I’d been thinking it’s been a while since I wrote a Lockdown update and I’ve just checked the date and I missed a week! That explains why it felt like a long time since I last wrote – but also it’s a good sign as that means the time has been passing quickly for us. Lockdown certainly is busy, my feet don’t touch the floor during the day – between looking after the girls, cooking, cleaning and the odd blog assignment there isn’t much room for anything else. I had grand ideas about decluttering and even joined a book club, but there just isn’t the time in the day!
A fourteen-day update would be a bit intense so I thought I’d try a new format for our lockdown posts with a summary of what we’ve been doing, watching, reading and feeling – plus, the days are just rolling into one right now so who knows what we did and when!
WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO?
After hitting a low point in the last couple of weeks, this week I’ve thrown myself into activities for the girls to keep us all busy and it’s been a much brighter, happier time. I think it also helped that the sun was shining so we were able to go for longer walks, play in the garden and even get the paddling pool out! Easter was a good one – we still managed to celebrate with eggs and an Easter Egg hunt so that was lovely too.
On our third week, I decided I would try and create a bit more of a ‘homeschool’ atmosphere for the girls as our lack of routine was causing them to be more unsettled. I use the term homeschooling loosely, based on the fact they are 20 months and 3, but a bit of structure always helps. I bought us a new snazzy printer (with an ink subscription which is super handy!) and a laminator and I turned into a teacher for the day, printing out worksheets, laminating flashcards and cutting them all out.
We’ve also had lots of fun creating sensory fun on our tuff tray in the garden, the girls love just simple activities like scooping oats, playing with water/bubbles, sand or breaking toys out of ice cubes. I’ve learned Pearl isn’t a fan of messy play, so we avoid anything slimy or messy as she screams if her hands get dirty and sticky.
We have had lots of fun – we’ve grown magic beans, planted cress, had a teddy bears picnic, baked cakes, painted, walked, read stories, sung songs, made a mess, cleaned it up, hunted for Easter eggs and more. The days are so busy, messy and chaotic but the girls make me smile with their funny, sweet personalities every day.
WHAT HAVE WE BEEN WATCHING?
Alongside doing lots of activities we do watch a LOT of TV and that’s okay, I think everything is about balance and this time is stressful for the girls, so having movie days has become one of our favourites when everyone is feeling tired.
The girls have been loving watching new Trolls World Tour Movie, Secret of the Wings (Disney+), Tiger Who Came to Tea and of course Frozen 2 (that never gets old!)
We have just started watching Killing Eve, right from the beginning of series one and are loving it! We get the girls settled for the night and sit down for an episode (or two). We struggle to turn it off as it’s so compelling but know we will be in for an early start. Gone are the days of Netflix binge-watching!
We tried to watch The Tiger King which everyone was raving about, but just couldn’t get into it (are we missing something?) and I love a bit of trash for some easy watching – Googlebox, Inside the Factory, Dragons Den and there is a new series of Teen Mum UK for ultimate trash evenings.
Alongside watching the TV I’ve been trying my hand at stargazing – trying to catch a glimpse of the SpaceX Starlink Satellites which have flown over the UK in a train-like formation. Much to V’s disgruntlement, I told her I was too scared to stand in the pitch black garden on my own so made her come with me. We didn’t see much on the first night but have since seen the satellite train, a newly launched rocket carrying 60 satellites (which looked like UFO!), various shooting stars and a bit of the meteor shower. It’s fascinating and I’m hooked!
WHAT HAVE WE BEEN READING?
In my lockdown craziness I decided to join an online read-along through Instagram for the book City of Girls through the Tandem Collective. It’s been so much fun to receive the book in the post and to read along with everyone, chatting about the storyline on the way. I soon realised I couldn’t keep up the pace as the rest of the group, mainly as my time is so limited. The book club has now finished reading the book and I’ve still got about a third to go. I’m still plodding on though and enjoying the story. Maybe book clubs aren’t such a great idea when the girls are so young! I have really enjoyed the book so far though, so would recommend City of Girls if you are looking for a new read.
I also tried an Insta-trend – the Dalgona Coffee, which started in South Korea and is made cold with intensely sweet, whipped coffee added into cold milk. It’s delicious but a bit sweet for me! I’ll stick to ice coffee this summer.
HOW HAVE WE BEEN FEELING?
After a wobbly first two weeks of lockdown, I feel like the general mood in the house has picked up as we’ve gone into week 3 and 4. I personally can’t work out if I’m feeling less anxious or if I’m just used to living in a constant state of anxiety, but either way, the last couple of weeks have been a little bit easier, just. Of course, the days are still stressful and challenging – my biggest drama is around keeping the girls occupied and happy all day. They are HARD WORK, my feet do not touch the ground with them, especially Pearl who is 100mph at the moment and throws the biggest tantrums over nothing!
We’ve had tears and tantrums aplenty from the girls and this week Violet’s started to ask more about going out and about – asking for day trips to the zoo or to see her friends, which is hard to explain. I spend a lot of my day comforting them and trying to create distractions.
I’ve been really trying to look on the positive side and that is helping – I’m really conscious about getting too bogged down with worries so keep busy with the girls, cleaning the house and my blog. I limit my time of watching the news to once a day and have cut my social media scrolling too, this has all helped! In the evenings we try to do something fun, watching TV, spotting satellites in the garden – we’ve even ordered some Painted-by-numbers. I think I could get used to this slower pace of life, minus the craziness of two toddlers that balances it all out!
So that’s our last couple of weeks – how is your lockdown going?
Looks like you had a really fun Easter!! I think it’s ok to watch more tv at this time, jasmine loved trolls world your.