The blur of lockdown

The last few weeks have passed by in a bit of a blur. The days are starting to merge into one another and the initial adrenaline of balancing work and the kids simultaneously has started to fade.

It's meant I haven't kept up to writing like I wanted to so I'm inevitably eating myself up about that because I started this so that we would hold our memories of this time in one place.

I guess the reality of it though is that part of the memory of it will be that not every day was fun and new and exciting, and that's ok, and we have definitely had our share of quiet days, down days, want to scream into a pillow days. 

Although I know we have crammed a lot into the time, which is probably why lockdown feels as though it is going fast, the below is just a small snapshot between everyone having way too much screen time, handling a toddler who is hitting for attention and an out of control family chocolate addiction.


So what else have we been up to that means we might be passable as parents the last few weeks?

• We baked - twice - which anyone who knows me will understand is an achievement. Even more surprising was that the results tasted nice. The biscuits looked a bit questionable after a fiasco with a flour mix up, but it's the flavour that counts, right?
• Our tuff tray arrived and we painted in it, created a jungle scene and played dinosaur hide and seek

• ...and speaking of hide and seek - it's the game of lockdown in our house. Not content with playing it in the garden, it's now my four year old's evening routine that we hide from each other just before bed (in the same place every night apparently). And we got creative hiding dinosaurs in the garden to then try and find them, which was actually a lot of fun and lasted about an hour and a half
• On nicer days we enjoyed the outdoors. Time playing in the paddling pool, eating al fresco, the sandpit, running around in the local park and woods (forest according to my son), playing tag and creating assault courses I think will be some of my best memories of this time (the weather and outdoors really do make such a difference to lockdown life). We actually found a way of replicating some of what we enjoy doing at swimming in the paddling pool too

• We have done more crafts than I thought was possible. Robots. Princesses. Bracelets. Masks. Sheep. Apparently I'm making a princess hat for a princess chair this week and a lion and monkey head (still figuring that one out) and our study has a box big enough for a grown adult to fit in full of crafting crap (a.k.a. rubbish)
• I did the unthinkable and submitted to playdough. And was amazed that it was not the terrible experience I thought it would be.
• Our Easter Egg hunts were really lovely and we had a really fun bunny and chick themed day

And as for our little jar, well it really is looking little now, bulging with so many lovely, but simple ideas of things to do after this is all over. Some of the things we've added include:

• Having Grandparents over for a sleepover
• Going to our favourite Chinese restaurant in The Wirral with family for a massive banquet (and the same weekend going for an ice cream at Parkgate)
• A trip out to buy my little boy's first school uniform
• Buying coffee from the amazing If across the road from my office
• Going on a steam train
• Going to the cinema
• Dropping and collecting the kids from nursery

What amazes me about the jar is how it just keeps going. we are never out of ideas for things to put in it, which is largely probably because we didn't realise just how lucky we were before all this started. 

The journey of the jar

This lovely little journey that we're on continues to amaze and surprise me daily with the continued level of support and interest.

One of the things I'm struggling to get my head around is just how far and wide our little jar is travelling. As well as UK national coverage in The Mirror, BBC and The Metro, we've made national news in the US (thank you to Good Morning America, ABC and the Today programme) and South Africa (Sunday Times), which just blows my mind and is a PR first for me (taking me back to my early PR days where every piece of coverage generated such excitement).

The emotion and stories that people have shared in messages with me from all over the world is a privilege. I've heard from families who have recently relocated and are struggling to connect during Lockdown, people who are feeling vulnerable and families struggling to juggle childcare and work simultaneously. 

I've tried really hard to reply to each of the hundreds of messages because if someone has taken the time to message and thank me, I want them to know in return how truly grateful I am and how this funny online community that seems to have developed around me has helped me to adjust to the Lockdown in return.

I wanted to take the time to specifically reference one article that I've just discovered this evening with a New York based online magazine called Redbook. Earlier this week they posted an article about inspiring stories from the pandemic and my post was featured.

