Lockdown : Week 1

by Leyla [Thisdayilove] - 08:23

Monday 23rd March, a new normal began. How long for? We simply don't know. The girls woke up early, earlier than they would have for school. Excited, happy smiling. Full of enthusiasm for the day ahead. Ready, washed and dressed for the day ahead earlier again than for school. No shouting this morning, no rushing to get out the door. Just a sense of calm as we all walked into our front room for our PE lesson.

Much like the rest of the nation we tuned in to watch Joe Wicks aka the body coach and his PE lesson. We were off to a good start, a healthy start if you will. Tired from PE but with the sun shining the kids took the dogs outside and spent half hour chasing them round the garden whilst I tidied up [sorry, recovered].

The girls kept running inside, is it time to come in yet? Is it time for home school? I was a little shocked by the enthusiasm but decided to go with it. Embrace the positivity. We did indeed with the girls working well and Little Man joining in. False sense of security I felt for the rest of the week.

In fact for the most part we have done OK, I think. It is hard sometimes not to compare to others on social media and when you see all the things people are doing you do feel a failure. It's not to say it has been easy, my youngest daughter has struggled in particular to find her routine. She is missing her friends and school, she misses her structure. My eldest who I thought would struggle the most as she loves routine, is actually thriving. She has made up her own timetable and we go through them each night as to what our plans are for the next day. She seems to be loving the structure.

Our mornings consist of PE, outdoor play then an hour of workbooks. We pick and choose topics sometimes doing a full hour of one and sometimes several within the hour. After this we have some creative time. Playing Lego, baking, drawing or painting. The girls each pick a topic they want to learn about then in the afternoon we find out about this. We've done codes, ice age, bubbles and worms. Straight after lunch we do a 30 minutes sign language course with Natasha Lamb, and then spend an hour on our topics. Our day finishes with looking at a word of the day and a story together. This has been our structure all week.

The dogs have seemed to love all the extra attention they are getting too. Although we haven't been out on a walk they still manage to be absolutely tired out by lunch time and spend most of the afternoon asleep.

I am very slowly finding a way to balance everything. Ensuring the children are happy but doing some learning, keeping the two dogs entertained, looking after the house and of course trying to find places that deliver essential items.

This week I found a milkman, which means we now have eggs and milk delivered. I have found a butcher that delivers so can now source meat regularly too. A local bakery delivers bread but it can be a little hit and miss as it is very popular, and we also have a local fruit and veg service but again they are so incredibly popular it can be hard to get through. We will manage though, there are alternatives out there that deliver there has to be.

What this past week has shown me is how lucky we are to live where we do, there are so many local shops who have all turned to help each other and the local community. I knew this before but now more so it shows how lucky we are. When this is over we shall continue with the milkman and continue to support our local businesses, we did before but more so now.

This day I love week 1