Penny Blogs

Days are blurring into one. Weeks are passing in a haze. It seems it’s over a month since I last wrote a lockdown diary, but to be honest I am losing all sense of time here. I have no real concept of just how long we’ve been at home for.

The last month has been a bit of a blur. My husband has gone back to work properly meaning that I am now home alone with the kids in the day time. he was working from home before, but now having an alarm set every morning and him being out of the house from 9 – 5 has definitely changed the routine here. When the older two children are here it’s all a bit of a blur trying to home school both of them whilst also stopping the youngest from destroying the house or trying to escape. When it’s just me and the youngest the days feel incredibly long as I’m simply not used to there just being the two of us here without things like the school run to punctuate the day.

We’ve finally tackled some big projects like moving my eldest daughter’s bedroom into another room. My husband’s final days of working from home involved trying to strip 80s style wallpaper and then a mad panic to get a Harry Potter themed room finished before LMC’s 10th birthday.

Said 10th birthday also meant a deadline for me to complete a Harry Potter dressing gown that I promised myself I would make in an attempt to make her lockdown birthday a bit more special. I’m delighted to say that both projects succeeded, so look out for blog posts telling the story of both.

In the wider world, the government here keeps making vague announcements about the easing of lockdown. Not helped at all by Dominic Cumming’s and his own personal version of the lockdown rules. I’m still incredibly angry about his actions and also his refusal to resign.

I’m also pretty mad about various people who seem to think that lockdown should be completely over and that the rules can be bent to suit them. Apart from my husband going to work and me collecting the kids from their Dad’s house, we’ve stuck by the rules completely. It’s hard, very hard, especially when you see others not following them, but I believe it is the right thing to do. Schools going back for some children has resulted in an awful lot of work for me as a school governor, especially in terms of reviewing risk assessments. The work school staff and teachers are doing right now is frankly incredibly, and I just wish they would get the recognition they deserve of that.

With all this going on what I am really lacking is time for me. Both time to work and time to relax. There are more bedroom changes that we need to complete here so that the youngest can finally move out of our bedroom and I know that will have a huge effect on being able to go to bed when I want and actually being able to do simple things like read in bed at night time to help me unwind. Until then though I fear it’s all systems go still. Lockdown has been long and relentless for parents and right now I can only dream of an end to it all and some proper rest and peace and quiet. I know we’re in an incredibly lucky position in that we’re all safe and well, but Covid is definitely starting to take its toll in an indirect manner.

I’m getting to the stage of lockdown now where I’m no longer sure how long things have been like this. I actually have to get the calendar out to work out just how many weeks this has been going on. I’d say that it’s becoming like a “new normal” but then it might just sounds like I’m jumping on the bandwagon of using a new phrase that the media and government seem to have adopted.

What is very obvious to me though is how many people seem to be now picking and choosing which lockdown rules to follow. There are far more cars on the road now than there have been before. People are starting to shop more often. They’re taking their kids to the supermarket as a jolly rather than only as a necessity. Those outings for daily exercise seem to be increasing in length and people are sometimes jumping in the car to go and do them. It’s almost as if people have forgotten the reason we’re doing all this.

I know things are hard, especially when you’re juggling everything as so many parents are, but I’m genuinely worried that this lax attitude that more and more people seem to have now is just going to cause a second peak in cases. I understand that there is a pressure to get the economy going again, but at what cost? I’m not convinced that everyone’s new laxer attitude is directly related to people needing to work though. That’s what concerns me most.

Back in our little bubble life has been progressing quite nicely over the last week, although things are so busy that I genuinely wonder how we ever found the time to actually go to school! Since the Easter holidays finished my daughter’s school work seems to have gone up rather a lot. Her school aren’t forcing her to do any of it, but she wants to try and keep up with what everyone else is doing. I’m trying to encourage her to do a bit each day and she’s actually been much better at cracking on and doing just that. Staying one step ahead of what she’s doing is the bigger challenge.

My son is somewhat harder to encourage to work, but he too has down some good stuff over the last week. I’m also working hard on trying to get him to see that him winning board games isn’t the only possible outcome of a family game. He didn’t take his first experience of losing at Monopoly very well. Then again, I wasn’t too impressed either when my daughter had me out this afternoon when I landed on her hotel on Park Lane!

The weather hasn’t been quite as nice this last week which means less garden time and on some days sadly none at all. The whole situation is so much easier to deal with if we can get outside regularly. Instead there have been a huge number of board games with the older kids and lots of CBeebies for the youngest. I figure that’s acceptable considering everything else going on.

