Lockdown 3 Diaries week 1 done. Are we are ok?

Lockdown 3 and week 1 done, but are we ok?

I shared last week about Lockdown 3. We are back in it.. The whole of the UK in one form or another is now under “stay at home” rules for the duration. Some people think it’s for a few weeks, I am inclined to be aiming for March because we feel that if we set the time in our head as too short, it will be harder when it actually is longer. We have learned from the last long lockdown that it’s easier to have a long term goal rather than focus on waiting for a quicker end.

This is our weekly Covid diary, sharing how we are doing and what life is looking like for us. So this is week one, and done…

Monday 04/01/2021 – Four days into the New Year and we know something is coming. Rumors in the media and online that another proper lockdown is coming. We have been expecting it. The numbers of infections are climbing, and a delightful and more easily spreadable strain of the virus has been working hard to spread. We all know what’s coming. We did it before in the Spring and early summer. I have been incredibly anxious over Christmas as we process the constant changes, the pressure to see people who don’t want to accept that Christmas can’t happen the way they want it to, and worry about what’s happening with schools. Whilst I hate the idea of another lockdown, I feel relieved when our Prime Minister tells us that is what is happening. I don’t think I am alone.

Tuesday 05/01/21 – Day 1. Whilst the “stay at home” rule isn’t “law” for another day. we act like it is. We start with school online for the teen, and we go back to homeschool for the boy. We are kind of used to that, and are very grateful that our secondary school has been so organised and prepared.

Wednesday 06/01/21 – childcare bubbles. We are part of one. It helps for both the mental health and wellbeing of the kids as well as for the adults who need to be able to work. It’s the only outside world contact we have now other than trips to collect groceries and daily walks or exercise. We are being very careful. Sheilding last time round has given us a level of “we know how to do this” so we are just getting on with it.

Thursday 07/01/21 – I get my first message from someone “are you ok?” “Are we ok?”. I lie and say we are, because the reality is, most people probably are not ok, or are too busy trying to process what’s happened and being back at home again. Our government has mismanaged the whole Covid story, and we have dealt with so many changes and new rules, then changes again, and things being loosened then tightened that I think we are all a bit numb and just need consistency.

Friday 08/01/21 – it hits me. I am not really ok. I don’t want to do this. I want to go back to work, I want my teenager to be at school as normal, I want my boy to be able to attend all his dance classes IN person and be able to be back at all his extra curricular activities. I don’t want to be frightened of people and to act like we have the virus, and that other people do. I am tired of being scared and worried. I am tired. But we don’t have any choice and I am not allowed to loose it in front of the kids. I also know that we are safe, and have a level of privilege in that I can homeschool, we can stay home and work from home. We don’t really have much to worry about. I need to focus on the mental well being of my family and carry on.

Saturday 09/01/21 – keep calm and carry on. We start back with online classes and the teen and I are on a mission to come out of this time a bit fitter and feeling like we have done something useful during this period so we are working on her going cycling with her dad and also starting Couch to 5k with me. I think it will be good for us. We are trying to break Saturday away from the week, so getting the house clean and tidy and giving the kids a break from school work and also making sure the adults get some alone time is important. We don’t know how long this lockdown will last so we need to make it work.

Sunday 10/01/21 – one week done. Sunday is a busy day for us. Online ballet classes and working hours for me (at home) and we are trying to make sure we get a good long walk for all of us, which helps mentally and physically. It’s been an up and down week. I have cried privately and also felt relieved. I keep seeing more and more people with this virus and I have friends who are very unwell, and it seems much closer to home and more serious.

Week one, done. Are we ok? I don’t know. I think we mostly are, sort of. We don’t have much choice, we just need to do our best and make it through.