In the nine days since I wrote here about our struggles to get a Covid-test for our symptomatic 15-year-old son, the chaos in the country’s testing system rarely been out of the headlines. After initially denying there were any problems, the government then blamed the public for demanding unnecessary tests; then admitted the backlog in the labs would […]
Youngest child has a runny nose, headache, sore throat and cough. In normal times I’d tell him to soldier on, but he’s just started back to school and his whole year ‘bubble’ of more than 200 children will be told to stay home if he turns out to have Covid-19, so we’re doing the responsible […]
Morale has been wobbly this last week or so. There are money worries as the reality of having to cancel every yoga retreat planned for this year hits home. Two close friends have been made redundant after decades with their employers. A nephew let go from his job in retail at the start of lockdown […]
I thought my days of sharing a home with inconsiderate flat-mates were long gone. But three months out of school and our teenagers are displaying some pretty anti-social tendencies. I’d become fairly used to washing-up piled in the sink and late-night frivolity waking me in the early hours; but now there is a new development […]
The family niggles have calmed down. We are slipping into a routine I actually find quite enjoyable. The teens have taken to cooking with some enthusiasm and we’ve now got a dinner rota for the week; seedlings are germinating in the kitchen and will be transferred to the vegetable patch once the risk of frost […]
I suppose we’ve done quite well getting to day 16 without a major argument, but I could do with a break from my family now! We’re beginning to get niggley with each other. I can’t bear the way the children are living in their dressing gowns. They want me to stop reminding them there is […]
It would have been my mum’s 88th birthday today. Five years ago she was in her last days of life and the memories I have of being with her at that time are precious: decorating her room with cards, reading to her, bringing the kids to wish her Happy Birthday and holding the phone to […]
We are barely seeing our teenagers, not because they are wrecklessly flouting the lockdown, but because they appear to have become nocturnal. When their school closed nearly two weeks ago, I had all sorts of good intentions about getting them up at a reasonable time and encouraging them to follow something along the lines of […]
Toilet rolls are back in our local Sainsbury’s – but there are no baking goods. Husband went out hunting and gathering this morning with a list that included strong white flour, plain flour, sugar and baking powder, but he came back empty-handed. How foolish was I to think I was was the only one planning […]
With news today that the Prime Minster, Health Secretary and Chief Medical Officer are all testing positive for Coronavirus, you might think we were already at the height of a full-blown health crisis. But in our house the feeling is more one of a calm before the storm. We are all well; we have food […]
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