Locking down again…

England announced this week a second ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown for a month (maybe more). It didn’t come as a surprise with Covid cases increasing and our R number going up and up…

In some ways I feel like this should have happened earlier, but as I keep saying, we are where we are, and there is nothing we can do except comply with the rules and focus on staying safe and healthy.

This lockdown is a little different. The weather is much colder, the air feels damp, and so motivation to get outside and find things to do feels a lot harder. Plus, with Christmas only a handful of weeks away, it feels as though we are pinning our hopes on a ‘normal celebration’. But what is that really amidst this virus and the restrictions we face. Can we really expect to have a traditional Christmas this year? In the bigger scheme of things, the focus should really be on getting through this pandemic right?

So today was the first weekend of our new lockdown, and whilst it was cold outside, we were blessed with blue skies and more importantly, no rain!

The garden had taken quite a bad beating over the past few weeks in the wet windy rainstorms. It prompted us to take time as a family to do a small clean up, getting the garden clean and tidy for the winter frost that was surely arriving in the coming weeks.

More than anything, it was a bit of fun, quite a bit messy but most of all it was some much needed fresh air to get us out of the house enjoying the outdoors. Our son loves to be a helper, so we tasked him with removing some of the ‘badly planted’ carrots I had sowed over summer. He had to sort out the ones that had mutated together apart from the ones that were still edible. We made it a challenge to see how many ‘good’ carrots he could find.

What I’m learning is that children love activities that keep them entertained, and that offer them variety and where they can get involved and excited. Through the next four weeks I am challenging myself to seek out more activities like this – both indoor and outdoor. Locking down again reminds me that without the aid of farm parks, zoos or activity centers, we have to use our own creativity to look at different ways to help our little ones learn, grow and explore the world. But this makes it a little bit of fun! Today I enjoyed being a child again and spending quality time with my son in the fresh cool outdoors.

Sometimes it is just about finding the positive in a tough situation. Lockdown 2.0 we can do this!

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