I thought that these unpredented times of global pandemic needed documenting. The whole situation seemed to escalate very quickly and I think it hit us most when we tried to go on a usual Saturday afternoon jaunt to Costco, to stock up on a big bag of rice and rather optimistically loo rolls, and it was like an end of days film. Queues all the way back to the meat section, fights over queue pushing and agressive disagreements over the rights to the last bag of rice. It was insane.
A week later schools were 'shut' for the forseeable and we were adjusting to teaching online and home schooling our kids. Once the kids school shut we headed straight to Leeds train station to pick up Aunty Mara who wanted (under some pressure from us!) to lockdown with us - rather than being stuck in her poky flat in London - the epicentre of Covid-19 in England!
So we'll start with Mia the Maker - this is her new lockdown name. If there is a craft project on pinterest than Mia has done it this fortnight. Luckily our craft cupboard was overflowing, and much neglected prior to lockdown, so her options were plenty. Now all our rubbish is getting recycled - elephants made from empty milk cartons, handbags from empty pop bottles, Easter eggs from pizza boxes and everywhere is covered in a liberal dose of glitter and washi tape! Her bedroom is overflowing with junk modelling and pictures washi taped to the wall! In fact she's had tantrums when we won't let her make anything as we are too tired - we tried to appease her by showing her old episodes of Art Attack on youtube - but of course she just came away with a list as long as her arm of new craft projects she wanted to complete! Ellis is a bit concerned about her newfound obsession and accused her of, 'destroying the house with her crafts!'
Of course we're glad they've got each other but that dynamic is wearing thin as is the job of mediating their squabbles! She's very similar to me - chatty and outgoing, loves an audience - so I think she is missing her friends the most out of everyone. She loves to be out and about and is finding confinement tough - but I know she's also enjoying her time with family being creative and making everything! She's also Aunty Mara's official shadow and has been loving baking with her, giving her makeovers and crafting with her.
Ellis had also been enjoying creating things - like a Captain Underpants magazine, 'Victorian sponge' like he's made at school before and one day when Mia was poorly, with a high temperature, he made her an under the sea display in the window. Ever the considerate older brother!
I think he's secretly quite enjoying not having to go to school. He's had a few chats with his friends on facetime - this has mostly consisted of them changing their football tops five times during the chat and showing each other their karate and boxing moves! He's also been pretty good at following our home school schedule (I know there's been a lot of animsity towards these on social media but he's definitely someone who responds well to a schedule and it helps to plan our day out) - with the exception of anything involving writing - which has been the theme throughout his schooling. He's especially enjoyed competing against his classmates in mathletics.
He's especially enjoyed the arrival of Disney Plus (very well timed Disney I must say!) and the promise of an episode of Ducktails have got him through many an afternoon of homeschooling! He always claims he hates going for walks but then the minute he gets out in nature he's running like the wind and loving life. I've always maintained that young children are like dogs and they need regular walks in the fresh air to get the wiggles out. We've found our local sports centre carpark has been a good location for early morning scooting and bike riding.
Everyone should have an Aunty Mara in their lives - especially during a lockdown. I am well aware we are in a very privileged position of having three adults to two children ratio and I really feel for families who are outnumbered by several children, or who are lone parenting and lacking adult company or who are locked down in a small, confined spaces or flas with no garden or balcony. I am so very grateful we moved prior to lockdown as the extra space of the playroom and dining room has been invaluable to us.
Anyways back to Aunty Mara...she bakes, cooks and entertains the kids all day long - she's far more patient than both of us put together and the kids adore her. She's turned into a baking fiend - producing daily treats - my lips say thanks, but my hips not so much! Luckily leggings and pj pants are the new normal and are very forgiving for all those extra pounds! If there is a bakery in London offering an insta live cook-a-long she's there with our precious few eggs and flour baking up a storm. So far there's been delicious and chewy chocolate chip cookies, fudgy brownies, scones, Victoria sponge sandwiches, apple crumble and banana bread. She's also enjoying doing quizzes - guess the emojis of London underground stations, guess the London landmark from the photo and our favourite of the week - Nineties Boybands Quiz! We've also been reliving our childhoods watching Honey I Shrunk the Kid and Sister Act. Arne is officially outnumbered...
I've been enjoying wearing minimal make-up, not having to wash my hair as frequently and wearing lounge wear every day. Basically being Waynetta the slob! I do miss my me time and this lockdown helps you to realise how much we take for granted our little freedoms - like nipping to the shops, meeting a friend for brunch in a cafe or letting the kids burn off energy in the soft play. I know who would have thought it - I'm missing tacky Wacky! I am doing too much online 'window' shopping and am hoping to get some house projects sorted whilst we have the time.
My daily walks are giving me life and we're enjoying exploring more of the local area - my favourite location for a walk is the forest. We've got the tiktok app and are enjoying watching lots of the funny dance challenges and even taking part ourselves. One of our low points was a whole afternoon spent dressing everyone up as members of the Spice Girls ready to do a tiktok only for Sporty Spice to have an epic meltdown about the fact they had to perform a backflip in the music video for Wannabe and how it was, 'totally unfair as no-one else had to do hard stuff!' He also wasn't happy when we tried to put him in a tie top! I'll let you guess which member of the family it was...?