My husband I have been trying hard to tag team as much as possible to both be able to work during the daytime and reduce the amount of evening time that I need to spend working. Some days it works well. On others not so much. I think the feeling of being constantly tired is just one I’m going to have to learn to put up with. Making more time to do things for me is helping my head though.

I’m charging ahead with one of my crochet blanket projects right now. Encouraged by managing to join in with my knitting group last week via Zoom, and also a crafty catch up with WI friends too. It was lovely to see what projects everyone has been working on. I’m also making more of an effort to actually watch things on TV when I sit down rather than just aimlessly putting on whatever I first come across when I turn it on. As well as the end of Race Around The World I’ve also finally started watching Friday Night Dinner and enjoyed this week’s lockdown version of HIGNFY (and been tickled by the idea of Ian Hislop having a cat called Colin!) With the kids we watched the musical of The Midnight Gang from the Chichester Festival Theatre, which was excellent. I thoroughly recommend it.

I’ve also just started on what I think might be a bit of a rabbit hole of documentaries by Molly Dineen. Tonight we watched Heart of the Angel after someone recommended it on Twitter. Utterly fascinating. Combine it with the Hidden London videos from the London Transport Museum and it’s made me realise how much I want to spend more time learning about the history of the Underground. Our Tube Stop Baby project may be on hold for a bit, but I’ve got plenty of stations that I still need to write up and loads more I want to learn about stations we haven’t yet made it to. This could keep me busy for a while! Combine it with some of the other classic documentaries that have made their way onto iPlayer and that should certainly keep me busy for a while longer.

Add in another board games night with friends on Skype (Chainstore this time – a write up to come soon), plenty more jigsaw puzzles and my son doing an online Beaver sleepover and it really has been a full week. The eldest two are here less this next week which means a bit more time, but also time missing them. I usually keep my self busy when they’re not here and get out quite a lot to distract me from missing them. That’s obviously not possible right now and the quiet after they’ve left is strangely loud.

The first day of a new “working” week and the first day of my new routine of getting up stupidly early to try to squeeze in some work before everyone else gets up and either gets in my way, or makes so much noise that I can’t actually concentrate. My theory worked and I was able to get loads done at about 6.30 this morning, but I don’t really know how sustainable the plan is. I’m writing this at 9pm and I’m shattered. As I’m planning to do the same tomorrow morning it means I’m definitely planning some downtime after this. Well, once I’ve worked out what home schooling the kids will do tomorrow…

Speaking of the kids, I went to pick the eldest two up from their Dad’s at 9am. Weirdly every time I make this journey the roads seem a bit busier than the time before. I’m suspecting that people are starting to bend those lockdown rules a bit, and use the recent guidance to police officers as an excuse to change their behaviour. Certainly from what I’ve heard their Dad is. Apparently the poor dear is “bored” of walks near his home so is starting to drive elsewhere to go for walks. I really thought he’d know better.

Homeschooling today has involved my daughter studying the poem The Highway Man and Roman numerals and my son covering telling the time (those complex five minute time intervals) and plurals. The poem isn’t one I’m familiar with it all, and helping her made me realise just how long it is since I’ve read anything like this. Sort of gave me a bit of a brain workout I guess. Her school had sent home a fab idea for a dice game the kids could make themselves to learn their Roman numerals. I’ll try and get it written up so I can share it. Someone in their maths department has been fab at sending out game ideas, either using playing cards or dice. They’re a great way of getting the kids learning whilst also keeping them entertained.

The other thing that kids were really keen to do today was play Monopoly again. They only really discovered the game late last week, but both seem obsessed. The weren’t too impressed though when I won with over £27 million! For people used to original Monopoly I feel I should add that we were playing the Here and Now UK version which has much higher costs and values involved. £2 million for passing Go rather than £200.

The youngest has learnt how to say the word “shoes” which, as well as being incredibly cute, means that she also now shouts it when she wants to go into the garden. Which has been pretty frequently today. I managed to squeeze in some weeding whilst I was out there. Tomorrow our green bin collections restart after a bit of a Covid-19 suspension so I was keen to fill it up as much as possible.

A small eBay sale that needed posting means I was able to drag the kids out for a short walk this evening to the post box. Often they can’t be bothered and to be honest at times taking them out can be a drag as they just moan the whole way round. Tonight though I was pleased to see them chatting away almost like friends as we walked. Such a pleasant change.

Just before bed another board game came out. This time a Scooby Doo one that I have to say is possibly the most tedious game I’ve ever played. And over the years I have played a lot of board games! Please don’t buy it. You’ll only regret it.

The only other thing I’ve done today of note really is order the fabric to make LMC’s 10th birthday present. I’ve found a pattern for a Harry Potter dressing gown and as she’s wanted one for ages I thought I’d turn my hand to making one. Fingers crossed I can actually make it in time.

