Another week and today is another work day but I can’t concentrate one little bit. I have a funeral to go to tomorrow and it’s the only thing I can think of. Losing someone, particularly now whilst we aren’t able to see people is so hard. Working was a welcome distraction.
Tuesday
It was the funeral of my brother-in-law today. Taken far too soon. It was a shock and will be for some time.
The funeral was very different from the usual setup, but I’m glad that we were given the chance to say goodbye. It was very strange wearing a mask throughout. It was hot and your face underneath literally gets covered in snot. There was no wake, no drink to toast his life, but it’s something we can do when the time is right.
Wednesday
It was our lovely Charlie’s 7th birthday, and not a year goes by without cake and presents for him.
Making a cake and wrapping presents for him was a welcome distraction after yesterday.
We love how he knows when presents are for him. He throws himself into shredding the wrapping paper making so much mess, but it’s all part of the fun.
Much like children, I can’t believe that our fur baby is seven already (49 in dog years). As a labradoodle, he’s a bit of a nutter by nature, but he has slowed down over the last year or so. He too is craving the attention of people other than us.
Thursday
Let’s just say. Homeschooling, work, and a toddler – Day written off!
Friday
Our son comes home with his son which is always a lovely distraction. Freddie loves having his nephew here to play. Ryan’s currently working towards his A level in maths which he needs for his engineering course. I’ve no doubt that he’ll smash this if he puts his mind to it.
Saturday
was just a day of playing. I had intended for us to go for a walk but the weather is absolutely shocking at the moment.
Sunday
Was the first day of a week off for Chris. He works really long hours and so we don’t really get much time together so we spent the day chilling, playing, and being silly on the switch. We even roped him into a Just Dance session. Shame that I couldn’t sneak a video of him absolutely killing the dad dancing.
Like Christmas, everybody is looking forward to the back of January. It’s been a tough, long month……..
Monday’s I would usually be at home with the kids, but I’ve had to temporarily change my workdays to Monday and Friday to fit in with Chris’ job.
We also had a delivery of rock cakes and chocolate cakes from Nanny which was a welcome treat.
Homeschooling will probably feature in these diaries quite a bit since it’s taking up most of our time.
To break up the day a bit Belle made us lunch today. We had a picky lunch which is a favourite of ours. It’s just loads of randoms like crackers, cheese, pickles, cucumber, etc.
As the days are long and stressful for all of us, we have to take the wind where we can and pick our fights and know when to just let things go. We finished up the day with a bedroom disco which the kids love and it gives me a minute to regain my sanity.
Thursday
Thursday was a workday for me, and I should confess that it’s one of the days that I wake up with a smile on my face knowing that I’m not the one homeschooling today. There’s definitely a spring in my step on the way upstairs for a day of hard graft. I think Chris appreciates that staying home with the kids isn’t the day off that he once thought!
I even took the opportunity to nip out to the shop ON MY OWN! It was lovely to be outside without the constant kid whinging noises or somebody wanting something. I’m not ashamed to say that I took my sweet time walking there and back!
Friday
Friday…..looking forward to the weekend and therefore the end of the school week. I don’t know if it was because Belle knew it was Friday, but she plowed on with her work so we finished off the day watching a couple of episodes of the Jurassic World cartoon series on Netflix which was really nice for all of us.
We also had a huge duplo session and made robots.
Saturday
We seem to be working on incentives at the moment. Using treats and activities as a way of getting through each day. Most of the time it works so for now we’ll keep doing this. It’s totally exhausting but we take each day as it comes.
Belle wanted to do some baking this weekend so fairy cakes were the simple thing to do. We made a batch of 12 and split them up so that they both had six each to decorate.
Isabelle spent ages decorating hers whilst Freddie was done in around seven minutes, but he enjoyed it all the same.
Sunday
Was just a day of staying in pyjamas until near lunchtime, playing and chilling. We need to get outside but the weather is shocking at the moment with so much rain.
Another week down…..another week closer to the end of the pandemic!!
Another week of homeschooling to get through, but so far so good. We’re managing with a little bit of bribery, and lots of encouragement from Belles teacher who sends a video every morning just to say hello and outline what the kids are doing that day.