It's a great read and I've included a link at the end of this post, but what struck me for the first time is that I've spent a lot of time gawping at the rising number of shares and messages from my post and brushing it off when people tell me I should be proud (and I was a little bit proud but mostly just quite overwhelmed and astonished). 

What I should have been thinking about was the impact. The real things people were telling me about what the jar means to them, why people took it into their hearts and homes the way they did.

That a New York magazine has chosen to include an example from outside of the country, alongside what I can only describe as amazing stories of hope and resilience, is an absolute honour. And reading this I did feel really, truly proud...also like a bit of an impostor because these other stories are so awesome, but very proud and humbled. So thank you again to everyone who has contributed to this little journey of our jar.

Check out Redbook's post here

Getting creative in Lockdown - part 2

Having a job in a creative sector means I obviously consider myself to be a creative person. There's a big but to that sentence and that but is that I have a creative mind. I'm good at problem solving, coming up with ideas, creative writing and having a vision for what something should look like.

I am not so good at making things. I can have an entire picture in my head for how to decorate a room but it's not happening unless I get someone to build and paint and put wallpaper up. In another life I could have been a fashion designer. It's a shame the things holding me back were that I can't draw or sew (the world will never know). If you need any reassurance of my drawing skills, refer to my zoo post it note in my week 1 wishes of the week post - it's pretty special.

So week two was a revelation. It was a week where I threw off the shackles of a lifetime of bad creative crafting experiences and embraced them and even surprised myself a bit.

It's fair to say the results were mixed, but to give you a flavour:

• I noticed that Dantastic were hosting a dinosaur hunting party. Knowing how much my little boy loves dinosaurs, but how little he has been engaged so far with online classes, I got my creative thinking cap on and we made a day of it. We started by hand making (yes you read that correctly) a dinosaur costume from two egg cartons, followed by the party itself. Before the party had started I'd hidden toy dinosaurs around the house and we then went on a dinosaur hunt at the end. I'm going to score this one a 5/10 for the output but a solid 9/10 for engagement.

• We were really excited to see that the Grand National would be running virtually on Saturday and my husband challenged me to come up with a creative idea in the build up for the kids. So we made horse finger puppets. A princess horse complete with crown for my daughter, a tiger horse (also with crown because one can't have without the other having) for my son and a Spiderman and girlie one for my husband and me. I'm actually pretty proud of the output on this on and reckon it's worthy of an 8/10. Engagement was probably also an 8/10 although my daughter had more fun scribbling and trying to take the horses to pieces.
  
• We're a big fan of dress up and so we had some fun games of building a tent and playing Paw Patrol (in which my husband and I took turns of being Ryder and calling our 'pups' to the lookout, giving them an assignment and them reporting back after completing it. Output was pretty strong here as I didn't have to make anything so I reckon a clear 10/10 and engagement was pretty good too - in fact we are still playing the game three days later so probably 10/10.
  
• We tuned in to a great Princess singalong which my daughter absolutely loved. Creativity involved was 0/10 but she was quite engaged at 7/10.
  
• Last but definitely not least, in a period of 20 minutes that will stay with me forever, we tried to plant some sunflower and pansy seeds. I cannot even tell you how stressful coordinating toddlers and soil is. Especially when you have one (the girl) who wants to get her hands and toes and everything into the soil and one (the boy) who freaks out if a speck of dirt gets on his hand. It all got a bit chaotic and ended up with the girl one on the naughty chair for purposely knocking her brother's pot over. I can only hope that the output makes that time worthwhile. Output tbc (but I'm not holding out huge amounts of hope based on my previous success for growing things (kids aside). Engagement probably a steady 7/10.

So what did I learn this week? It's ok to sometimes take yourself out of your comfort zone and try something even if you think you know it won't go well. But don't push your luck and get cocky - if you've had a few successes then take them and don't think you're all of a sudden Alan Titchmarsh because you managed to make a spiky dinosaur's back.