For now though, time to print some worksheets for tomorrow, turn off the laptop and enjoy a spot of sewing or crochet in front of the TV before collapsing into bed and doing it all over again tomorrow!

The simple fact that there have been ten days between diary entries probably tells you just how busy things here have been. I’m honestly at a bit of a loss when I see people online who say that lockdown is one long relaxed holiday. They definitely aren’t people that have kids or ones who are trying to work from home whilst looking after their kids!

Lockdown has sort of become the new normal now. Even just typing that seems a little strange. It’s so long since it all started that memories like going to a supermarket and taking the kid to school seems slightly alien. I think we’re just coming to the end of week 5, but to be honest I’ve sort of stopped counting.

A new normal?

The novelty of it all has also worn off. At first I was utterly bombarded with suggestions of things that we could do at home. Educational things to watch on YouTube, projects to undertake, things to read. The daily notifications about Zoom calls on a million and one different things have also dropped off. Some remain and they have become part of that new normal. I see people regularly taking part in online pub quizzes. Regular online singing groups. We’ve even started regular online board game sessions with friends. My knitting group meet online once a week, and like in “real” life I try and meet them, but things with the kids often get in the way.

Since Easter itself has been over some of the things that went on hold when lock down began have also restarted. I’ve had more school governor meetings than I care to remember, and have also been in the strange position of having to interview a candidate for a job over Microsoft Teams. That’s a slightly strange experience. Even more so because one of the interview panel was having bandwidth problems, so we all turned our cameras off to preserve the audio quality. Everything you’ve ever learnt about picking up on body language during an interview goes completely out of the window. Just going on voice alone is such an intense experience that I felt like I needed a lie down at the end of it!

School

School work is also back with a vengeance now that the Summer Term has started. My seven year old son’s school (where I’m a governor) is an infant school and so their style of sending work home is different from that of my daughter’s Junior School. He now has a theme each week, with suggestions of activities (both online and in real life) for each of the main subject areas around this theme. Being infant school age it requires parental input to ensure that it really captures his imagination and interests, as well as being age appropriate. All completely manageable, as long as you stay one step ahead of him and always know what you plan to get him doing next. The fact that school are sending it out on a Friday for the week ahead helps with this.

This week’s theme is all about animals. I’m therefore imagining that David Attenborough may play a part in his education. I need t get better to grips with all the content that the BBC are now putting out. The bits I’ve seen look good, but again it’s a case of trying to stay a step ahead of the kids that is hard work.

My daughter’s Junior school seem to be upping the workload though. She’s Year 5, so, assuming she goes back in September, they will be getting her ready for that transition to secondary school. The work she is being set now has more depth than the bits she had before Easter, and I’m seeing themes start as well. A poem is the basis for her English work and it looks like most work is going to be based on this for the next few weeks.

She’s always had Maths and English set, with a smattering of French and Music activities too, but now there’s also a Science theme for the half term (reproduction – oh joy!) and activities to do around that too. A lot of what they are expecting here to do requires technology. Not necessarily access to specialist applications, but links to videos and other useful webpages. It means she could learn quite independently if she had her own laptop, but as the kids are sharing one the usually lives at their Dad’s house it’s a bit harder in terms of pre-organising things.

The fact that their home-schooling is shared between the two of us also means we need to work between us to understand what we are getting the kids to do when. Last week was a bit of a back to school week so that didn’t really happen. This week is going to be the first real test of how well that works. I have them Monday to Wednesday so I guess it’s my job to set the standard of handover for them. I guess I need to get it right so that they don’t end up repeating what they already did here with me.

Time for me

Time for me is probably still the thing that I’m lacking most right now. As any parent will know, having everyone out of the house (whether it be at school or work) is that time when you get everything straight again. When that doesn’t happen it can be hard to stay on top of everything that needs doing. The washing up, kitchen tidying and laundry honestly seem never ending. Mentally it only seems like a day since you changed all the beds and washed everything, but then you realise that it was a week ago and really needs doing again. My to do lists are endless.

I have been forcing myself to stop every now and again. I’ve made myself complete a jigsaw, although with hindsight I should maybe have chosen once with less white in the background!

Crafting

I’ve also started crafting regularly again. My sewing machine has been out and I’ve completed my first project of lockdown – a sunhat for the youngest to wear in the garden. I also have grand plans to make Little Miss C something for her birthday in June. I’ve got as far as buying a pattern and working out how much fabric I need. I just need to make sure I actually have time (and skill) to make it correctly as it’s not exactly a small project. I’m desperately hoping that my mum might be able to help over FaceTime!

