Our first week of isolation was a strange one, we kept as busy as we could and everything just felt, well, weird. I'm not really sure what I'm feeling this week, though I know it'll be the same as many others, having felt every emotion under the sun in recent weeks. I seem to go from one extreme to the other, up and down like a yoyo. Most the time as long as we're all just at home I feel calm and can almost forget what's going on outside these four walls for a while. Some of the time though it kind of hits me, I read stories about nurses being terrified at work, supporting patients in final stages of life with no family around them and this week kids dying of this horrible virus and it all gets a bit much. It's easy enough to put it to the back of your mind for brief moments through the day, but it's terrifying what's going on and I never thought we'd ever know anything like this. Luckily for us, we don't work on the front line so we can stay safe at home and just be sensible when we do need to leave the house.
Leaving the house by myself always feels a bit of a treat in the normal world, but right now I just want to get what I need or get some exercise and get home as fast as possible, I never thought I'd say this ever and now appreciate our time at home just doing nothing much more than I used to. It's really strange just having to wait and do nothing isn't it? Not knowing what's going to happen, who will be left at the end of it and how long this will last is a lot, especially when you're trying to keep life calm for the kids. I have so much respect for everyone having to work and I usually try and help so much with things but feel a little useless this time. I know though that I need to do my bit, stay home, not take risks and above all make sure my family are kept safe, so for now that will have to do. I know that being able to sit here with my family is so so lucky when many others are having to spend weeks or even months away from their own children just to keep the country going.
We've had a bit of a gentler week schooling wise as I have been in so much pain with my back since last weekend, but the kids have once again been great and done a lot of work! I've really enjoyed coming up with ideas for them and creating worksheets, it's really interesting to do and is something I'll definitely try and do more of even when life gets back to normal. It's so nice to see them have breaks from screens and work together. This week they've both been a little sluggish and tired, they're really missing their friends and just want to be outside more, so we've kept it easy, had loads of breaks and watched films a plenty. The kids were sent home with some work sheets, but I made some this week with sums to suit their ages, spelling tasks like scrambled words and creative tasks.
Next week I'm going to have loads of work ready so we can pick and choose as this seems to work better for all of us. It's not a case of trying to be like school entirely, but really to keep life as normal as it can be for the kids, keep a bit of structure to our lives, keep their brains ticking and keep us all busy! I am trying to stick to the curriculum and age appropriate work as much as I can and school has been great providing work and inspiration for activities. The main thing though is to keep us all healthy, happy and safe.
How's your time in isolation been so far?
