Word of the Week – Frustrated

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It’s been a while since I last wrote a blog post. I might go into why in another post (at least it’ll give me something to write about), but I’ve seen a few of my favourite bloggers writing a Word of the Week post and it seemed like a good way to start getting back into writing.

Frustrated

I spent a good 20 seconds thinking about what my Word of the Week should be, before realising that there is only one word I could possibly choose. Frustrated.

The kids are frustrated

I know that everyone is frustrated at the moment, but I think the twins deserve a special mention.

They miss their friends. They miss preschool. The miss leaving the house in general. Their preschool has reopened this week, but they’re not going back yet. They’re only allowed a small number of children in each day, to comply with government guidelines and I’m “lucky” enough to work from home, so I don’t need the childcare. I decided to keep the twins at home so that parents who need the childcare in order to get back to work would be more likely to get spaces for their children. I have reservations about whether it’s safe for schools to reopen too, but that’s a discussion for a different time.

I’m doing my very best to keep the twins entertained, but there’s only so many arts and crafts activities we can do. And while they do enjoy going for a walk, they miss being able to play at the park or go to soft play. Really, they miss being able to live our lives the way we used to. I can’t blame them, because I do, too.

I’m frustrated

I miss my friends. I miss my family. And I miss being able to drop the twins at preschool and actually get some work done. I’ve spent the last year dreading them starting school, but now I can’t wait until September. Then there’s the fear that their Reception year won’t be “normal”, because we still don’t know how it’s all going to work.

And, as if being frustrated with my children isn’t bad enough, I also feel guilty for being frustrated with them. But I think that lots of parents are learning that working from home, surrounded by kids, is not much fun and not much work gets done. I have lost track of the number of times I’ve had to say “Mummy needs to do some work so that I can afford to feed you”, because these kids just don’t stop eating!! Surely my children aren’t the only ones who have turned in human dustbins since the schools closed?

They literally do not stop asking for food, from the moment they wake up until the moment they go to sleep. I’m not exaggerating. They are hungry all the time. I’ve saved on petrol – since I can’t go anywhere – but it’s being spent on feeding the twins’ snack habits.

And don’t get me started on the effect lockdown has had on my own diet.

Delayed plans

I feel like my life is on hold and that is very frustrating. I decided that I want to redecorate my room and replace my wardrobe. I’ve seen the perfect wardrobe in IKEA, but it’s not available for home delivery. I was so pleased when they announced they’d be reopening stores this week. But I don’t want to spend an entire day queuing, so my wardrobe will have to wait. Obviously, everyone is super excited to have IKEA back.

I am frustrated that we’ve had such lovely weather and I can’t go anywhere other than our back garden. How much longer is life going to be put on hold for this poxy virus?

And I know that there are lots of people much worse off than me and this cloud has plenty of silver linings. My family and I are all healthy (my dad had COVID 19, but has recovered); we’ve got a roof over our heads; my bills are paid and I can video call everyone I’m missing until I can actually spend time with them.

Video calls don’t beat a good hug, though.

This post has been added to Raisie Bay’s Word of the Week linky. If you want to see how other bloggers have summed up their week, you should check it out.