Being in lockdown and working from home has been a real mixed bag …

Around a week before the country officially went into lockdown my daughter was sent home from nursery with a very high temperature, and after a couple of worrying days had an ambulance ride to the hospital. Luckily, she wasn’t admitted and made a quick recovery, but our whole household had to isolate. Since then I have been working from home, along with my husband, while trying to look after (and do some schoolwork) with our 5 year old and 2 year old. It’s definitely been a juggling act!

If I am being honest, there have been days where I have felt overwhelmed. It’s not always been easy! Sometimes my husband and I feel like ships in the night, passing each other on the stairs to take over childcare while the other has a call.

I’ve found that switching up my time is the best way to manage; so there are parts of the day I am mum and teacher, and parts of the day I am a P3 service co-ordinator. It’s not always been possible, and I don’t think I’ve managed a single team meeting or conference call without one of my children bursting into the room to demand a snack or ask me to fix a broken toy! Early mornings and evenings are often my most productive times.

I’ve never felt lonely working from home, as I have my family around all the time, but I do miss my team, and the chance to sit and chat with them. The opportunity to walk through the office door and offload or have a laugh, while someone puts the kettle on for you is really valuable. We’ve all managed to support each other well from a distance, but it’s not the same as being together.

The irony of our service trying to support people experiencing social isolation has not been lost on us, but we have learned there is a lot of support we can still offer by phone. Speaking to the people we have been calling regularly, I’ve learned this has been a huge lifeline for them and I’m really proud of how amazingly the whole team has adapted and their resilience.  

I’ve mostly enjoyed having more time with my children at home since life ‘slowed down’—honestly! There have been frustrating days, but plenty of moments of joy too. We’ve baked lockdown cookies on rainy days, my daughter found a caterpillar in the garden and we’ve made him a home, keeping him to learn about the butterfly lifecycle. ‘Mr Curly Caterpillar’ is currently a chrysalis

One of my favourite things has been their insistence on dressing up for our daily walk, much to the amusement of most people as Spiderman and a pirate-fairy run past them! The downside has been their inability to understand when I have something important for work I just need to finish, the bickering over toys, the sheer amount of snacks they want to consume and on a more serious note, I have definitely noticed an increase in my five year old’s anxiety about the world and ‘germs’. It’s a hard lesson for a little person to learn that their parents don’t always have the answers and can’t always make things better.

Inevitably we have gotten on each other’s nerves a lot of the time! I’ve found getting out for a run, to have some time on my own has been a saving grace when we are having one of those days. Overall, I can’t wait to see people more again and get back out there with the team, but I think lockdown has also taught me a lot and reminded me about the importance of family time.

Sarah Betteley, Milton Keynes