Hello!! Regular readers will be forgiven for thinking I’d dropped off the face of the earth… Last year, I wrote about losing my blogging mojo… unfortunately, I still haven’t found it! My life has changed a lot in the last year though, so I’ve got lots to write about.
I wanted to start with a positive post, and then I was tagged by Whimsical Mumblings to share my lockdown silver linings and it seemed like the perfect return from blogging semi-retirement! There’s a lot of negativity surrounding the lockdown and I’m experiencing plenty of that myself (I’ll save that for another day), but a lot of positive things have come out of it too.
Time with my children
I’m not going to lie. This one could be considered both the silver lining and the cloud, depending on the day. But overall, it’s really nice to be able to spend this extra time with them before they start Primary School in September. I’ve worked from home since they were born, so I’m not in the house more than I was before, but the twins definitely are! I’m sad that they’re missing their last few months at preschool and working from home is definitely harder with two 4 year olds demanding attention, but I will miss my little sidekicks when they’re at school full time, so it’s really nice to have this extra time with them.
Learning new things
Since the twins haven’t started school yet, I’m not really homeschooling in the same way that a lot of parents are, but I am trying to get them ready for school. Since I can’t rely on preschool to fill in the gaps of what I can’t teach them at home, I’m having to make sure I know what they need to know before they start, so that I can make sure they’re prepared. Granted, I like to think I’m smarter than most Reception pupils, but it’s been a long time since I was 5 and everything is taught differently now. I’m discovering phonics! The twins and I are learning new things together and that’s really lovely. I’m really loving this opportunity to teach them (most of the time).
Potty training
Jack potty trained himself about 18 months ago. He just decided that he didn’t want to wear nappies anymore and he was dry day and night pretty much straight away. Alice was not so easy. She refused to give up her nappies and wouldn’t even sit on the toilet or potty. I was starting to worry that she wouldn’t be out of nappies before she started school, but when preschool closed, I decided there was no better time to do it. It’s been a month (give or take) and she’s dry day and night. And we’ve still got a few months to get her confidently using the toilet on her own before September.
Finding creative ways to stay in touch
I have never video chatted so much in my entire life. In fact, I actively avoided it before lockdown. Now, I’m video calling friends and family to take the sting out of the fact that I can’t see them in person. It’s really making me appreciate the time I got to spend with people before. I won’t take that for granted once this is all over.
Acts of kindness
People are so kind! Who knew?! While there are obviously some idiots who still wish to be idiots, my experience is that the majority of people are willing to help others. Kindness is everywhere! I sent flowers to two very special people last week and I don’t remember the last time I did that. Just sent flowers to someone for no reason other than to let them know that I was thinking of them and to make them smile. Then there’s the weekly Clap for Carers and people are really starting to appreciate keyworkers. I really hope this is something we continue when life starts getting back to some kind of normal.
Thank you to Twin Mummy and Daddy for starting off this tag! It’s been nice to look on the bright side! I tag Emma at Sunshineandrain.info to share her Lockdown Silver Linings!
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