry way too much. Days out, holidays, play dates, toys, none of it is as important to your children as time with you. Neither of my boys have mentioned wanting to go somewhere or do something they can’t do, they just want to do the simple things like ride their bikes. This week they wanted their dad to join in. Their excited little faces as their dad did laps of the garden too. It will be that memory they hold onto. Not sadness they couldn’t go on a day out and we will get to do all that again one day.
My positive pants are firmly pulled up ready for week 3000 of lockdown, though I fear they will be down by my ankles by Wednesday. One day at a time eh?
The Lincolnshire Mummy 