[Suburban] Life in the time of Covid-19
Home-schooling as a freelance copywriter, what could be easier?
I’m pretty good at staying at home. I was a ‘stay-at-home-mum’ for six years. Now I’m a freelancer, and you’ve got to be pretty good at ‘staying at home’ for that. The problem is that ‘staying at home’ now also applies to my kids. So, home-schooling is happening. Most of the time it’s enjoyable, sometimes just bearable, and occasionally awful.
I remind myself we’re lucky to be together, to be healthy, and relatively happy. To have a fridge full of food, a decent enough garden, and the obligatory 11 electronic devices needed for a family of four.
Times are extraordinary, yet so very ordinary and, like many, I’ve found myself reflecting regularly on the changes taking place daily. So, in a bid to keep my writing brain happy, I’ve been documenting daily life in suburbia, in the time of Covid-19.
Week one: 23rd – 29th March
Stay-at-home
Like half the nation, we started off well. Breakfasted and dressed by 9am, we stood looking hopefully at Joe Wicks’ living room. A-Junior (seven and a half) and Little-E (five) managed about 10 seconds of each exercise, then suddenly got reaalllly tired and reaallly thirsty, and decided McMummy could take one for the team.
The school’s sending out daily work and, after my initial horror at the instruction to report back every day at 3pm, I’ve become grateful for the structure and guidance. We’ve found our groove – McSchool runs smoothly between about 10am and midday.
Then things get confusing, because our school desks turn into the dining table, things get smeared and smudged, and everyone needs a break…Until, it seems, about 3pm. Which is when I realise, we only got through half of the day’s work and try to send a gazillion megabytes of photos to the girls’ teachers.
Then there’s the guilt. I’ve felt a lot of guilt this week…
Guilt that I haven’t done enough schoolwork with the girls. Guilt that I’ve spent too much time on my phone (WhatsApp went mad, understandably, for the first few days). Guilt that I might not be enjoying this family time enough. Guilt that I’d like to have some time to do some of MY work.
But what will we eat?
I’ve never been a keen cook, and the food shop’s always felt like a chore. I embraced online shopping years ago (anything to avoid supermarket shopping with small children).
But now there’s a new level of dread involved, with no delivery slots available, and reports of hour-long queues just to get inside.
My love-hate relationship with social media…
…continues. But I love it slightly more these days. Zoom and Houseparty have become part of the family. I’m in touch with friends I’d normally only see a couple of times a year, including a friend under a harsher lockdown in Spain. My phone is regularly hijacked by A-Junior and all my favourite emojis have been replaced by turds and unicorns, but, huzzah, I’ve finally worked out how to turn off the notifications on Houseparty.
The nation can’t help but find humour in the situation. There are memes and videos galore, designed just to make us laugh. I love that. Here’s one of my favourites so far.
On Friday we closed McSchool early (tbh we didn’t really open) and enjoyed a no-ties guilt-free afternoon in the sun.
What’s been in the news this week…
March 23rd: Britain goes into lockdown. Only essential businesses remain open. Schools close to the majority, but stay open for children of key workers.
March 26th: Police given powers to fine (£60) those not following social distancing rules (£120 for repeat offenders).
March 27th: Boris Johnson tests positive for Covid19.
Toilet rolls and delivery slots are like gold dust in stockpiling shock.
Week two: 30th March – 5th April
Together & Silver Linings
We’re certainly not used to this. Like Rolo, the 7-year-old dachshund (who was so happy he dislocated his tail), we’re experiencing a mixed bag of emotions.
Every now and then McHusband emerges from his ‘office’ in the loft, and we have the now customary ‘this is all so weird’ conversation. Most days there’s no time to dwell further and, luckily for us, outside of the obvious disruption, the coronavirus isn’t impacting our daily lives.
