Tag: Coronavirus

Our Family Life 2021 (10/52)

Lisa 7 Comments

Our Family Life 2021 (10/52)

Monday – it’s the 1st March. The end of homeschooling is in sight. It feels like there’s light at the end of a very long tunnel. We’re not quite out of it yet, but it really does feel like we’re a step closer. The weather has clearly caught onto our dreary mood as a nation and decided to give us some much needed sunshine.

Oh and our sandwich shape cutter arrived this morning. It’s funny how a sandwich cut into the shape of a dinosaur will be eaten by a two year old but a normal square or triangle won’t do…

Tuesday I was back at work (from home). At the moment it feels like a day off just to be out of the homeschooling.

The perks of working from home is McDonalds drive-through. It was a bit of a last week of homeschooling treat for us all.

Wednesday I knew was going to be a battle just by the look on Belles face when she came down for breakfast. Good or bad decision but I let her ditch some of her classes so that she could do some craft instead.

She’s really into My Froggy Stuff which is a YouTuber who does all things Barbie from making a setting up scenes to giving them total makeovers. So she decided to make a sweet shop with miniature sweets, a till, wrapping paper and little bags. I thought she did a pretty good job, and put in loads of details.

Thursday I worked on site at work. It’s not the best having to wear a mask all day, but it’s good to be seeing people other than Chris and the kids.

We decided to get Belle a little treat to say well done for putting up with us as shonky teachers for the past year, so we got her a new scooter, and all went out for a scoot. Needless to say, we carried Freddie’s all bar the 10 seconds at the beginning.

I’m still waiting for my teacher present to emerge!

Oh and even better, the school have decided to give the kids the day off on Friday. Today was………THE LAST DAY OF HOMESCHOOLING!!!

Friday we got up. We sat in our pyjamas in front of the TV……It was a good day!!

Saturday and Sunday were the usual chill out in preparation for return to school on Monday. Thankfully Belle’s school shoes still fit her so that was one less thing to stress about.

Roll on Monday. Woo Hoo!!

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Our Family Life 2021 (9/52)

Lisa

Our Family Life 2021 (8/52)

Monday was back to homeschooling with a very reluctant Isabelle. I really feel like we’ve gone as far as we can with homeschooling this way. The return to school can’t come quick enough now. That said, we have to remember that we’re still living in a pandemic and life could change again. Hopefully not though.

A while ago I was sent a letter from NatWest who I bank with personally and for my business asking if I would like to swap to another bank, and that they would give me £1250 for doing so. So I did just that and swapped to Starling, and this morning I got notification of the £1250 in my account. Anybody looking for a new account, I would highly recommend Starling.

Tuesday I had this day as an annual leave day, which doesn’t feel that great since we can’t go anywhere.

Wednesday was a day of messy play. Freddie and I started the day by making Playdoh monsters and superhero face masks followed by cornflour gloop (see my Instagram Messy Play Highlights for the full effect) for a science experiment. I brought the tuff tray in the kitchen to hopefully reduce the mess. Well, the kitchen was left with splatters of blue gloop all over it and the floor took days of cleaning before it was clean of a fine film of dustiness.

Thursday was agin just a get the homeschooling done kind of day. Oh and clean the kitchen again!

Same again on Friday!

Saturday and Sunday we went for a walk and just chilled at home. Freddie is really into setting up his play sets and will now sit happily and play with them for a while on his own which is nice. He’s still quite heavy handed with his toys so the train track doesn’t stay together very long and he loves to bash all of his cars and trains together

Overall, the days and weeks have started to drag now and all of our enthusiasm has been sucked away……

Corona-Diary 30.03.20

Lisa

Corona-diary – Our 14 days self-isolation is up

So our 14 self-isolation period is over!

Do we feel any different? Are we desperate to go out?

The simple answer is no! Obviously we would like to go out in the fresh air but I think we’ll stay at home where we feel it’s the safest.

Freddie developed a temperature the other day and the reality of one of the kids getting Coronavirus really scared me to the root. My kids get everything so I’d really rather not take the risk.

As long as we can get food I’m quite happy to stay inside our family bubble for as long as possible.

