Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

The Lockdown Diaries

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    The Lockdown Diaries

    During this time, I'm going to find it helpful to keep a daily diary. Partly to remind myself that I am providing more than ample activities for my children and to look back on during the inevitable days I will have when I will lock myself in my room while they watch TV and feed themselves from the cupboards. Rather than clutter up the general Covid-19 thread (which I will use more for news updates), I'm creating this standalone thread. I don't mind if it's just me writing a daily diary, or if anyone wants to join in as well, either regularly or occasionally.

    Day 1: Friday evening. Collected daughter from her last football club session. Our Friday tradition has been cake after football, so as a final nod to this, I bought the last full-size chocolate cake in the local shop. We had Indian takeaway and chocolate cake, and downloaded Animal Crossing and played it for half an hour together. After the kids went to bed, my husband set up 'virtual pub' night with two of his university friends. It was really nice to share hopes and fears and jokes with them. One is a teacher in a special needs school which won't be closing. He has 2 year-old twins who are not eligible for school places, and their child minder has self-isolated. They currently have no idea who will look after them (his wife is also a transport-related key worker). The other friend is an NHS project manager, facing tricky decisions about repurposing operating theatres into wards.

    Day 2: Saturday. Children played Mario Party and Animal Crossing in the morning. We played Gruffalo dominoes and made card towers. Made smoothies from the excess amount of fruit my mother-in-law brought round. My husband was making a video about successful home-working for one of his clients. I took the kids to the park to play football for an hour. We saw a teacher and a classmate of my daughter that we know, but only waved from a distance. Everyone, families, dog walkers, runners, dancing a strange dance to keep several metres away from each other. Came home and made mother's day cards for my mum and my husband's mum. My son used ink stamps and felt tips. I taught my daughter how to make an origami heart to stick on the cards. We put them in envelopes, stuck stamps on and walked to the post box to post them. Pizza, chips, rocket and orange juice for dinner. My husband's now giving them a bath, before I'm going to do a thorough nitcomb scrape through their hair to ensure we're all lice-free for the duration.

    #2
    Forgot that on Friday night, my son woke up coughing and wheezing in the night. We had to use his inhaler and give him calpol and water, and then he settled again. One of my jobs for Monday is to try and get the doctor's to prescribe me an extra inhaler as he occasionally has these episodes and there's not much left in the inhaler.

    Comment


      #3
      And, we've started watching "The Expanse" on Netflix.

      Comment


        #4
        The Expanse is my favorite

        And it is quietly very hopeful. It shows that humanity will find ways to have meaning and love even after the Earth goes to shit.

        Comment


          #5
          I've started Tweeting a picture of my morning cup of coffee to see how long I can go before I have to repeat myself.

          Comment


            #6
            Great thread idea.

            Saturday: Woke up at 4.30am, couldn't sleep because I was thinking that I was going to revolutionise my life and quit coaching and refereeing for good. But that's still very much up in the air. To quell that train of thought, at 5 I read for an hour, then went back to sleep until 8. Got up, went to the bakery and the post office. Everyone looks fucking miserable and very wary, shoppers and workers alike. Came back and made breakfast. Frau imp out jogging, impette still in bed, so sat down with a coffee and listened to Agnes Obel and a Mozart piano concerto while reading the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Everyone up by 11, we ate 'brunch', took well over an hour. Fucked about on the internet for ages. Studied French for two hours. Talked to my sister-in-law in Dresden for 20 minutes before handing her over to frau imp. Got more beers up from the storage area in the cellar, in exchange for the empties. Also brought up boxes of old photos and started looking at them, from around 2001 and 2002 when the kids were 4 and 6. Got sentimental. Watched some old videos of the kids playing football in America, laughing at the idiot parents on the touchline. Got sentimental. Made dinner while listening to Asgeir and drinking Kir (?). Felt buzzed. Had red wine with dinner. About to watch series 3 of Stranger Things.

