Lockdown...so far

Bubbles have been really popular...

It’s been a weird old couple of weeks. Hearing about the Covid-19 virus spreading has been a bizarre time for all of us and I hope anyone reading this is keeping safe. Reports started a few months back but I had no idea just how serious it would become. We carried on as normal while hearing that people were being quarantined when returning from trips abroad. It was spreading fast and it was hard not to freak out. It soon started to be the only thing on the news and there was no escaping the impact it was having.

Apart from Z being a bit poorly the other week, we’ve all been fine. He did have to stay off nursery for a while to be safe but then things really started ramping up here in the UK. Last week Z had been with his grandparents while me and Daddy Z carried on working as usual. But as nursery announced it would have to shut down for safety reasons during the outbreak we had to start thinking of more serious options. At first there was potential that Z could carry on with Nursery as Daddy Z is a key worker. As a photographer at a studio it is pretty hard for me to work from home so I hoped to continue in the studio for a while longer (I’m the only person in the studio so pretty self isolated anyway). However, under our government guidelines anyone with a learning disability is considered ‘at risk’ so Z was unable to continue nursery as he was not covered by our nursery's insurance during this time.

Catching the odd nap has been nice.

So, that was that. I feel massive guilt for not being able to carry on working. We depend a lot on both of our wages. I’ve had to explain my situation to my boss and try to find a way of working from home. I can’t be a photographer but I might be useful in other ways. I’m pretty worried about the impact of not being able to shoot is going to have and if my job will be safe at the end of this. But now we’re into the ‘lockdown’ phase I guess all I can do is roll with it.

Z is a bit of a mix of emotions right now. He mostly loves nursery and generally is pretty happy to go. Especially lately, nursery have received some extra funding for him and are bringing in more sensory equipment. He seems to really be coming along a lot. So to go into being stuck in with me all the time is a bit of a change for him. He’s coping well but each day we encounter a few ‘moody’ or near meltdown stages that we’re trying to understand and cope with. Our ‘daily exercise allowance’ helps, he’s quite enjoying sitting in the pushchair and going for a walk. We live in a quiet town and there’s hardly anyone around so we just have a walk around the streets, I feel like that’s the safer option than going to parks and popular walking spots like we’d usually do. I’m so thankful that the weather has been nice so far this week otherwise we’d all be crawling the walls.

We’re not really doing a homeschooling schedule although it might be something I try to introduce. On the days I’m not working we’ve been doing some indoor exercises which have been so funny. Z does join in a little bit but mostly just tries to climb on Daddy Z or me. His current favourite TV show is Tinga Tinga Tales so he’ll watch that for a while and tries really hard to talk about the stories to me. He’s started naming the animals and showing shock and surprise when something goes wrong, which is amazing progress (not all screen time is bad!). After that he’s been playing in the garden, watering plants, looking at insects, birds and spotting planes and making me run around (been good for keeping my step count up on the fitbit). He still struggles to focus on one thing for more than a few minutes so we pretty much let him decide what he wants to do but we make sure we keep talking about things around him, naming things and asking questions. 

I’m glad that we can be at home through this now. Daddy Z is only taking on emergency work now so will no longer be going out to client’s homes unless it’s someone in real need. The hardest part is not being able to see our family, Z loves seeing his grandparents, Grandad Z comes to visit several times per week. We’ve promised to do lots of video calls. My mum dropped some shopping supplies at our doorstep today. It was so hard not to invite her in for a cup of tea or give her a great big hug. Z was excited to see her and normally pulls her in through the door and starts taking her shoes off for her. But she kept her distance, having a chat from down the drive. The fear of Z (or any of us) getting sick worries me. I hate seeing him even have a cold, never mind something worse. His lack of communication would make it unbearable to go into hospital. The thought of him having to be on ventilation just fills me with dread and the fact that he might have to face that alone is unthinkable. We’re very lucky he is healthy and strong but I will still take no risks.

Stay safe everyone. Don’t panic.

Sarah x