Beth Read
Looking back over the last 18 months, a cacophony of emotions, words and memories pop into my head. Some stills, some busily zooming about.
At the beginning of lockdown, as a family, we were in a state of adaptation as we reconnected after an unprecedented time apart. In retrospect, although at times stressful and insanely intense, lockdown gave us the much-needed space and time to do this without the usual day to day pressures.
Just as lockdown began, we moved house. As we couldn’t rent a van, we soon learnt that moving house in a Kia Rio, with two children and pets is not going to end up with a very high trip advisor rating, just gallons of sweat and lorry loads of Haribo packets.
Loss is a word that features heavily over this time, our family cat Snowball died and for one of my children, this was the first time he experienced loss and grief. A very close family friend lost her son, who was also a friend of mine, and then most recently I had a miscarriage, which was, despite being showered in support and love in abundance, a very lonely process due to Covid-19 restrictions, which meant that all appointments and procedures had to be attended alone.
My son and I both had covid. Luckily, my son bounced back very quickly, I am currently dealing with long covid, which means I am permanently tired to the bone, but I am focusing on getting better and will never take having energy for granted ever again.
Fractions are now naturally followed by a trickle of exploding expletives. Who knew that fractions could cause so much stress? Like the majority of UK parents, we found ourselves in the throes of home schooling like steaks lobbed into a lion’s lair with varying results. One child finished everything by 9.37am each day, and the other by 7pm or not at all. There were tears from all of us at one point, and I am in awe of parents who voluntarily home school. Definitely some super powers going on there!
We had a broken arm, after I insisted we tried a different local park, as it felt like we had been to our closest one at least 3 baspillion times already. Typically, the excitement of a new hill to scooter down, came to an abrupt end (literally), culminating in broken bones and months of reminders from the 9 year old, to why my ideas should mostly be ignored!
My attempt to make bread was halted by the bread maker bursting into flames, mid programme. Weirdly, the whole family (including the dogs), turned down my offer of toast. But amidst the chaos, the calamities and the changes, there was a huge sense of calm and contentment. I was acutely aware of how of all the people to be locked down with, I would most definitely have chosen the three I was with. Of course, there were many moments where I wondered about the ethics of listing feuding siblings on Ebay, grumbled like an over-tired toddler and went a bit bonkers with cabin fever, but for the most part, I think that it really helped me put everything into perspective and accept how different things could have been, and for this I am incredibly grateful.
Instagram: @daytrippingwiththetearaways