Week Two - Wishes of the Week

As we entered week two of the lockdown, some things felt a bit easier and others more difficult. We're getting much better at planning work and childcare around one another and we are becoming more resourceful. More details of that to follow in a separate post!

This week was the week that my four year old really started to realise that something is going on and has been asking more questions. The jar has been instrumental in helping to keep his spirits up and focus on the future.

Some of the wishes we added to our jar this week included:

• Grandparents coming to stay at our house
• Having a big picnic with family and friends
• Teaching my son to ride his bike in the park
• A big graduation celebration for my little boy's pre-school friends
• My little girl wants to give her Grandma's and Aunty's dogs cuddles
• Visiting Cannon Hall Farm to watch the sheep racing
• Meeting 3 new babies of 3 very special ladies close to me
• Going to watch Room on the Broom Live (which we were supposed to be doing in a few weeks)

My biggest wish this week is to take a bottle of wine round to my Aunty's house and sit and drink it with her.

Getting creative in Lockdown - Part 1

We've done a pretty good job of filling week one and it's taken us by surprise how much more challenging it is to do this over the weekend than in the week. We're thinking that we need to have some proactive creative ideas ready of our own for over the weekends to keep up the momentum and prevent us having dips.

It's really incredible to see how creative organisations are getting to keep engagement with children and we've benefited massively from online classes for things the children usually do, from dancing and arts and crafts sessions, to live disco parties and gymnastics. 

Some of our week one highlights include:

• The look on my little boy's face when we joined his tumble bees class and he saw his best friend from nursery on the screen (and then followed it up with a video chat the next day) - thank you Jayne at Tumble Bees
• My daughter showing off her good toes and naughty toes (and definitely smelly toes) at her ballet class - thank you Miss Kim at Baby Ballet
• Seeing my husband dancing around the living room with the kids doing a live movement and music class put one of the biggest smiles on my face (check it out here)
• A family game of football in the garden, as well as countless games of hide and seek in which my four year old tells us where he "isn't" going to hide
• A live reading of The Gruffalo with Bookchikkaboom (resulting in us just tickling each other pretending to be the prickles on his back)
• Dressing up as pirates and tinkerbell
• Making dens, camping and having picnics
• Visiting Chester Zoo (a place we love to go as a family) live to watch the giraffes being fed

I've seen some amazing ideas and every Mum I know is being incredible sharing links to new ideas and classes so I'm looking forward to planning out the next week with one new idea each day to keep us going. I'd love to share any other hints and tips people have.

I've got a few creative ideas up my sleeve, which I'll share as soon as we put them into practice, but in the meantime I'm storing up random household objects and would love if anyone has any ideas on what we can do with them. So far I have about a dozen toilet roll holders, a butter carton and some yoghurt pots!

Week One - wishes of the week

I woke up this morning feeling more downbeat than I was earlier in the week. 

I've realised that working in between looking after the kids is good for keeping my brain occupied and that if I'm going to get through this with my mental health in tact, I need something to give it a workout on non-work days.

It's the real reason I've started this blog (and to stop my cleaning becoming super obsessive!). 

I had a blog for a short period after having my little boy and it was a similar thing; it was an outlet. Writing has always been a passion of mine and as a PR professional it's probably one of the reasons that my day job is giving me a good distraction during the week. 

But between Friday and Sunday I can't just keep working, nor do I want to take away from precious family time. So I'm going to use my moments of anxiety to write in a bid to avoid any wallowing.

It's not to say that this blog will be downbeat - quite the opposite in fact - I want it to uplift me and if it helps uplift anyone else then that's a bonus. I want to look back and smile at how resourceful we've been and how we made the best of a horrible situation.