Going back to work

We’re both due back at work this week but hopefully we’ll be able to do this from home in some form. Things could get very interesting with the kids under our feet but we’ll just get on with it like the rest of the country.

#StayHomeSavesLives x

Corona-Diary 29.03.20

Lisa

What does Lockdown mean to you?

My interpretation of this is that you only leave your house if you absolutely have to for the purpose of getting essential food supplies, going to work as a key worker or for the purpose of exercise whilst abiding the social distancing rules.

It’s not going for unnecessary drives to the country for long dog walks or social calls to others houses because they don’t have any symptoms.

The whole point is to contain any likely spread which you may do before you start showing signs. Who knows how many places you’ve left a dose of Covid19 for others to pick up.

I think it’s irresponsible and selfish that some people think they’re above the rules.

The Vulnerable

This group containing the over 70’s age group, people with underlying illnesses and pregnant people should be particularly careful.

My mum falls into the over 70’s and has health conditions as does my stepdad who is also currently having chemotherapy, but my mum is still asking my sister to do food deliveries several times a week which is Non-Essential just to ‘break up the day’.

I know the guidelines of 12 weeks is a long time but the alternative doesn’t bare thinking about.

It’s better to be safe than sorry so stay at home, binge watch a few box sets, make plans for when this is over, sit and have a coffee in YOUR garden or take part in the endless online stuff that’s available for literally everything you can think of…….

But

STAY HOME AND STAY SAFE!

Corona-Diary 23.03.20

Lisa

Cabin Fever is kicking in

This is the first day that I’ve just had enough. What happens in your family when the going gets tough?

You pull together, right?

Not in our case and not this time. We’re at each other’s throats.

Chris is ill so he can’t help with the kids but he’s in that limbo stage of feeling better but not quite so he’s wandering round the house like a lost soul and quite frankly getting on my nerves.

He’s still coughing quite a lot and I’m getting really cross with him coughing and spluttering everywhere, where the kids play and in the kitchen.

My hands are raw and cracked from the ridiculous amount of hand washing trying to keep everything germ free so that the kids don’t catch whatever it is that he’s got.

Obviously we don’t know that it is Coronavirus but I’m not taking any chances.

Self-isolating

I’m currently on leave from my job and due back tomorrow but we’re self-isolating as per the guidelines due to Chris being ill. We’re currently at day eight so we have six more days until we’re considered not to be a risk to others. I’m part of the admin team at our local hospital so not patient facing, but I’m not going to lie that I don’t feel good about being in a hospital setting.

I feel that I should be grateful that like so many I still have a job but I do wish I could stay inside my little family bubble until this is over.

Homeschooling

We did our first PE session with Joe Wicks this morning which Isabelle really enjoyed, but I’ve got a feeling that she’s not going to be the perfect student for me as her teacher like she is at school.

Hats off to all the Homeschooling parents, I have no idea how you manage to give them the time and prep needed. I’m going to go easy on myself and do what we can, no pressure.

What are you eating?

We’re fine for food. We keep a pretty good stock of store cupboard essentials including herbs and spices which makes it easier to whip up something. We also had a full freezer. I do wonder though when things are gone what random meals we’ll all end up eating.

Currently we have a small Tesco near us which seems to be getting daily deliveries, and apart from not being able to get pasta, tinned tomatoes or hand wash they have pretty much everything including fresh fruit and veg.

Pleading with people to stay home

So despite all the pleas for people to stay home people have ignored this and have been going around in groups. The beaches, parks and public spaces have been busier than ever.

I’ve just finished watching the Prime Minister announce that all non-essential shops are to close. People should only be travelling if they are considered a Key Worker, for medical needs or collecting essentials. Only groups of two should go outside (once a day) for the purpose of exercise.

Essentially we’re on Lockdown going forward which has been enforced due to the stupidity and ignorance of so many, and will be reinforced by the police.

Jeez this has just hit another level of scariness. We’ve stuck to the social distancing rules and have only been out once for a dog walk aside from going to the shop for some milk once this week.

Lisa x

Corona-Diary – Mother’s Day & Supporting Local Businesses

Lisa

Mother’s Day

Mothers Day this year should have been a Cream Tea Cruise with my Mum, Sister and our kids. We would have eaten lovely little sandwiches and cakes whilst taking in the views around Exmouth.