We had a bit of upset with Belle getting annoyed with the activities that I’m doing with Freddie. I guess a lot of mums and Dads must be in this position. I do activities with both of them when the school work is finished but she can’t help getting FOMO about anything we do whilst she’s doing schoolwork.
We did manage a bit of painting for my niece’s birthday which Freddie really enjoyed.
Tuesday
It was my niece’s 12th birthday today. Another birthday during a lockdown. We used our daily exercise to walk to her house for a doorstep visit since she’s so close to us. It was lovely to see her and my sister.
It was also a workday for me, and I’m not going to lie, I literally skipped up the stairs. No homeschooling for me today – over to you Chris!!
Wednesday
All the days seem to blur into one at the moment so I have to check my phone just to see what day it is. It’s hard to get pictures of Freddie these days since he never stays still. If lockdown goes on much longer maybe we should do away with our regular furniture and set up a soft play so he can burn off all that excess energy.
Thursday
HOMESCHOOLING
Friday
Friday was my Mum’s birthday. We ordered her and my dad a sweet and savoury afternoon tea from a local company that delivers. We also used our dog walk just to pop by and wish her Happy Birthday on the doorstep.
Saturday
The weekend our son was back with our grandson so it was hectic but nice that Freddie had somebody to play with.
Isabelle received a certificate which was hand-delivered through the door from school. it was such a nice thing for somebody to take their time to do it m, and at the weekend as well. It was for showing outstanding values throughout the school with a little well-done note.
Sunday
That’s another week done. Another week where not a lot has been happening. I keep thinking we’ll do some baking and then I remember that thing that’s taking over – Homeschooling!
Is anybody else feeling so so tired at the moment?
So last year so the start of the Coronavirus pandemic and life as we knew it changed. I started the Coronavirus Diaries but I didn’t publish many of them as they all became a bit ranty as we grew less enthusiastic about how to entertain the kids, and FaceTime and zoom calls became something we dreaded. Our Family Life Diary is going to be a weekly catch up of what we’ve been up to, so that we can look back on how life was during a global pandemic as it already feels like we’re on rocky ground.
2021 had so much promise….
A new year and a fresh start is how it’s supposed to go. Setting goals and making plans for the year ahead.
Sadly it’s likely that the beginning part of this year is still going to be a time to live each day as it comes with all plans on hold or with back up options. We’ll await the next instalment from Boris on that one.
I thought that instead of a coronavirus diary, I would write a weekly update on what we’ve been up to, more for ourselves to look back on.
Christmas
Christmas for us was how we’d planned it to be. Us and the kids at home which is what we did. Obviously we would have liked to have still visited family instead of doing doorstep present deliveries but the actual day itself went as we’d hoped.
Boxing Day was a bit rubbish. Chris went back to work so it was just me and the kids. We would usually go to my mums and my brother and sisters would come over with all the kids so it was a bit of a low day.
We spent the next few days eating our own body weights in cheese, pate and chocolate.
The weather has been awful with lots of rain and wind but we did manage a nice dog walk. Freddie was happy walking in the ‘squishy mud’ and we found some amazing icy puddles to crack.
New Years Eve
New Years Eve was spent pretty much how we spend every year. We ordered a takeaway and had some nice drinks.
This year was slightly different as we let Belle stay up until the real midnight this year. For the last couple of years we’ve put the previous years New Years fireworks on YouTube on the TV at around 9pm and done our own countdown and cheers before happily packing her off to bed at around 9.30pm.
Harsh you may think, but we thought it was genius!
My Favourite First Job of the Year!
Is of course writing my calendar and starting to fill my Planner. I like to sit down with something good to watch and a glass of wine. I use my best pens……like a pig in muck!
Board Games
Freddie’s not really one for sitting down to play games or do jigsaw puzzles, but we’ve managed to play a couple of the Orchard games which are really quick to play and a good introduction to family games.
Buddy the Elf brought the kids Pull My Finger which is also a great game to play when you’re two years old! parp!!
The plan is to post our week’s activities every Monday so we can keep a diary of these odd times and all entries can be found in the Family Life link at the top of the page.