On social media, we’re being encouraged to see the silver linings. While trying not to get annoyed by the do-gooders, I have been trying to focus on some of our personal positives:
My girls are becoming more independent, which might seem counterintuitive considering we’re spending so much time together. But, to be frank, I’m fed up of catering to their every whim, and keen to see how far I can stretch them. They’re young and fresh, and need to stay fit to look after McHubby and me if we succumb, after all.
This week, I enjoyed a peaceful couple of hours when I discovered they could be trusted to turn on the printer, and make photocopies of their homemade ‘posters’. (Let’s not dwell on the hours spent picking Blu Tack off the walls later that day.)
We’ve discovered that a neighbour owns a family bakery and, unfortunately for our waistlines, can deliver fresh bread and other dough-based delights to our doorstep before breakfast. It’s amazing.
I’m starting to enjoy jogging (shocked emoji). I’ve been doing it for years, but never really enjoyed it. I’ve concluded it must be like eating a food you don’t like. If you try it enough, eventually you’ll develop a taste for it. I must have finally jogged enough to actually enjoy it. Either that, or I’m going slightly loopy.
Unfortunately, I’ve also discovered my ‘jogger’s rage’ and it’s disconcerting. I find myself muttering ‘move over’ under my breath if people don’t socially distance appropriately.
We’ve discovered Cosmic Kids Yoga and it’s excellent. Not only can instructor Jaime tell stories, such as Frozen and Harry Potter, enthusiastically from beginning to end, she can do so while teaching some decent yoga moves. It’s impressive stuff.
P.S. I’ve heard on the grapevine that some people are still home-schooling, despite it being the holidays. The guilt’s back. But currently McSchool remains closed.
What’s been happening this week…
April 2nd: Easter holidays begin. Whoop!
April 3rd: McHusband braves supermarket and reports back that it “wasn’t too bad”.
April 5th: Boris goes into hospital after 10 days of worsening Covid19 symptoms.
April 5th: Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer resigns after admitting to visiting her holiday home twice, ignoring her own ‘don’t visit your holiday home’ rule.
‘To socially distance’ becomes a commonly used verb.
Week three: 6th -12th April
The new normal (and other clichés)
I’m a bit concerned that we’re all getting used to this. I was watching Ozark the other day and, for a good few seconds, I found myself frantically thinking ‘why are they so close? What are they thinking!?’ when the characters were less than two metres apart.
I also find myself worrying that this social distancing behaviour will become engrained in my girls. They’ve heard me say ‘stay away from the people’ a fair bit recently. That can’t be good.
However easy it is to stay at home, actual social contact is important, obviously. It’s how we bond with each other. How we see people’s kind, vulnerable or funny sides. It’s too easy to jump to the wrong conclusion about what somebody means over social media or WhatsApp or text message (is it just me and my dad sending text messages these days?)
My inbox is full of words like ‘unprecedented’, ‘uncertain’, ‘challenging’, ‘testing’. Fair enough, I suppose. ‘Pivot’ though? I thought that was a snazzy little netball move I never mastered.
For the most part my kids are getting along. Little-E can’t believe her luck. Her beloved older sister will not only give her the time of day, but she’ll actually ask to play with her, giving Little-E previously unknown powers in their relationship.
On the other hand, A-Junior, at nearly eight, is maybe a bit too old to be playing cats and dogs and watching Number Blocks. But hey ho, we can’t all be winners.
Note to self: spend some quality time with daughter no.1.
What else has been happening this week?
April 8th: McHusband writes to the BBC to say that the way death figures are being announced is misleading.
April 9th: BBC change wording of overnight death figures. McHusband thinks it’s thanks to him.
April 10th: Easter bank holiday weekend and the sun’s out, which means the Government’s in a tizz over potential social distancing breaches.
April 12th: Boris leaves hospital to recuperate at Chequers.
Words that should be shot: The new normal. Unprecedented. Pivot.
Week four: 13th – 19th April
Don’t even think about it…
The end of lockdown that is.