Instead we stayed at home and I didn’t see my Mum today for the first time ever since both my parents fall into the vulnerable category as they’re both over 70 and have health conditions.

Isabelle was very concerned that she didn’t have any presents for me, but I would much prefer healthy kids than lots of presents.

I did get flowers, chocolates, cards and paintings from my kids which was more than I needed, but really lovely.

Supporting Local Businesses

Since we stayed at home we did have a bit of an unusual treat. As many local businesses are struggling given the current situation many are offering delivery services of food and provisions to keep themselves going as well as offering what they can to keep up community spirit. So with that in mind we ordered a take-away roast dinner from our local pub.

We did have to go and collect it but it was all within the social distancing guidelines. It felt good doing our bit to help a small local business as well as getting a nice dinner for ourselves.

The best place to find out about local food deliveries are Facebook pages and groups local to you. Have a look at the Facebook pages of places that you go to regularly to see what they’re offering. Lots of them are now closed to the public but are offering delivery services.

The same for buying your essentials. The supermarkets are being ransacked, but many independent or smaller ‘corner shops’ still have lots of stock available.

There’s a lot to be said for community spirit and pulling together in times of need. The more we support our local businesses, the more people get to stay in jobs and we benefit from what they have to offer.

Even when the Coronavirus outbreak is over it’s sad to think that lots of businesses won’t survive. There will be loads of people out of jobs and in general the country is going to take a long while to recover from this.

Lisa x

Homeschooling Activities during the Coronavirus Outbreak

Lisa

Home schooling through the Coronavirus

I know there’s huge debates going on with regards to whether the schools should be shut or kept open during this time, but given the current advice for non-essential contact to be avoided we’ve made the decision to keep Isabelle home from school.

Every parent knows that when you have to stay home with the kids due to illness etc, you start to get cabin fever pretty damn quick and crave getting out of the house more than anything.

Here are a few things that should keep them entertained and you from pulling your hair out. These range from educational recommendations to arts and crafts ideas for all ages.

Arts & Crafts

FREE Printable colouring pages from Crayola.

Lots of great Kids Science Experiments for all ages at Science Sparks.

Hidden Numbers Game.

There are loads of FREE Printables for all ages at Rainy Day Mum as well as loads of play and craft ideas.

Easter Pom Pom Painting.

DIY I-Spy Bottles

Homemade Playdoh – this is our Gingerbread Playdoh Recipe which is really easy and smells yummy.

The Artful Parent has loads of arts and craft projects to do with the kids.

Make a batch of Cloud Dough which is perfect to keep little ones entertained for ages.

Red Ted Art – loads of easy to make crafts and activities.

Online & Apps

BBC Learning has a whole load of stuff including revision tips and bite sized learning for all ages.

Scratch – you can program your own interactive stories, games, and animations and share your creations with others in the online community.

Toy Theater – Educational games for pre-school and primary aged children.

Khan Academy offer a range of free learning resources which kids can do at thy so own pace and level.

Future Learn has a whole range of courses which are free unless you want the certificates.

Duolingo– learn a new language for free. Online and app based.

Edinburgh Zoo have live cams on some of their animals which they might be interested to watch.

DK Find Out – loads of educational fun facts, videos and games.

Blockly is a great programme that can be downloaded or played online for computer science based fun.

Ted Ed – all sorts of educational fun videos.

National Geographic Kids has loads of educational fun games and resources.

Mystery Science – fun to watch and easy to complete step by step science experiments that can be completed with things you have at home.

Crash Course Kids – a fun selection of science based videos for kids.

Crest Awards – Challenging and thought provoking real-world STEM projects for young people of all ages.

iDEA – The Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award, known as iDEA is an international programme that helps you develop digital, enterprise and employability skills for free. Through our series of online challenges, you can win career-enhancing badges, unlock new opportunities and, ultimately, gain industry-recognised Awards that help you stand out from the crowd.

Tinkercad – Tinkercad is a free, easy-to-use app for 3D design, electronics, and coding. It’s used by teachers, kids, hobbyists, and designers to imagine, design, and make anything!

Oxford Owl – has loads of great Reading, English and Maths resources for primary aged kids.