Life in Lockdown – week 5 down…

Life in Lockdown. I never thought I would have to write those words. But over three weeks ago, like much of the world, we were told we had to STAY HOME. It isn’t optional and we are doing our very best to protect our health care system and stop the spread of a virus that is causing devastation around the world. Trying to balance my anxiety around illness and death whilst also running a home, supporting the husband who is working full time at home, educating one child and supervising the education of the other, whilst also try to work myself is, shall we say challenging. But we have to do this, we don’t have much choice. This is our weekly diary of how things are going for us.

This week I have joined up with the lovely Sarah from Life In a Breakdown as she is hosting a weekly link-up for those of us sharing our thoughts on life in lockdown, and it’s a great way to see how other people are doing and know we are not alone. These are the questions she has asked and our answers for this week:

1) How are you feeling/coping? This week has been ok and I find myself feeling very calm, and mostly that we are doing well. I have the odd wobble especially if I see too many conspiracy theories on social media and I am avoiding watching the news too much as I don’t think it is helpful and doesn’t seem to have many answers as to when and if this will end or change and I am finding that living in our little bubble and taking each week as it comes is easier on all of us. We are safe, we have what we need, we are just riding it out. I am less anxious than I was and want to keep it that way.

2) What are you doing to keep yourself occupied? Homeschool, feeding the family, some blogging, the odd session of binge-watching a tv-series and catching up with jobs around the house is pretty much making each day go fast.

3) How are you dealing with everything at the moment – are you self-isolated, going out for essentials etc? Has this changed? Technically we are a shielded family due to the teen’s health issues and we now have groceries sorted so we are only going out for a daily walk, and if we need to in an emergency – glares at the cat who needed a trip to the vet, after leaping out of a tree because he thinks he can fly and injuring his paw. Other than that we are working at home.

4) What advice do you have for others? Limit exposure to things that stress you out and are not helpful to your mind. Picture perfect lockdown posts on social media making you feel awful because you are not loving it? Hide them. People sharing scary stuff about the virus that makes you even more anxious? Limit exposure. Also, don’t argue with people. It isn’t good for your blood pressure (must remind myself of this, a lot!)

5) What have you bought this week that others might like? Especially if from a small business. I have just ordered a meal planner and some other bits from Doris & Fred, who is local to me and makes some amazing planners and useful kits for keeping organised.

6) How has your routine been this week? Pretty good. My son has SPD and ADHD so we have to stick to a routine and none of us cope when we don’t. Also the teenager is doing distance learning with her school so she has a daily routine. We are having daily walks and making sure we do bedtime on time and meals on time. It helps keep me and everyone else sane.

7) Have you planned anything for once lockdown is over this week? Yes, it is my son’s birthday this weekend, so we have plans for as nice a weekend as we can with lockdown limitations. Food he wants to eat, movies he wants to watch and things he enjoys. Last year we were in A&E with his dad seriously ill and this year we are locked down, but we are trying to make it as nice as we can for him.

8) Anything else. Don’t compare yourself with anyone else. Your lockdown life is not the same as someone else’s and it’s ok to not be doing all the things Pinterest says you should or

Check Out These Posts Sarah’s post this week and also some gorgeous photos from Views from My Garden Bench

And if you want to, why not Link Up With Us?

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How is life in lockdown going for you this week? I hope you are safe and well.