Staying Home, Saving Lives - A Covid19 Diary, Week Three

The end of our third week in isolation coincides with a day that I find tough at the best of times, my Dad's birthday, and it's harder than I expected it to be last year. I have nowhere to escape to.

So despite being really lucky (I have my home, my family, my garden and a good book, to name but a few things I'm grateful for), it's been hard to think of the positives. As always, the kids have pulled me through, even if they're currently driving me crazy by playing the YMCA on repeat...

In general, I'm still trying to keep my head under the covers and ignore the statistics and news reports. I was worried when Boris Johnson was in ICU, he may not be my favourite person but I wouldn't wish him, or anyone else, ill. I kept a vague eye on the updates and relied on Matt to let me know when he was moved onto a normal ward.

Like others, I sat and watched the Queen address the nation and felt, once again, like this is a moment in history that people will want to look back on. Not at me particularly, my life in lockdown is pretty mundane, but at humanity as a whole. It's one of those times when you feel part of something momentous.

So, as the kids move on to Party Rock Anthem (they're supposed to be tidying their room, but instead they appear to be having some sort of party), I'll let you know a summary of our week.

School

Both the kids and I cope much better with a routine in place, and so although it is technically the Easter holidays this week, I have been continuing with some of our home learning. The school hasn't provided anything over the break and so I'm flying solo and working hard trying to think of topic and challenges that appeal to my children's interests.

For Ollie, this has meant dinosaur maths worksheets and some reading, he likes to play more than Lily and will do a task or two before disappearing to do something else. He's been playing with a wide variety of his toys which has been nice to see, I guess he's used to having so many different toys and activities in Reception that I'm happy for him to just learn through play. When we're together we've been working on telling the time and Ollie has invented his own monster character for the 'Land of Griffin'.

With Lily, we've been writing more of our 'Enchanted Elvenia' story, working through writing prompts and outlining more of the story line. She's also been reading lots and so we're starting to write book reviews of each one.

In art and craft we made shields using the designs for our magical land coat of arms which was easy and fun. We then used a monster scratch art kit that Ollie received as a gift to help us think about more characters for our magical lands, I fully expect the kids to be able to write the next Lord of the Rings at the rate we're going!

Then in RE we've obviously been learning about Easter ahead of this weekend. It's nice to have varied topics we can dip into!

For exercise, we've been playing in the garden every afternoon, making the most of the really sunny weather. When inside, we've all been taking part in Oti Mabuse's daily dance workouts. We shared a video of Matt and the kids dancing to the Bare Necessities with her last week on Twitter and it had over 2,500 views! If you want to see the whole video, you can check it out here:

We made the video as a birthday message for Lily's friend Samiyah, which is why you can see the banner in the background!

Skills

After letting things slide last week, I've been trying to catch up with the chores. Lily has turned out to be pretty good when it comes to sorting and folding the washing, even if she is carrying a tally of how much money we're going to owe her for chores when this is all over.

On Wednesday, we combined our morning lesson with more life skills and made our lunch from scratch. It was really fun to do, using an easy recipe for 'beer bread' from a friend and pairing it with a delicious soup that the kids helped to make.

We did more baking today, attempting a recipe for yeast-free hot cross buns. Yeast is like gold dust apparently! Our buns came out more like scones than we expected but they tasted great and I'm planning on trying again tomorrow, not like there's loads of other things to do!

Screentime

We've spent more time in the garden this week and so screentime has been limited to usual viewing and the odd extra film for quiet time. I snuggled with Lily earlier in the week to watch The Hunchback of Notre Dame which was nice, I still remember going to watch it at the cinemas!

Disney+ has saved my sanity more than once, and I'm loving the retro classics like Gummy Bears and Rescue Rangers. 

I finished Heart of Mist and am on to the next book, despite having Sarah J Maas' new book Crescent City waiting to be read, I'm really into this story and am loving the twists and turns.

Supplies

It shows you the state of things with shopping and hoarding in the UK, that I found an unopened pack of Dettol Anti-bacterial wipes under the sink and felt like I'd won the lottery! I don't need to go shopping for anything at the moment but not being able to is causing my some anxiety anyway (whoops) and I have to admit I'm really missing being able to get a takeaway or go out for a meal.

We couldn't get to a shop with proper Hot Cross Buns and I decided it wasn't worth a trip to the supermarket, which is unfortunate but we just made our own. It might not be the same but it is close enough and we had fun making them.

I'm glad that I picked up two Easter Eggs for the kids when I did the last shop, as it has been hard buying any online and I have given up trying. I looked for myself but decided it wasn't worth splashing out on a chocolate egg for the sake of it, and am instead looking forward to getting some truffles from the Highland Chocolatier which was my own treat to myself this Easter.

We have enough food stocked up at the moment and I'm not worried about running out but I am concerned for our budget. I thought that without eating out and staying in, we'd save money, which is true, however, our usual shopping and snacks is really, really expensive right now. It nearly balances out for us but it's still a concern at the back of my mind. We're certainly not saving money for a big holiday when 'all this is over'!

Socialising

For someone who is a self-confessed rubbish friend, I am really missing my buddies. Really, really missing them. 

I know that they're only on the other end of the phone, but it isn't the same as seeing the Mums on the school run twice a day, popping into town to meet a friend for a coffee or having a house full after school.

At the same time, I'm feeling overwhelmed and am desperate for my own space. I've got used to being on my own for big chunks of the day and I miss that silence and the opportunity to just do whatever I want, even if that is usually putting off the household tasks in favour of reading a book.

Stress Levels

I haven't been feeling very well this week and it has sent my anxiety soaring once again. It's a cough, sore throat and fatigue and so I swing between thinking I have Covid19 and we're all gonna die and dismissing it as a cold because I haven't had a temperature. As I have no idea and no way of being sure right now I am keeping to the house, not even popping out for a walk round the block. We still have the garden but really, all I have wanted to do most afternoons is have a lie down and read or nap.

In the last few days both Lily and Ollie have felt unwell too. I keep telling myself it's only a cold because if I have to acknowledge that they are poorly, even mildly so, I know that I will find it hard to keep the fear and panic at bay. As it is, I'm worried about Matt who is still the most vulnerable in our family and I've been having awful nightmares about stuff happening to him.

I've been trying so hard to keep positive for the kids as I don't want them to remember this as a time of being afraid but I fear that I am failing. I paste on a smile and crack on with things in the mornings but then end up feeling more unwell later in the day, and I don't want to add being ill to the list of things that are already strange and unsettling for Lily and Oliver.

I'll be back with an update next week! I'll also share some more of our activities and have a few product reviews in case you're looking for something to do with the children! Matt has been hogging the PC to work from home but now he has a few days off I'm hoping to catch up a little.

To read about week one you can see it here and week two is here. Have a good week and stay home!