A week later schools were 'shut' for the forseeable and we were adjusting to teaching online and home schooling our kids. Once the kids school shut we headed straight to Leeds train station to pick up Aunty Mara who wanted (under some pressure from us!) to lockdown with us - rather than being stuck in her poky flat in London - the epicentre of Covid-19 in England!
So we'll start with Mia the Maker - this is her new lockdown name. If there is a craft project on pinterest than Mia has done it this fortnight. Luckily our craft cupboard was overflowing, and much neglected prior to lockdown, so her options were plenty. Now all our rubbish is getting recycled - elephants made from empty milk cartons, handbags from empty pop bottles, Easter eggs from pizza boxes and everywhere is covered in a liberal dose of glitter and washi tape! Her bedroom is overflowing with junk modelling and pictures washi taped to the wall! In fact she's had tantrums when we won't let her make anything as we are too tired - we tried to appease her by showing her old episodes of Art Attack on youtube - but of course she just came away with a list as long as her arm of new craft projects she wanted to complete! Ellis is a bit concerned about her newfound obsession and accused her of, 'destroying the house with her crafts!'
Of course we're glad they've got each other but that dynamic is wearing thin as is the job of mediating their squabbles! She's very similar to me - chatty and outgoing, loves an audience - so I think she is missing her friends the most out of everyone. She loves to be out and about and is finding confinement tough - but I know she's also enjoying her time with family being creative and making everything! She's also Aunty Mara's official shadow and has been loving baking with her, giving her makeovers and crafting with her.
Ellis had also been enjoying creating things - like a Captain Underpants magazine, 'Victorian sponge' like he's made at school before and one day when Mia was poorly, with a high temperature, he made her an under the sea display in the window. Ever the considerate older brother!
I think he's secretly quite enjoying not having to go to school. He's had a few chats with his friends on facetime - this has mostly consisted of them changing their football tops five times during the chat and showing each other their karate and boxing moves! He's also been pretty good at following our home school schedule (I know there's been a lot of animsity towards these on social media but he's definitely someone who responds well to a schedule and it helps to plan our day out) - with the exception of anything involving writing - which has been the theme throughout his schooling. He's especially enjoyed competing against his classmates in mathletics.
He's especially enjoyed the arrival of Disney Plus (very well timed Disney I must say!) and the promise of an episode of Ducktails have got him through many an afternoon of homeschooling! He always claims he hates going for walks but then the minute he gets out in nature he's running like the wind and loving life. I've always maintained that young children are like dogs and they need regular walks in the fresh air to get the wiggles out. We've found our local sports centre carpark has been a good location for early morning scooting and bike riding.
Everyone should have an Aunty Mara in their lives - especially during a lockdown. I am well aware we are in a very privileged position of having three adults to two children ratio and I really feel for families who are outnumbered by several children, or who are lone parenting and lacking adult company or who are locked down in a small, confined spaces or flas with no garden or balcony. I am so very grateful we moved prior to lockdown as the extra space of the playroom and dining room has been invaluable to us.
Anyways back to Aunty Mara...she bakes, cooks and entertains the kids all day long - she's far more patient than both of us put together and the kids adore her. She's turned into a baking fiend - producing daily treats - my lips say thanks, but my hips not so much! Luckily leggings and pj pants are the new normal and are very forgiving for all those extra pounds! If there is a bakery in London offering an insta live cook-a-long she's there with our precious few eggs and flour baking up a storm. So far there's been delicious and chewy chocolate chip cookies, fudgy brownies, scones, Victoria sponge sandwiches, apple crumble and banana bread. She's also enjoying doing quizzes - guess the emojis of London underground stations, guess the London landmark from the photo and our favourite of the week - Nineties Boybands Quiz! We've also been reliving our childhoods watching Honey I Shrunk the Kid and Sister Act. Arne is officially outnumbered...
I've been enjoying wearing minimal make-up, not having to wash my hair as frequently and wearing lounge wear every day. Basically being Waynetta the slob! I do miss my me time and this lockdown helps you to realise how much we take for granted our little freedoms - like nipping to the shops, meeting a friend for brunch in a cafe or letting the kids burn off energy in the soft play. I know who would have thought it - I'm missing tacky Wacky! I am doing too much online 'window' shopping and am hoping to get some house projects sorted whilst we have the time.
My daily walks are giving me life and we're enjoying exploring more of the local area - my favourite location for a walk is the forest. We've got the tiktok app and are enjoying watching lots of the funny dance challenges and even taking part ourselves. One of our low points was a whole afternoon spent dressing everyone up as members of the Spice Girls ready to do a tiktok only for Sporty Spice to have an epic meltdown about the fact they had to perform a backflip in the music video for Wannabe and how it was, 'totally unfair as no-one else had to do hard stuff!' He also wasn't happy when we tried to put him in a tie top! I'll let you guess which member of the family it was...?
He's also given himself the role of Lockdown Quizmaster and is running weekly quizzes on zoom for all our friends as a way to keep everyone is touch. He takes these quizzes very seriously and they have multiple rounds - he dresses up and there was even a Bingo grid fashioned from a pizza box in this weeks quiz. Everyone has enjoyed staying connected this way and a bit of 'friendly' competition.
I must admit it feels strange to be heading into the Easter holidays in lockdown. No visits to the local farm for lambing season and eggs hunts and face painting fun, no ridiculously hard Easter egg hunts at Rara and Granny's house, no visits from our Belgian family, no days out and picnics with friends and no cinema trips. We are having to more creative and use the resources that we've got.
