Monday 18 May 2020

Life in Lockdown - Week 8

I feel like I am running out of comments as we end the eighth week living in Groundhog day.  The days and weeks are all starting to blur a little and I can generally tell the photos apart by the effort I am putting in as a parent, full of baking, crafts and gardening at the beginning, TV, free play and lazy afternoons more recently. I think it was inevitable really and I like to think even the most involved parents are suffering a little bit of burn out after a while.  I hope that next week we can find a better rhythm as I think more structure in the day is better for all of us.  

Monday


As the weeks have gone on, my attitude to home learning has relaxed so much that I don't really attempt it much anymore.  The kids have become more reluctant each week and my energy for the battles has run out.  We did a few online learning games this afternoon and then I got the little two baking three ingredient biscuits, the kind where you throw it in and mix with your hands.  They are easy, tasty and they love rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck in.  Regardless of anything academic, today I cooked a slow cooker butternut squash dhal and a chicken curry for the kids with all the sides and three out of four actually ate it! We can't win everything so I am happy with a dinner that is scraped off of the plates for once.


Tuesday


I decided not to attempt schooling today but also to ban screen time and just see what happened.  The day felt so much longer without structure, the afternoon seemed to go on for hours but at one point the boys decided to draw some of the characters from their favourite game and I was amazed that they chose to come to the table and do something like this.  They mostly played games as a gang of four that involved turning my house into a tip but overall, apart from the fact it was a really long day, it went ok.


Wednesday


We decided to go out and run around a green space today and it did everyone good.  They are still reluctant to go outdoors most of the time but they are so much happier for it and sleep so much better after a few hours of being in the sun.  Today I also had a phonecall from nursery and an email from the school as Finn and Cora are allowed back into their respective settings from June 1st potentially.  The schools wanted to know whether we will be taking up the places but in all honesty, it came as a bit of a shock and I wasn't ready to make the decision right away.  There are two conflicting ideas in my head and the 8 weeks of lockdown have taken away my decision making skills.


Thursday



Today we learnt the art of spending all morning in bed watching TV.  If they ever want to be lazy teenagers, this is a skill they need to master so really I would say this is exceptionally advanced for their age group.  Mid afternoon it was all a bit too much and Dylan fell asleep on the sofa.  Being a pretend teenager is exhausting! After he woke up, everyone was a bit emotional and my motivation was at an all time low so we decided to spend the rest of the day on the sofa watching Disney films.  As much as I feel like I should be 'doing' something with them everyday, just like me, sometimes they need to do nothing all day and hopefully we will make up for our laziness tomorrow (reality of this is highly unlikely!)


Friday


So this picture is cheating really, it is actually from Saturday.  Friday passed without anything to take photos of and as we stayed at home, the children were naked nearly all day.  We attempted little bits of educational online games, we played in the garden and we watched more TV than I should probably admit.  Some days we do ok, some days we achieve things, others we merely push through hoping the next one will be better and Saturday was lovely, leaving the house as a family of six for the first time in many weeks.  On friday everyone laughed and smiled, everyone brushed their teeth, everyone ate three proper meals and everyone eventually went to bed. That was enough.






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