            Comment


              #7
              This morning I pumped up the tires on La Signora's off-road electric wheelchair. Lately she's been accompanying Phoebe the Dog and myself on our afternoon beach walk. Luckily the weather's been gorgeous. It's a great time to meet neighbours and chat (from a safe distance of course!) Kids are out in force, playing in the sand and running through tidal pools. Most of us are in a slightly bemused calm with peripheral anxiety. Where we are it seems a bit of a "phoney war," though we all realise of course it's anything but.

              I also pumped up the Bosu ball I got for Christmas two years ago and have barely used. With the gym closed it should see some action!

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Eggchaser View Post
                I've started Tweeting a picture of my morning cup of coffee to see how long I can go before I have to repeat myself.
                how does that work? repeating the picture? repeating the coffee?

                Comment


                  #9
                  I binged that show about the woman who reads people’s inner thoughts but they appear as elaborate musical numbers.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Hot Pepsi View Post
                    I binged that show about the woman who reads people’s inner thoughts but they appear as elaborate musical numbers.
                    Do you mean #HillaryonHulu?

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Nefertiti2 View Post

                      how does that work? repeating the picture? repeating the coffee?
                      The cup itself, as in how many different designs do I have.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by Eggchaser View Post

                        The cup itself, as in how many different designs do I have.

                        I glad you clarified. Your initial post baffled me.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Nefertiti2 View Post

                          Do you mean #HillaryonHulu?
                          Ha, no.

                          It’s this. Zoe’s Extraordinary Playlist
                          It features Jane Levy, who previously started in the underrated Suburgatory.
                          https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10314462/

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Eggchaser View Post

                            The cup itself, as in how many different designs do I have.
                            couldn't you just count the cups in your cup-board?

                            Comment


                              #15
                              I was in the 'initially baffled' club here too, I'm glad we've cleared that one up.

                              Are Eggchaser's cups all egg cups, by definition?


                              Edit: Sorry Balders, in truest OTF fashion this has deviated instantly and frivolously way off course within a mere handful of posts...

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Day 3: Sunday 22nd March. Mother's Day.

                                A strange mother's day. I woke up early, before everyone else and couldn't get back to sleep. Read OTF and news and restrained myself from swearing at a friend who doesn't get the seriousness of the situation. When the kids woke up they were very giggly and brought me the cards they'd made for me at school. Though my son informed me that his card was actually for daddy. After seven years, my husband has finally registered that the expectation on mother's day is that he gets the kids to help make me breakfast. So he brought me a cup of tea in bed and then I had scrambled eggs and baked beans on toast. We played Animal Crossing in our pyjamas in the morning, had cheese salad wraps for lunch and then went out to the park again.

                                Today we wrapped up warmer so we could stay outside longer. We don't go to the playground, just to the middle of a big field, far away from anyone else. I'm trying to vary the activities so instead of a football, today we brought kites and a scavenger hunt game. It was comically tricky trying to get the kids to fly the kite, but it passed the time pleasantly enough and my daughter managed to get the kite in the air once for a few seconds. We ate fruit at 'half-time' (something my daughter's picked up from football club) and made daisy chain crowns. Beautiful clear blue skies and sunshine. I despaired at the large crowd of teenage boys playing football and picnicking in the distance. I also brought a small ball and taught the kids the catching game where if you don't catch the ball you go down onto one knee, then onto two knees, then put one hand behind your back, but if you catch the ball you can stand up again.

                                Back home we had hot chocolate with marshmallows and sprinkles to warm up and phoned my mum to wish her a happy mother's day. Had to cut the call short as my son threw himself over the back of the sofa (no actual harm done).

                                I gave the kids our large box of Duplo and set them the challenge of building a tower taller than themselves while I cooked dinner. Veggie sausages, potato wedges, carrots, broccoli, coleslaw. I'm concerned that my son's restrictive diet will not fare well in this lockdown (he only ate the sausages). Usually I can give him a punnet of fresh berries each day so I know he's at least getting some nutrition, but that's not possible right now. At least he eats apples, bananas and satsumas which last a bit longer.

