Friday 22nd May – Thursday 28th May

This week we enjoyed a sunny bank holiday and the sad gradual separation of our family, as Daddy dipped his foot back into going to work.  As a self employed plumber he headed back to finish off some big jobs he had been on before lockdown and starting to open his diary gradually to see how it goes. We have really enjoyed having him at home and I can see already how its effecting us all. Also it’s been Half Term and as school recommended, we took the time away from home schooling and focussed on doing things together, playing and just having some fun!

So that’s exactly what we did!

We have been spending time working through our Covid-19 time capsule this week. Something i wanted LB to do more than he actually wanted to, but thought it would be a great memory. I can definitely see the boredom hitting home now with regard to any type of homeschooling. I haven’t spent any time looking up new stuff since the beginning when I lived on pinterest for ideas of how to get through this crazy time, so think i need to do some research to bring some more excitement back into schoolwork and learning. We could all do with a change.

This little boy is still loving films in Mummy’s bed and has started doing this as a regular weekend activity. He demands Daddy brings him his breakfast in bed and gets crumbs absolutely everywhere, but he’s so damn happy.

We have done crafts together to fill the time and keep them off of screens as long as possible (seriously they would live on devices if they could). This week was magnetic fruit superheroes that are now protecting our fridge.

The sunshine has made lunch really easy. Nothing beats a salad on sunny days. This one was marinated chicken with homemade tzatziki.

I spent one whole day reading. I’d had enough of trying to keep everyone happy-playing chef, entertainer, teacher etc etc and I was spent. So I sat in the sun and read ALL day. I finished 3/4 of a book and man did it feel good. Surprisingly the kids just got on with it – they never do this. They obviously saw I was busy and found stuff to do. They dug out dinosaur bones, played games, made car tracks and just found things to do. No asking for pad time, no arguments, nothing. They popped out to me every now and again but I think they knew that I needed this time. I didn’t realise quite how much i had needed it either.

The boys found a birthday present of LB’s that hadn’t been opened and spent a lot of the day digging for dinosaur fossils and trying to put the dino bones together. They did this together and although made an absolute mess of the stuff they were happy and excited by something,which is wonderful to see.

This one used to absolutely love puzzles and could do really hard ones long before we thought he was old enough to cope with them but I haven’t seen him do one in ages. It was so lovely to come in to the kitchen and see him doing this without any prompting. P has just started to do puzzles and although he started with absolutely no clue we are finally getting to the point where he understands at least the picture needs to make sense not just shove it anywhere!

Another craft project we’ve done this week is our elmer elephants made from milk bottles. We’ve been keeping a bag of junk modelling stuff under the sofa and gradually adding more bits to give us some activities throughout this lockdown (and probably into the summer holidays at this rate). LB loves doing crafts and although P’s attention span isn’t quite the same its great to see them being creative.

Some shooting practice. This was something that P found out of the cupboard while exploring all the toys that rarely get used. LB then took over and set it all up for them to both try – LB has pretty good aim.

Getting the kids outside for fresh air and exercise is definitely needed. You know the days that they don’t do so much, as bedtime is an absolute nightmare and its been getting later and later. Luckily wake ups are now closer to 7 than 6am but i still don’t want to get up. I’m sure my sleep is not as good as normal as I feel exhausted every morning, even when I don’t feel like I’m doing very much.

Not every day is a good day but when you hear the words ‘I love you Mummy’ and ‘this is the best day ever’ (when you think you’re failing) you realise that not every day is bad!

• 

When gardening means you can create a little house in the woods which apparently is ‘so cool’ its definitely worth it.

These two would eat ice lollies for breakfast lunch and dinner so we’ve been making our own. These silicone lolly moulds are like Calippos so we just put squash in them and tada! Also we have some other stick lolly moulds – we make smoothies and create different flavoured ice lollies and we know they are full of goodness. They think they are having a treat so its a win win!

Another activity that is keeping us happy but in no way good for my waistline is baking. My friend bought out a baking cookbook last year and we’ve loved making recipes from it. If you are ever lost for an easy bake check out her blog alwayscakeinmyhouse

Hope you are all surviving Lockdown? Its so crazy to think that it’s been a worldwide thing at some point. I know we are all at different stages and that it has effected us all differently. We are a two parent family so are lucky but also we are both self employed so that has bought up some financial complications. It’s been a real juggle mentally, physically and financially and I have so much respect for absolutely everyone and the way they have got through this crazy time, however has felt best for them.