Abi & Izzy - the next 5 years

Raspberry Bomb Izzy's favourite but she didn't come so we ate hers! Ugh - back to school tomorrow and while I would normally be keen to see the kids back into a normal routine, of course nothing is normal right now. Both have said to me today that they are not looking forward to it - not least Mondays are not their favourite day but also there's nothing inspiring about another 6 weeks of online lessons to get through. I wish I could tell them it's all about to end, but it clearly isn't and so they'll just have to bear down and get through it. The rules of lockdown are easing slightly, not because we are seeing a dramatic improvement in infection rates and deaths, although it is improving day on day, but because the economy is tanking and we have to do something to stop the free fall. It's all got a bit confusing, In England up to 6 people from different households can meet outside in a garden or pubic space, but only from Monday. In Wales it's ...

Bertie hoping to be allowed to move into Abi's shed As we pass the mark of 2 months in lockdown it has become all very normal - in fact as I walked Bertie yesterday I was resentful of the cars whizzing past me when it's been so peaceful for so long. We have now moved from 'Stay at Home' to 'Stay Alert' (England anyway, the wee Krankie up North refuses to do anything remotely aligned to the rest of the UK on principal). Apparently the majority of the country finds the new message very confusing - " what does it mean?" they ask themselves. This is what the media would have us believe anyway, because what else is there to do in lockdown but shit stir and create confusion when there is no need. We have definitely now  moved past the point of being in this together and gone back to the normal blame game. So much for solidarity. Friday also marked the end of the first half of term, although half term has never felt so much like school, or more accurate...

And so another week passes in the world of lockdown and it's fair to say that one week is rather blending into another right now. It is sending us all slightly mad I think, or at least it's lowering some of the lines that might previously been uncrossable at this time of year. The world is becoming obsessed with hair. In this period where there is no school and no hairdressers, DIY cuts and colour are becoming the norm. And when your 13 year old daughter asks to shave the back of her head and you once would have said "no way", you find yourself thinking "why not", after all, it's not as though we are going anywhere and its only hair - it will grow back (eventually!) So Izzy got to put a slit in her eyebrow (not sure what that trend is about) and I got to shave Abi's head. Top tip (every day is a school day) is to check that your husbands clippers have a grading tool with them. Of course I didn't and so when I came to do the actual shaving (af...

I have discovered first hand this week the importance of purpose. Of course I know that I feel better when I know why I'm doing something, but watching the kids with their school work brings it home so acutely it's heart-breaking. There is a very clear difference between those lessons where they know what they are being asked to do and why, and those where with all the best will in the world, they don't. I'm also making notes for when it comes to choosing their GCSE options. Unless things change I will fight tooth and nail for Abi to have as much opportunity to take science as possible and for her not to have to do French - it just isn't worth the tears and the hassle, not least she is very unlikely to either retain any of it or use it at a later stage. Poor Izzy will have to do maths regardless, but hopefully by then they will have moved away from rote learning of algebra for the sake of it - what normal person has ever used such things since school anyway?! If...

Week 6 and while the week days fly by, it's fair to say that the weekends are a bit slow and getting to be more frustrating as the lure of closed garden centres across the land remind us of what we'd like to be doing. Work has reached a bit of a plateau - our stores are open again and while it's by no means perfect, we are currently the poster child of coronavirus non-food retail, with other organisations and the government looking to us as to how it can be done safely. What this means in reality is long queues of patient people standing 2m apart, marshals controlling the number of people entering the stores (no trolley, no entry), staff in gloves and masks and signs everywhere reminding you to keep your ditsance. It's not a particularly relaxing experience. Yesterday Abi and I went out (as out as anyone goes these days) to do our bi-monthly trip to Pets at Home - the furthest I've been from the house in 6 weeks. For the first time Abi actually came into the s...