I’m still recovering from the shock of my 3-year-old falling seriously ill with what we’re told is likely to have been COVID-19 last week (more on that in a future post). To keep spirits up I’m trying to focus on some of the positives that this surreal pandemic has brought us:
- More family time – being forced to reorganise our working lives so that we both have more quality time with the kids (albeit in shifts while the other works). Now I no longer have any pangs of guilt from sending my 3-year old to preschool four days’ a week so I can work.
- Less vain – I’m no longer wearing make-up at all, which saves time (and in the long-term a bit of money I guess). I’m also growing out the blonde highlights that I’ve had since I was 21 and living in France (ahem.. 20 years ago), after cancelling my hair appointment. I’ve always been nervously curious to see how much natural blonde I have left, and now I have the perfect excuse.
- Back to basics – I’m cooking at home every day and we are sitting down and eating together as a family. I’m enjoying being more culinarily creative with the children.
- Sisters playing together – Instead of one being in pre-school and the other at school, they are at home together, forming a tight sisterly bond that will stay with them forever.
- Conference calls instead of schlepping up to London – saving time and money. (This has generally worked, apart from a call last week I completely forgot about – a potential French client I’d been pitching to who had five senior directors waiting 25 minutes on a conf call line to speak to me; one eventually had to call my mobile while I was helping MiniM#2 on the toilet. Totally bewildered, I had to drag poor DH out of his own call, before pitching to the client in confused French, with the girls shouting for me outside the door!)
- Getting increasingly fitter – I’m making sure I go on a cycle ride or a run at least every other day. I’m actually less tired through not going to London and instead staying at home so I have more energy to go faster and further.
- Empty roads – my local cycling route is less perilous as there are much fewer cars whizzing by on the pot hole-ridden twisting country lanes. Exchanging knowing nods and rueful smiles with other cyclists, mindful that we can at least enjoy being out on our bikes and have the roads almost to ourselves.
- Saving money – through not going out so much and not eating out and (hopefully) getting refunds from events and holidays we’ve had to cancel.
- Activities – forced to be creative, resourceful and plan, and doing all the crafty, fun activities with the kids I always wanted to do, but often neglected as we were either out and about or working.
- Being grateful – that we live in a house with a garden, rather than the thousands of people in flats without any garden. And that we have each other.
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If you’re also stuck at home self-isolating with little ones, here is a list of ideas of some of the things we’ve been doing to avoid going stir crazy:
Calamitous Mummy 