Creating Happier more Mindful Children – How’s Lockdown Life going for you? We started off doing okay. We took Isabelle out of school the week before the schools officially closed, and it felt like a school holiday.
We joined in with online PE lessons, did lots of craft, baked and generally made the most of this unusual time off that we had. We’re in the garden a lot which has also been an absolute godsend.
We’ve only been on a grand total of four walks since the whole pandemic thing began. Isabelle is a sensitive soul and had overheard lots of conversations and some snippets of the news and had come to the conclusion that going outside was dangerous, and therefore hadn’t wanted to leave the house.
She does literally catch every germ going so I knew this was going to have her little worrying head spinning.
Fast-forward a few weeks and things aren’t so great.
We started to run out of craft stuff and I wasn’t sure if ordering it online was allowed as it wasn’t essential shopping. We binned off the PE lessons or it was just me standing there attempting it whilst Isabelle showed absolutely no interest.
The toddlers not sleeping great so my patience and ability to entertain both Freddie and Isabelle was being stretched to the limit. Picking activities to do with a nearly two year old and a nine year old is hard.
Spending so much time together each and every day has become a chore. The fun seems to have evaporated and we’re left with a tantruming toddler, a wannabe teenager and then there’s me who has become shouty frazzled mum.
Something has to change
We can’t go on like this so when I was sent a Little Can of Can-Do I was intrigued to see what this was all about.
What is a Can of Can-Do?
Life is hectic for most of us, we live in a world that never switches off. Technology plays a huge part in our everyday life, but it does make it harder to have much needed ‘down time’.
Whenever we were stuck my Mum always used to say “put can’t in your pocket and pull out can”.
A Can-Do is a can of 28 cards full of daily affirmation and mindfulness exercises for Children. Created by a husband and wife team with the input of their three daughters, the cards were made to instill important messages about confidence, mindfulness and gratitude. Each card has a lovely brightly coloured picture with a prompt or exercise to complete which you can use over and over again.
The Can-Do Can retails at £15.99 and is aimed at the 8 – 15 year age group but there’s nothing to stop you implementing this with younger children.
We decided that we’d start off by doing a daily lucky dip. These are best done at the end of the day so that you can reflect on that days activities.
The Sweet Game
Isabelle was thrilled with this challenge since sweets were involved so a lucky one to pick out first.
Red (something happy) – Played on my scooter in the garden.
Blue (something sad) – Being told off by Mummy.
Orange (a good choice) – Picking Teen Titans over the Loud House to watch on TV.
Brown (something you didn’t feel you did well and how you could have done it differently) – Not letting Freddie go first when we play games and knowing that’s it’s kind to take turns.
Yellow (something fun) – Playing in the garden.
Green (something kind) – Helping Freddie on the slide and letting him take his turn first.
Act of Kindness
Isabelle opted to buy a chocolate bar and leave it in her brothers bedroom for him to find, and as an act of kindness, I did the same for her to make her smile too.
This is such a simple thing to do, and making somebody else smile definitely makes you feel good.
Our Thoughts
Isabelle loves a task to do, so these simple tasks can be completed every day and can take as little or long a time as you like. It’s something that we do ‘just us’ and as she’s getting really frustrated at the moment it’s a good chance for us to talk about anything that’s worrying her. The sweetie one was difficult the first time we did it, as she found it upsetting to say her bad behaviour out loud.
I thought these were a great resource to get Isabelle to talk about how she’s feeling. She’s been doing a lot of shouting these last couple of weeks as well as storming off and door slamming. She’s not alone in this either. I feel like I’m with the kids 24/7 and it’s not a healthy combination. We’ve watched far more TV than usual as well as phones and tablets. Being out in the garden seems to be our happy place at the moment.
A new normal is needed. We need to get back into a little bit of a structured routine with some school work, craft and play time. We also need to get out of the house. We have some lovely places to go around us, but they do get really busy which is difficult to social distancing, but maybe we need to get up and out of the house earlier to set us up for the day.
We’re going to use the Can-Do tasks regularly and will hopefully be creating Happier more Mindful Children, particularly on tough days as a reminder to be kind to each other!
Lisa x
*We were sent a Can-Do Can for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are our own.
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.
