Lockdown Weeks 11 and 12

I have been terrible with keeping this blog up-to-date. But I want to keep up so we can look back on this time. And I want to get back to blogging about useful stuff again – maybe a post on each outdoor place we’ve visited in lockdown? At the moment lockdown is easing. Some kids are back in school, shops are open again, people can drive to outdoor places that are not local, some outdoor places are reopening with social distancing measures like adventure golf, national trust places and zoos. But things are far from normal, the virus is still here and we can’t see friends and family unless its outdoors and with 2m between us. Masks have to be worn on public transport, working from home continues for many and my children longing for indoor soft play. So, it is still a lockdown. This is what we got up to in the first two weeks of June.

In Week 11, we started the week with crafting as my printer had run out of ink! We each made a fairy castle out of loo roll inserts. Tyler (in Year 3) had been set Romans as the theme in History, and here is his drawing of a Roman.

On the 2nd June ‘Blackout Tuesday’ took over on social media, bringing Black Lives Matter to the forefront of everyone’s minds. I learnt a lot over the week and am still taking in a mountain of information. There is so much and what I am reading is really sad. It has made me think about unconscious biases and what we should be telling our children. And as a person of colour it has made me realise how important it is to talk about our heritage with the children, so that they understand. And then to understand all the different heritages they will come across in their friendship groups and beyond.

At the weekend we had what Lily described as ‘the best day ever!’ when they got their first Happy Meals in 3 months. And the all important Trolls World Tour Happy Meal toys.

On Sunday it was kind of a rainy day, so we thought we’d go to Black Park to splash in puddles. There were no puddles and there were so many people that it wasn’t the peaceful walk we had imagined. Still, it was beautiful and we stopped for an outdoor latte and cookies in the forest. This was our first takeaway coffee in 3 months, so it deserved a family selfie.

Over the past few weeks, I have been doing fairytale Disney Princess photoshoots with Lily. The last two we did were Princess Tiana and Moana. Tyler blew the hairdryer on Lily while I took the Moana photos, and she loved posing in the warm breezy air.

In week 12, Tyler and I had an enjoyable walk on our own in Kennedy Park. The bright red poppies were out, dancing in the breeze. This solitary time was definitely needed, as he and Lily had been squabbling a lot. He relished playing outdoors on his own and then we had a little picnic consisting of pasta and Appletiser. Back home, the two were best friends again, so the space did them good.

This past week, the theme in English was learning about how authors bring characters to live using descriptive words. Tyler had to illustrate the story – here is a fawn walking in the snow under a lamppost, being startled by a little girl. Can you tell?

Finally I will end this post with a cheery photo from Saturday. We had a picnic in Upton Court Park under a beautiful blue sky. It was amazing.

Back at home we had put our ‘tent’ up we could pretend we were at a festival. My sister had told me it would have been Download Festival that weekend. But rather than rock music, we opted for watching the Playmobil movie on Saturday and the Ugly Dolls movie on Sunday.

All this family time is lovely, and though it gives me a headache and my flat is a mess, we are happy. I am fully aware that I am privileged in that I am happy with how my home looks (since doing all those makeovers in 2019), that I have a car, that I am not in a position where I have to work, and that I have a husband who kindly does all the food shopping. I know not everyone is in the same position as me and that life is more difficult for others during this lockdown. I genuinely feel thankful to keyworkers for keeping this country going and it is thanks to them that my family is able to enjoy this time.