We were asked to put in our own words our experience of life in lockdown. Of course, this means that I (wifey) will do all the work on this piece of writing and Darren (hubby) will just add some light comedy …

So, I think if I have to sum up my feelings of this experience, I would probably say it in one word ‘grateful’… unlike some, we have a home, our wages are still being paid, a garden, a cupboard full of food and most importantly our family’s health. WE ARE OK!!

Now, I’m not going to lie and say it’s all been a bed of roses. Those first few days and weeks were a mixture of slight bewilderment that this was even happening, mixed with a huge desire to make sure everyone was alright and ‘do our bit’… while simultaneously trying to make sure our children (Olivia-15, Isla-5 and Max-3) were safe, cared for, fed, watered, entertained and the dreaded ‘home schooled’.

Darren would liken home schooling to trying to get a damp, king-size mattress up a 20 ft spiral staircase. It is possible, yet very, very tricky … and tiring!

We took a fairly relaxed approach to the whole situation, we didn’t panic … we quickly came up with a timetable of who would work when. Starting with each having two-hour shifts of either working or childcare. This soon led to petty squabbles about who was having more time to work and constant interruptions with kids wanting to say ‘hello’ to colleagues while trying to navigate meetings over Microsoft Teams. We soon adapted to me working early mornings, while Darren worked the afternoons, this turned out to be our winning combination.

The SNACKBOX, was the next genius solution to our forever hungry, hollow-legged children. They would be allowed to select a few snacks at the beginning of the day and ‘when it’s gone, it’s gone!’

Our adult snack boxes consisted of: Bottles of beer/wine, Nurofen, chocolate and more beer/wine …

Timetables for education and activities were created and mostly ignored, and by the good grace of god the sunshine came out and sun time became fun time!

Our wendy house was redesigned into a mini school (with good intentions), but we mostly spent our time learning through play and discovery: learning about the solar system and the life cycle of a caterpillar. Bribery also had a good part to play and who doesn’t love kids who are crazy-high on sugary sweets!

As someone once said: “Teaching kids to count is fine, but teaching them what counts is best!”

Although trying to home school a 15-year-old working towards GCSEs was another challenge and I’m proud to say that I now know how to calculate the surface area of a cone! Not bad for a high school drop-out.

Darren has summed up what he has learnt during lockdown:

Yes, it’s been a challenge, it’s been a change … it’s not always easy managing services when you have small children wanting to climb on your head every time you sit at your laptop, IT issues have sometimes been a frustration, but the team are all so wonderful and helpful and it’s clear they have done there absolute best.

Our colleagues in Bucks, MK and Hillingdon have all been so positive, supportive and just plain bloody brilliant … We are lucky to work with some really incredible people.

Yes, Covid-19 is a terrible virus and has caused devastation to so many people, but these past few months have reminded me how resilient, passionate and caring people can be—it’s been emotional, frightening, sad and wonderful all at the same time.

Keep on, keeping on. Stay Safe. Wash your hands (again) and look out for each other!

See you on the other side

The Halls