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.
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.
So far so good. I’m really liking having a list of seven meals and knowing that I have all the ingredients for them . I keep a list of the meals on my phone and we decide in the morning what we’re going to eat that day. It’s also good to get the family involved in picking what meals they want for the following week.
Online Shopping
Chris usually does the food shopping but as he’s working so much at the moment I thought that we’d do a bit of online shopping so that he doesn’t have to use his spare time this way. As we don’t normally do it I made a few mistakes like ordering just one banana and the jacket potatoes we received were the biggest ones I’ve ever seen.
I don’t think I did too well on buying lunchtime stuff so I had to do a quick tip up but it’s not the end of the world.
Monday
Spaghetti Bolognaise – A family favourite. We always do a big pot so that there’s some leftover to freeze. I think Freddie would eat pasta every day of the week if we let him.
Tuesday
Takeaway curry – we totally failed on the meal plan front and opted for a takeaway curry. What can I say other than ‘that’s life’.
Wednesday
Filled Pasta and Sauce – A staple meal for us is pasta.
Thursday
Sausage and Mash with Onion Gravy – I slice about four red onions and cook them slowly in red wine. I cooked the sausages in the oven for about half an hour before popping everything in the slow cooker and adding some beef stock. I left it on low for a couple of hours and thickened with a bit of flour and added a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Scrummy with buttery mash and broccoli.
Friday
Steak and Chips – we had some lovely bits of steak in the freezer so today is the day. We have it with chips, mushrooms and salad.
Saturday
Chilli and Lime Taco Kit with Chicken – this is a boxed kit that we got from Aldi. They never seem to be enough for us so I bulk them out with additional veg and extra wraps.
Sunday
Pizza – we’re having a pizza and movie night as Aladdin is on Sky which Isabelle is very excited about.
Top Tips to make Breastfeeding and Returning to Work Easier
Going back to work following Maternity Leave is essential for most of us rather than a choice. There are so many things to think about and organise long before your first day back such as childcare and possible changes to your hours. Something that kept me awake at night, other than the baby was worrying about how I was going to carry on breastfeeding when I went back to work.
Do I have to stop Breastfeeding when I go back to work?
The answer is simply, NO. There’s no reason why you should stop feeding your baby but you may need to express milk for your baby to take whilst you’re at work, and you may need to express during your working day.
This is something that is asked time and again on Parenting Groups and Forums, and a lot of women use their return date as an ‘aim for’ date when thinking of weaning their baby from the breast.
This isn’t the case for everybody though. Some babies don’t take from a bottle or cup at all so feed before mum goes to work and then when they get home again. Some mothers also find that they aren’t able to express milk easily so it’s worth having a go a little while before you go back to work.
The European Commission recommends that Employers should provide Breastfeeding Mother’s with:
Access to a private room where women can breastfeed or express breast milk
Use of a secure, clean refrigerator for storing breast milk during working hours
Facilities for washing, sterilising and storing receptacles
What will I need to Express Breastmilk?
A Breast Pump – This could be a manual or electric pump but I find the most effective way to pump is with a Double Electric Pump.
Bottles/Cups – This is personal preference to your baby. Some will take breast milk from a bottle whilst others will take it from a sippy cup or other form of beaker.
Teats – If using a bottle, it may be that you might have to try out a few teats before finding the right one for your baby. I’ve been using slow-flow or newborn teats so that the milk comes out slower which mimics the rate at which your baby feeds from the breast.
Milk Storage Bags – Milk can be expressed and frozen which is great for building up a bit of a stash for when you’re away from your baby. This could also be useful if you were ill or need to catch up on some sleep when they can be fed by someone else.
A Cool Bag – For putting your expressed milk into. I pour all milk into one bottle and cap it, pop it into my cool bag and put it into the fridge. I prefer this since I don’t want colleagues to question it or touch it to be honest. This also keeps it nice and fresh on the commute home.
A Safe Place to Express or Breastfeed – This ideally needs to be a comfortable lockable room with a chair and access to the above. A toilet cubicle is most definitely not an option and if this is suggested I would seek further advice via the Health & Safety Guidelines for New and Expectant Mothers.