So this week we created the jar and started to add to it. Some favourites of mine that we've added include:

• Welcoming two new baby cousins into our lives soon after this is all over
• Visiting Thomas Land (we were due to go in April) and Digger Land (near to us and we've never quite got around to going)
• Going to Chester Zoo (we have an annual pass already) and specifically going to see the giraffes (my little girl's request) and the monkeys (little boy's request). Please don't judge my drawing skills!!
• Having fish and chips with Granny and Grandad
• Going for a nice lunch with Grandma, Popsie and Aunties and Uncles
• Going out for pizza...in Italy
• Going back to swimming, ballet and tumble lessons
• Inviting some of our closest friends round for a BBQ
• Seeing my own Auntie and Uncle and giving them a hug

There are many more - we've gone a bit nuts this week - but these are some of the things that are extra special. What are everyone's favourite wishes of the week?

A little thank you

To say the last week has been mental is an understatement. 

My Facebook post about creating a bucket list in a jar during these difficult times went viral, with almost 100k shares, interest from media, invites to write guest blogs from as far away as Canada, charities and psychologists wanting to share and complete strangers from as near as my own village and far as Australia, South Africa and the US messaging me to express thanks and love for what we’re doing. 

I never thought our little idea would travel so far and I’m so happy that it might be bringing a small amount of joy to a whole lot of people (particularly to children who don’t really know what’s going on which was what inspired the whole thing in the first place). 

Thanks to everyone who has shared, shown support and embraced this idea. It just goes to show in the face of a crisis we’re all human and we all need a bit of hope right now.

The thought of this little wish is one of the bigger things giving me hope and keeping me going - love you Mum xxxxx

Bucket list in a jar

When I wrote a Facebook post about a Lockdown idea I never expected it to have the far-reaching and overwhelmingly positive response that it did and I am so grateful to everyone who has engaged with it, shared their family’s story and why they want to do it, and supported me along the way.

As it looks like we are in this thing for the long haul now, I have decided I’d like to document what we are doing so that my family and I can look back on it and the long-term plan is to gradually show how we are working through (what I expect is going to be) a pretty long bucket list.

For those interested in how this idea came about, it started the first day of official Lockdown in the UK.

Explaining to toddlers what is going on right now is not easy. But what’s really important to me is to make our home a positive place so that my two and four year-old feel safe.

I know when they look back they won’t remember details, but they might remember how our home felt.

I’d had a jar sat on the window sill in the kitchen for four years, which was supposed to be for us to write down happy memories to take out at the end of each year and look back and smile. It didn’t get the momentum behind it we’d intended (not least because we had a newborn baby to take care of).

As Lockdown loomed, I quickly realised that we were going to have to say no to lots of things (and let’s face it no is a word that toddlers love to say but not to hear). It breaks my heart to say that they can’t hug their Grandparents, see their friends or even play on the swings.

So, we started a new thing. Instead of saying no, we would say yes to everything – one day.

Every time we wish we can do something, go somewhere, treat ourselves, see someone we love, visit a new place, invite people to visit us, we write it down on a post it note and put it in a jar.

When all this is over it will be our bucket list and we’ll work our way through the jar and be more grateful than ever for the little and lovely things in our lives. We’re including:

• The everyday things we take for granted (visiting Grandparents, going to the zoo, playing with friends, going swimming and to baby ballet/tumble bees)
• Things we had planned that are now cancelled (building sandcastles on holiday, going to birthday parties, family meals/celebrations)
• Dream list ideas to make every moment count (e.g. Disney World)

It’s essentially turning a negative (we can’t do that) into a positive (one day we will) and instead of missing everything we can’t do, it’s giving us hope and helping us to look forward to the day we can.

Until then we’re going to enjoy watching the jar fill up with magical things to look forward to.

If you’re still reading well done for getting through this really long post and I really can't thank everyone enough for all their support.

I’d love to hear everyone’s ideas and see the pictures of everyone doing their jars  along the way and I’ll try and share what I can in between the madness of work and childcare.