I am well overdue another blog but to be honest every time I’ve sat down to write one in the last few weeks I find myself going over the same old ground. I have found the last few months really tough, not least because I am so sick of watching so many people break the rules, flout the rules and bend the rules to enable them to carry on as normal. Yes, I get people’s mental health is suffering but my God so is mine trying to do the right thing for, what at times has felt, no reason.
So, before I derail this before I’ve even started, I want to write a really positive piece about all the good things that have come out of this last lockdown. There are several things that I have introduced into my life in the last few months which really do bring me a lot of happiness.
Family Time
As a result of having children who do a lot of activities outside of school I am never at home in the evenings. I am rarely back before 9pm. Being at home all the time now is just bizarre but it’s meant we have so much more family time. We have watched lots of TV together as a family once the youngest is down for the night which we rarely do. Whole series or box sets, The Durrells, Challenger, Our Planet, Ackley Bridge, Friday Night Dinner, The Wilds and Not Going Out (the last 3 just with the eldest!). Similarly, we’ve watched more films. Wonder, The Dig, The Fault in our Stars, The Secret Garden. Netflix really is a wonder I had never been able to appreciate before! I know lots of families do things like this all the time but it feels like a real treat for us to have that time together.
Podcasts
I have always walked a lot but in the last few months even more so than normal. Well, what else is there actually to do! In the past I have walked in silence but I got to the point where I needed to mix it up a little. I started with listening to some podcasts for a feature I am writing for the magazine (coming soon!) and then also started listening to an audio book for the first time. I have found a couple of podcasts I really enjoy, some because they are really enlightening and educational but some because they are just pure entertainment. One in particular I find so funny I am often to be found walking around Kings Hill on my own snorting out loud with laughter! I am currently listening to The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. As such a voracious reader I really doubted I would get on with an audio book but to be honest it just means I can get through books even quicker and I’m really enjoying it.
Pampering
Again, as a result of having more time at home in the evenings, I have spent more time pampering myself. I have drawers of face masks, hair treatments, nail polish, candles etc… which I rarely use because I just don’t have time. Now at least once a week I have a long bath with candles burning, use a face mask and just use it as time out for me. No amount of product will ever reverse the grey and wrinkles gained from another term of homeschooling but it’s certainly made me feel better at times!
Cooking
Another bonus is cooking. My eldest is just embarking on a GCSE in Food Tech. With no actual school attendance he has already missed so many practical classes. During a virtual parents evening in early January his teacher suggested he cooked once or twice a week for us. What a tremendous idea I thought! About 5 weeks ago I signed up to a Hello Fresh delivery a couple of nights a week, partly because I am so bored of coming up with new ideas to cook at the moment but also as I thought they would be a really good starting point for him. It’s been brilliant. He really enjoys it. Some nights him and I prepare and cook together which has become a really nice way of spending some time with him (14 year old boys are not great fans of hanging out with mum!). Other nights I give him the recipe, pour myself a glass of wine and let him get on with it! Not only am I now getting the odd night off cooking he’s developing a really useful skill.
AND…best of all…I realised yesterday I cannot even remember the last time I got the ironing board out! As a household that now lives in jogging bottoms and sports leggings there’s just no need.
So there you have it. I cannot wait to have my old life back for so many reasons BUT there are some real benefits to this much slower pace of life for me that I am reaping.
