Our 1st Week Living Under Lock Down In The UK

So our first week of lock down is done. It’s been a surreal experience, and if I’m entirely honest it has been very difficult to get my head around how at times, our lives have changed so dramatically. It has affected how I sleep, which at the moment is very badly, waking on numerous occasions in the night which has actually now started to feel normal. It’s as if my mind is not shutting down completely and I can’t stop thinking of the coronavirus.

This is me before lock down above the M4.

We have basically not left the house unless it has been absolutely necessary for food etc, but the food shopping is done by my wife, and hopefully we won’t need to go again unless it is to the local spar, because we now have two delivery slots and one click and collect over the next two weeks so this will totally limit the time my wife will need to be out in public.

What is particularly frightening is the speed at which we have started to live in a very isolated world. It seems like a hundred years ago that I was walking up to school on a sunny spring morning or taking the girls to beavers or visiting family and friends, or deciding whether or not to go into town for a shopping trip, yet the truth is that this is only about 10 days ago. When will we return to doing the things that we took for granted? Time will only tell.

At the start of the week I started my new job as teacher to my eight year old twin girls. This went very well and I was fairly sure the girls enjoyed being taught by their dad, but I have to say I never realised how difficult teaching children is so my total respect goes to all the teachers in the world. You are legends in my mind.

It was interesting that before lock down I was usually looking forward to Monday morning so the girls could go back to school and I could get on with some work and by Thursday I was thinking roll on Friday afternoon, school will be out and I get a two day break. Strange how it has changed. I asked the girls what they thought of my teaching and M said I was a very talkative teacher while they were working, haha!

During the week after school I would chat to my twin girls about the coronavirus in a gentle way, and my reasoning behind this for me was to try to get an understanding of what they know along their level of understanding of why we are all but permanently indoors or in the garden. It was also a great way to find out if they were anxious or worried about the Covid-19 outbreak which at the moment I think they are ok with everything and have a very good understanding of why we need to live our lives under such tough restrictions. However, it’s early days and the pressure of being in lock-down could eventually have a much greater impact mentally than we reaslise.

The new normal homeschooling.

As our first week of lock-down continued the reality of what was truly happening was beginning to hit home like a sucker punch. My mind began to work overtime about so many things. I started to think about my older children who don’t live with me and I started to think when will be the next time I will see them in person to give them a hug, a kiss and just hold them tight and protect them, which of course I know I can’t do. It could be months before I see them again before we all get together as a family, that is a tough thought to process.

This was taken three weeks ago, I wonder when I will hug my son again.

I have come to the conclusion that our lives will never be the same again. Yes, they will be close to how we lived before, but maybe we will all reset our lives and consider what’s really important in life which is to prioritise family and children and not take everything we see in this technological world as truth and maybe living a simpler life will be the way forward after this is all done. Also, maybe, just maybe, people will just be kind to each other. Maybe they will take the time to check on elderly relatives more often, say hello to neighbours and have time for each other. Making eye contact with people and smiling at each other, something that sadly has been eroded over recent years as people mov at high speed living their lives, maybe this will slow us down a bit,

Overall our first week of lock down has gone well. The twins have adjusted well to being indoors, especially with a huge change of their schooling and having dad as their teacher. I have had moments where my thoughts about Covid-19 have pre-occupied my mind, but I have managed to subdue those thoughts to keep some sort of normality for the girls. To make sure they don’t see me anxious or worried about the Covid-19 crisis that is sweeping the UK which quite honestly is very difficult at the moment.

There has been one thing that has led me to keep my thoughts and emotions in check when it comes to Covid-19. I have stopped reading all the media reports and tuning into every news program on the tv. Many of the reports are very conflicting and this left me confused as to what is right and what is wrong. I have read the government instructions which I’m obeying and that is it. I really don’t need to see anything else.

Staying home because it will save lives is the most important thing that we can do.

On to week two of lock down so here we come.

How has your first week of lock down been? I would love to hear in the comments below.