                                I didn't find any nits yesterday thankfully. Tonight I've promised the kids that I'll paint their fingernails before bedtime. I meant to do it in half-term and forgot, so why not now?

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Loads of people have liked my Bagpuss mug, the official Bagpuss Twitter feed even retweeted it.

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    Other daily activities have included watching a few upbeat songs on YouTube and reading a chapter of Matilda by Roald Dahl each night. Tomorrow marks the first time I attempt a bit of actual school work.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Originally posted by Eggchaser View Post
                                      Loads of people have liked my Bagpuss mug, the official Bagpuss Twitter feed even retweeted it.
                                      need an OTF lockdown mug - we can raise money for Snake.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Day 4: Monday 23rd March. First day of balderdasha's home school.

                                        I made a schedule for the day yesterday and tried to stick roughly to it. It helped.

                                        Woke a little later than usual. Kids were continuing to build their Duplo tower. I made banana and Nutella porridge and even put chocolate sprinkles on top to try and entice my son, but he still cried and wanted Cheerios (or cheap supermarket version thereof) instead. We all got dressed ready for Joe Wicks' 9am PE lesson. I think we'll do a YouTube PE lesson every morning but not always Joe Wicks. Not child-friendly enough (no props, bit dull). I had to carry my son for half of the session.

                                        Next I got the kids to draw a colourful rainbow with sharpies to put in the window. Lots of families are putting rainbows up in the window for kids to spot on their walks around the neighbourhood. I managed to unload the dishwasher, empty the bins and grab a large cardboard box from the garage, while the kids finished their drawings and did a jigsaw.

                                        The first maths activity set by my daughter's school relates to time. My daughter made a mini paper clock and I got my son to help me make a large cardboard one from the box. Paper clock had hands joined by a split pin. I joined the cardboard hands using a nut and bolt. We practiced quarter turns, half turns and full turns, and moving the hands to say different times.

                                        Drew large hands on the remaining cardboard and got the kids to paint the 'fingernails' with nail polish.

                                        Daughter did a pocket money sums worksheet while I got my son to sort all the coins from the piggy bank (line up the pennies, five ps, pounds, etc).
                                        ​​​​
                                        Kids watched numberblocks while my husband cooked lunch and I proofread documents ready for a bid submission with a deadline of midday today.

                                        Ate pasta puttanesca, then took the kids out for a walk. We did a loop round all the residential streets round my daughter's school and found 25 rainbow pictures in the windows. Stopped in a deserted playground, sanitised the kids hands before and after letting them have 10 minutes on a roundabout. Another child appeared and started running gleefully towards us until his parents called him back and gave him the Covid-19 lecture. After that we waved and said hello across the playground, then ate our snack and came home.

                                        Daughter's English schoolwork today was about similes, so we made up different similes during our walk.

                                        Gave the kids a glass of milk and a cookie when we got back home, then got my daughter to read a book to my son while I did the laundry.

                                        Watched a YouTube video of Roald Dahl's The Enormous Crocodile so my daughter could design a book cover for it.

                                        We're now slumped on the sofa watching Sean the Sheep. School is officially over for the day. I still need to summon some energy to cook dinner.

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          When my wife makes tea, she leaves the bag in the pot. If you go back later for a second cup, it's barely drinkable. How hard is it to remove a bag?

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            Originally posted by Balderdasha View Post

                                            Gave the kids a glass of milk and a cookie
                                            BISCUIT! You're bleedin British, innit!?

                                            (just joking)

                                            Comment


                                              #23
                                              Also, she's watching Westworld, which Aaron Paul is now in...for some reason. This brings the number of series he's been in which I don't like him in to 3.

                                              Comment


                                                #24

                                                Comment


                                                  #25
                                                  P did a timetable for me. I'm amazed it's not in excel.
                                                  Day one down but it's been quite a lot of fun.
                                                  I missed my Xbox, mind.

                                                  Comment

                                                  Working...
                                                  X