As the day of returning to school and work got closer, I became ever more anxious about it. I had my ups and downs in lock down but generally felt a lot more myself, a lot less stressed and a lot happier, so needless to say stomping back into a dictated routine with no free time and less freedom did not have me excited.
When we headed back to school that first day we were hit by a swarm or parents and kids all chomping at the bit to get through those gates. Suddenly being in a crowd felt so intimidating and uncomfortable, but Alf was in first so I waved him off happily and turned quickly to get back to Soph, who starts 20 minutes later. As soon as Alf ventured through those gates I burst into tears, I don't even know where it came from. In a way it felt like that first day of school all over again, releasing my baby into the wild after six months safe at home. I was also hit with the reality of suddenly being amongst so many people when the covid virus is still lurking. My instant thought was that if there's so much as a sniff of it at our school (and there are confirmed cases on that road!) That none of us stand a chance and that is a quite scary.
Soph, like Alf headed in happily when it was her turn, our lazy mornings and movie days at an abrupt stop. I then had an eerily quiet walk home to our empty house to prepare for working my lunch shift at the same school. I felt pretty sick with worry, partly covid but mainly just the sheer daunting prospect of having to communicate with other humans. I felt sad at the though of distancing from the kids who are always so excited to come and tell us everything they've been up to, what they had for lunch or that someone has just done something they shouldn't. I wondered what it would be like, what we'd actually be doing and if there was any chance of it working, safely.
That first day was strange and bat shit crazy, but as the week went on it was pretty much business as usual, with a few gentle changes that the kids all seemed happy with and just lots of hand washing.
In our first full school week though, between the two kids we had three days off sick! A brilliant start to the term and looks really good for me having days off to care for the kids, straight away. Luckily it's nothing major, but straight away all the kids are dropping with colds, so it shows just how quick these things can spread.
The week generally was better than expected, I got given playground duties so I was happy and the kids have really enjoyed being back, meeting their new teachers and catching up with friends.
I'm still worried about how the virus is going to speed round school of it gets close, but the kids are happy and the new changes have mostly been more enjoyable than the norm, so I can't argue with that.
I guess from here we just take each day as it comes, try and get our head round the weird nonsensical rules set by our government and keep washing our hands!
How's your week been?