Accessible Clothing – This may seem like a no-brainer but the first time I wore a dress as I considered myself ‘baby free’ I had to get pretty much undressed to express. Clothes with buttons I find best.
Letting your Employer know you’re continuing to Breastfeed
If you’re planning to express breast milk or breastfeed (if baby is nearby) then you will need to notify your Manager so that they can put the necessary arrangements in place
Other things to consider when discussing this with your employer is that you have somewhere comfortable to sit with a plug socket within reach.
It’s always a good idea to keep the lines of communication open with your employer so that you both know each others expectations. I thought that I would need to express twice during the day which is what was agreed between us. Once in the morning and again in the afternoon, but I find that once a day suffices and leaves me comfortable to work and doesn’t eat into my working day too much.
If you work with hazardess substances your employer will need to make the necessary arrangements in place to ensure your safety for the duration of your breastfeeding journey.
When is the Best time to Express Breast Milk?
This is very individual to you. I thought that I would need to express at around 11am and the again at 2pm which were when Freddie would usually feed, but I’ve managed to get it down to one pump session at 1.30pm which is enough until I get home again.
Also be prepare for your baby to want to feed more than usual when you get home, and unfortunately they might start to wake up to feed when they’ve previously slept through the night.
Like breastfeeding in the beginning, it’s all about finding your feet. Having been back at work since May I feel that we now have a good system in place. Freddie does feed more when I get home and the following day but it’s working well for us. As far as work is concerned, I schedule the time into my calendar like I would a meeting and so far it’s gone without any problems.
Looking for a decent Breast Pump?
I’ve been using the Ameda Finesse Double Electric Breast Pump which is designed with the same technology as a hospital grade breast pump. It can be plugged into the mains or be used with batteries so you can move about.
The pump is both easy to use and wash, and is light enough for transporting to and from work. There are multiple settings to find the perfect speed and suction for both comfort and optimum supply. The proven Airlock Protection reduces the risk of contamination for safe milk.
It was recommended to use the Dr Brown’s Options+ Baby Bottles featuring the new breast-like teat shape which is great for switching between breast and bottle feeding. The teats flow mimics the flow of the breast which is perfect and reduces confusion for your baby.
Our Breastfeeding Journey has by no means been an easy one, but Freddie is fifteen months old now and we seem to have quite a good feeding routine going on which is definitely a weight off.
*We were sent the Ameda Finesse Double Electric Pump + a selection of Dr Brown’s bottles for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Family Bucket List 2019 – it’s a while since I wrote a Bucket List since the one that I wrote previously had quite big things on it which made it a bit unrealistic in terms of timing and budget. I’m going smaller, but small doesn’t always mean less quality. Chris works long hours so we need to make the most of our time off.
Here goes:
Have a BBQ on the beach
Crabbing
A picnic at the park
Ice skating
Take Isabelle dry skiing
Afternoon tea
Go to a Blogging conference
A family holiday abroad
A weekend family getaway
Declutter the house
A living room picnic
Go to a theme park
Get over my fear and get my front tooth fixed
Wear bright colours (I always wear black)
Visit a National Trust property
Start a yoga class
Have a Mummy Daughter day out
Have a Daddy Daughter day out
Be more sociable
Have some family pictures taken
Get Freddie’s bedroom sorted
Go dancing
Visit a Christmas market
A beach day
Visit somewhere new
A spa day
Learn to drive
Read a new book per month
Spend an evening binge watching a box set
Movie night
Date night
Cook something new
Make the garden more child friendly
Plant flowers/plants and hope the dog doesn’t eat them
Set up a You Tube channel for Isabelle
Vlog – even just once!
Make a photo book
Take more photo’s (more with me in)
Go to a zoo
Take the kids swimming
Learn something new
Do something out of my comfort zone
Take part in a charity event
Do a craft project
Go camping
Camp out in Isabelle’s room
Sign Isabelle up for a class
Have my nails done
Start to meal plan
Have some screen free days
So that’s our list. It’s not anything too big except maybe the dental work which is a massive deal for me.
I hope that we manage to get everything or most of the things listed and will blog about each one as they’re ticked off.
What do you have planned for 2019?
Lisa x
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