Dotty

So here I sit, the last night of the ‘school’ holidays, where usually I might be recovering from our last big day out… a trip to the beach, ice creams, throwing stones into the sea… but not right now as we are in lock down with my eldest reminding me of the numbers constantly being reported, which are truly overwhelming now. The numbers that keep me awake at night, as I lie there, after my two youngest have crawled into bed with me and I just watch them breathe, grateful that we are all well.  

We have now managed to get a weekly shop, having contacted the local supermarkets Head Office and getting them to agree to e-mail their store managers to remind them of the policy that children are allowed if there is no way they can be left at home. Contacting our local MP and asking her to look into this has also helped I’m sure. There was an overwhelming response and offers of help with my shopping, so thanks to those who made these wonderful offers.  

What did our last day of ‘holiday’ look like? It consisted of the new Trolls movie – which as sequels usually are – was slightly disappointing. My 2 year could not follow it at all unlike the first which she is somewhat obsessed with… so I ended up sitting with her and entertaining her while the others watched Trolls, meaning that I couldn’t make a last minute attempt to get the jobs on the to-do-list done before term starts.

Apparently, my washing machine has not heard about the lock down and conveniently decided to pack up this week, which with 4 children – well I’m sure you can imagine. It has at least provided a whole afternoons entertainment, whereby we used cups to drain the remaining water from the drum (why does it always break down mid cycle?) and resorting to using my small hoard of old calpol syringes to remove as much as possible before attempting to drain it properly. You have to find entertainment where you can, don’t you?  

Yes – I have a collection of old syringes from calpol packs – it goes alongside that kitchen drawer full of cables I have no idea what they are for. At least this provided a perfect opportunity for me to be secretly pleased that I didn’t throw them out thinking I’m sure I’ll think of a use for them one day… it’s the small things sometimes.

It’s definitely the small things at the moment, our worlds have become infinitely and suddenly much smaller. The smallest of things now make me laugh … or cry. The conversation with my 4-year-old who whilst out on our daily walk when he announced he was pleased we were going out for a walk to clear our heads. Without thinking, I asked what was in his head that he needed to clear. He replied in a very serious voice – bad things Mummy. I was now in the unenviable position of having to ask a further question about this, I was dreading the answer …What bad things sweetheart?… I asked as I slightly recoiled ready for his answer. Poo Mummy, I keep thinking about poo.  

I must say I had been expecting far worse and burst into laughter. My 4-year-old now thinks it’s funny to tell me he’s thinking about poo again. I’m left wondering if I will ever be able to hold an adult conversation after weeks of only having under 10’s for company…  

Back to today, we decided we’d look at the new home learning for the next two days and discovered next week’s learning too. It took us almost two hours to complete this task, printing out the plan and corresponding 21-page maths booklets they are to complete – discovering that my 10-year-old has muddled up all the pages and uncollated them as they printed out.

Of course, the printer runs out of ink halfway through. Luckily, I have a spare, but at the rate we are printing work out it won’t be long before we run out again! I’m sure that the printer ink companies could never have predicted this sudden boom in business with us parents frantically printing out worksheets from twinkl…  

I am now sitting here waiting for the moment my 4-year-old wakes up, as sleeping in his own bed becomes less and less and the time spent in mine more and more. I can’t blame him he really doesn’t understand why his whole world has changed so suddenly. He has his own take on the situation – the world has closed; it’s taking a nap. But this has started to become when is the World going to wake up again Mummy? This is of course the question we all would love to know the answer to… but it’s not looking likely to be soon…