It’s a levelling sort of experience all this. It reminds me of being a new mum. You bond with people from all walks of life because you’re experiencing a life-altering moment together. To be clear, I am not using the well-known metaphor involving a boat, because, as I have been reminded this week, we are most definitely not all in the same boat. In the McHouse, things could be better, but they could be a LOT worse.
Apart from the daily news briefings and the odd letter from number 10, it’s still quite easy to carry on with daily life and forget that a pandemic is ripping its way through the heart of society, causing chaos, worry and grief on an epic scale.
I have to remind myself not to forget. Because lots of people are leading very different lives from mine. Getting up and going to work, putting themselves at risk to help others in one way or another. The communal clap, at 8pm every Thursday, is a fitting way to say thank you, though perhaps not enough.
Still, it’s nice to wave enthusiastically at our neighbours. We linger longer than necessary, wistfully watching yet another beautiful sunset, remembering a previous life we all took for granted.
I’d happily clap every night of the week to live in a community like this. Most people are doing what they should, staying at home to help us all. And whilst it’s eerily quiet out there, it gives me hope that love, and a little fear no doubt, will save the day.
What the headlines say this week…
April 14th: The Office for Budget Responsibility announces that the UK economy could shrink by 35% with 2 million job losses.
April 16th: The Government announces (surprise!) another three weeks of lockdown.
April 16th: Social media is buzzing about Captain Tom, the 99-year-old war veteran, who is walking the length of his garden 100 times before his 100th birthday to raise money for the NHS. Pretty inspiring in itself, considering my slightly sprightlier offspring need bribing with Percy Pigs to walk around the block. Even more amazingly he’s raised £29 million for charity.
April 18th: There’s talk of a traffic light system to ease Britain out of lockdown, but the Government refuses to discuss exit strategy.
News of inadequate PPE (personal protective equipment) availability this week is worrying for healthcare workers.
WormWorld arrived via Amazon this week. (A-Junior’s developed a love of worms. Poor child needs a pet.)
Week five: 20th -26th April
Ouch my feet
My new-found love (well, like) of jogging has led to a sore heel. The medical term is plantar fasciitis, and according to a guy who knows about running, this is happening a lot at the moment. We’re allowed out for our daily exercise so we’re blooming well going. Adequately prepared, or not.
The guy in question runs a shop that sells all things running and, like many businesses unable to open, is having to get creative. He asked me to film myself jogging (apparently customers usually run on a treadmill in the shop), which I dutifully did. Turns out I have an ‘over-pronation’ whatever that is. Also turns out I’m not the graceful runner I thought I was. Disappointing, but beside the point.
The guy turned up on my doorstep the next day with three pairs of trainers for me to try. A captive audience if ever there was one. The outcome was pretty good all round though. He got a sale, I got a good trainer and felt like I’d supported a local business – he’d sold 16 trainers that day.
McSchool re-opened this week, somewhat reluctantly. In a tenuous link to a five-year old’s phonics lesson, I’ve become an expert on paper aeroplanes, and can bash out a superior flyer in a matter of minutes. (‘J’ for jumbo-jet). There must be a science lesson in there somewhere.
The teachers send home an email at the end of each week to celebrate the best achievements. Innocent enough I know, but I’m finding it hard not to be offended by my children’s absence from the list. We’re going to have to pull out all the stops next week.
And finally…Strangely, for someone with zero interest in cooking, I’ve become addicted to fast-motion food preparation videos on Facebook. There’s something almost meditative about them.
News this week…
20th April: The price of US oil turns negative for the first time in history.
21st April: In a stark reminder of the state of the high street, Primark goes from earning £650m a month to nothing.
23rd April: Our ticket out of this mess; vaccine trials start, and aim to be finished by August.
26th April: Bo-Jo’s back at no.10.
26th April: Lowest death toll in April (413) might be encouraging (but doesn’t include as yet unrecorded deaths in the community). Overall deaths pass 20,000.
I did a little happy dance this week when I heard that our local B&Q is re-opening. If, like me, you’re a DIY lover, you’ll understand.