In addition to this I’ve a project for a friend about to give birth lined up. The pattern pieces are all cut and I’m just waiting for a clear evening to get the sewing machine out and finish it.

I’ve spent some time looking at the various other unfinished (or even un-started!) projects that I have in the house. There’s a gorgeous Clothkits skirt kit that I remember buying after my son was born and I’d love to have it complete so I can wear it in the Autumn. Hopefully that’s not too much of a stretch target.

Two crochet blankets need the ends sewing in before I can add borders and there’s a third blanket that I’m partway through. I have a huge tapestry butterfly kit that I’d love to do some more of, but I just need to locate where the yarn for it is first! I have numerous little cross-stitch kits in various states of completion and just to add to that I’ve used lockdown to start another one that was in my desk drawer – a Guernsey flag that was a souvenir of a trip there a couple of years ago.

You can see why I’m not worried about being bored at home can’t you?

Reading

As if that wasn’t enough I’m trying to improve my sleep by reading each night before bed as a way of re-setting my brain. I’m so missing going out for proper walks. Exercise round the local streets is one thing, but it’s just not the same as a long walk somewhere to clear my head. I can get to some gorgeous areas on foot here, but not easily with the kids in tow, and definitely not with a pushchair. Therefore reading is my other option for clearing my head.

As is common in my life, I have more books than I know what to do with so plenty of reading material to be getting on with. So far I’ve managed to finish Jo Brand’s slightly peculiar guide to being a woman. A strange yet enjoyable read. Now I’m getting myself lost in some mystery title that I picked up from the library before they shut. It’s doing the job of distracting me from life, but I’m also finding reading about a time when people could just go out because they wanted to a bit weird.

Home

We’re lucky in that my husband’s new job is in a sector that won’t be hit too much by coronavirus. In fact, the opposite is possibly true. Starting a. new job during lockdown is weird though. Getting into the swing of things with kids at home is even harder. His new colleagues seem nice enough, and he’s getting to know them all online as well as he can whilst doing plenty of online training. It’s made us realise though that we need to do some work to reorganise our house and shuffle the kids around bedrooms to make dedicated work space for us adult.

My teenage step-daughter has decided not to live here any more so her room has laid empty for a while now. We need to clear it and decorate so my eldest can move in. That then means the youngest can take her room and we can finally regain our room for us, and transform the area where her cot is into a work space. Overall it’s a big job, but if we break it down into smaller tasks it should be manageable.

We’ve made a start by finishing a job we started before lockdown even began. Painting our landing. It sounds like something that should be simple, but with some 80s style wallpaper to remove it’s taken a fair bit longer than we hoped. I think that this weekend we’ve done most of it and some pictures can start to go back up on the walls. The woodwork painting can wait until another day – one when we can actually get to a shop to buy paint easily! There are a couple of bits that still need filling, but again that might have to wait until after lockdown.

Work

And finally, my work.

Being self-employed is always a juggle, but with everyone else at home that juggle has become more of a struggle at times.

My work consists of two main parts right now – reselling and online writing work based around my blogs.

The reselling part has been strange over the last few weeks. Most days I make a sale, yet I have no time to list new stock so it’s possible that if I did I could increase my sales even more. I’ve reduced what I sell to things that are Royal Mail parcel sized or smaller and am buying all my postage online and then using a parcel dropbox in our town to reduce human contact to a minimum. We’ve sold a lot of spare parts for board games since lockdown began and quite a few classic family games like Frustration, Monopoly and Scrabble too.

Lockdown means there’s no opportunity to source new stock safely. No car boot sales and charity shops all shut. There’s still Facebook market place, but I personally don’t feel that going out and collecting things on it really counts as essential. I’m concerned that this is all going to hit sales at Christmas time which is usually the busiest time of year for the things I sell. That’s going to be possibly tough later in the year. It might all depend on when the charity shops re-open and if I can get out to them at all.

My online work has also definitely slowed down. Businesses are not looking to work with people online right now in the same way, so I’m having to work extra hard to find what paid work there still is out there. I’ve upped the advertising levels on my own sites and am trying to make affiliate sales wherever I can. It’s really not easy going though and I fear it may remain this way for a while. Unsurprisingly, there’s plenty of content going on my toys and games site, but far less on my travel one!

Like many self-employed jobs, the more time I can devote to work the better in terms of trying to earn from it. In lockdown carving out protected time to work is hard, so I’ve come to the realisation that the only way to do so is to get up before everyone else does. Not easy when you still have a toddler that wakes in the night, but necessary.

So I guess that’s me right now. Far too busy and desperately trying to juggle a million and one thing as usual. I’m started to wonder how I ever managed to fit a school run into my day too!