Being a Lockdown Mum – Our Weird New Normal

From the noise and mess to baking & phone obsession’s, here are the 10 things I’ve learned being a family in Lockdown

As we all now start emerging from our family cocoons, it’s made me reflect on how one of the weirdest times of our lives, for me now at least, also feels weirdly normal.

The last 12 weeks have given way to so many new normals good and bad…

1. There is no place to hide

Wherever I go, my family will always find me. I started doing it a while ago, but having my video calls with friends in the cold at the end of the garden feels quite normal now. Anything to avoid sharing my screen with mini performers just for five minutes. Or when I’m forced to eat one of my secret stash of Wispa’s, hiding behind a door – It all feels pretty standard!

I’ve taken to relishing the 10 minutes uninterrupted time on my phone, sitting in the car at the supermarket each week. I feel like Mrs Large most days – always searching for that elusive five minutes peace.

2. I need to stop buying so many toys

If three months in quarantine doesn’t make them play with them, they never will. We have so many toys, yet mine are happiest making a mess with dens or jumping in a paddling pool. (Excluding screens obviously – if they are on offer they always win out here) I can’t imagine how heaving the charity shops are going to be with the unused junk we are all finding. realising we have.

3. The 5pm daily news briefing is my new wine watershed

I didn’t used to drink a lot in the week – but now anything goes. A glass of wine sure helps stomach whatever today’s news is telling us.

4. The mess gets mental when there are never any guests

The ignored stair pile has quadrupled, half-finished activities have thrown up on every surface and discarded shoes are everywhere. Seriously how is it possible to get through so many glasses and cups in a day!

5. There’s a limit on the wholesome fun

We’ve painted rainbows, gone on nature walks and crafted a shit load, but the lure of baking more banana bread is losing it’s appeal. I started off oh so enthusiastic. But. I. Am. Done. These days writing a sentence counts as school work and watching a film our quality time together.

6. My phone is my kryptonite

On one hand its been a lifeline, keeping in touch with everyone and up to date on all the crazy happening in the outside world. Yet, most days at home I simply can’t put the bloody thing down. Some evenings I’ve actually taken to leaving my phone in the kitchen, so I don’t spend all night mindlessly scrolling

7. We don’t need to go out all the time

The standard question from my kids on weekend and holiday mornings is, where are we going today? We’ve always got something on. Yet one of the things that’s surprised me most about quarantine, is that they never really ask about when we can go out. As long as there’s something to do, we are so much more content at home all day than I realised. That’s not to say I’m not yearning for days out, I am, but this has definitely shown me that we can easily have whole weekends just pottering at home and still have a lovely time.

8. There is no normal

I’m sleeping better than I was (Anyone else have insomnia or broken sleep at the start of this?) Although the weird dreams are a constant. But I do still wake up and have to half remind myself we are in lockdown – An actual pandemic! It still feels unfathomable daily and I’m unsure whether that feeling will ever go away.

9. It’s not Peppa pigs cousins – we are the real noisy family

Every member of this household myself included doesn’t go a day without shouting. Not that we’re always raging ( although there has been some of that) Noisy games in the garden, shouty zoom quizzes, my son battling to be heard with his friends on his PlayStation headset, or my little girl booming on Messanger video calls – We might have physically been alone, but this spring has felt loud. Plus why go and find the person you want to talk to when you can just yell from the other end of the house instead!

10. We are crazy lucky

Being able to spend this time at home, not having to go out, I’m so grateful to all the keyworkers out there, while we are safe and wrapped up in our little bubble. We have had quality family time, like we’ve never experienced before, so for all my moaning – At home just us four, it’s a pretty perfect place to be.

Some more blog posts you might…

My children have loved keeping in touch with family and friends on video chats. We have tried lots of different games and quizzes. I have made some into printables you can download here.

I love the positive (and funny) spin Helen from Actually Mummy has written about Lockdown – 10 Things I’m keeping when lockdown ends

Over on Playdays and Runways Michelle has lots of great ideas on how to make home schooling fun

2020 has been testing (and exhausting) in so many ways, with my ability to stay calm being tested on a regular basis – I read a really useful article recently, with lots of techniques to try. How to calm down – 100 simple ways that really work another helpful blog is – The Sweetness of Doing Nothing in your Life

Its natural for us all to have ups and downs and inevitable for most during a global pandemic. A great article for families full of helpful resources is – How to keep up family morale during lockdown

I love Helen’s take on things in her blog – Parent your way, has the pandemic changed our parenting

We are really lucky to have a big garden space to play in, and like many we have a trampoline that the kids LOVE to bounce on. With so many hours to fill right now, I’ve written a post here with 6 fun things to do on a trampoline.

Have you heard of squishy bags? An easy way to have fun with slime at home without the mess. here’s how we made ours.