Keeping on the Straight and Narrow...

DancingInTheRain

In the face of so much uncertainty in both the work and school situations I've spent this weekend focusing on a bit of self care instead of worrying about situations out of my control at the moment.

Since Friday I've walked at least 10,000 steps each day, drank 5 pints of water and had at least 5 portions of fruit & veg do I'm feeling reasonably good as a result. Weighed myself today and am 11st 12lbs which is pretty much where I was this time last year 😳 really need to work on this, I was always around 10st 4lbs pre children so would love to get closer to this weight.

I didn't sleep very well last night, so DH got up with the boys and I had a soak in the bath, put a facemask on & generally took a very long time to get up ☺️.

Both of us are going to be working from home for the foreseeable, I can imagine we'll both be on back to back Teams calls tomorrow as the projects we were both due to be involved in can't happen so need to find out what plan B will be plus if schools do close we may need to look at options for furlough (me) or annual/parental leave (either of us) as I wouldn't be comfortable leaving the boys with my Mum so much and we're trying to not use MIL as she's part of DH's brothers bubble so need to minimise risks.
There's not a chance we could both WFH and entertain/educate the boys at the same time, the memory of last March/April still fills me with horror!

One day at a time is as good as it gets so just need to focus on that and try to count our blessings as we have many, I just really struggle with so much uncertainty & constant changes, give me rules, procedures and structure any day!

Hope everyone is well xx

savingholmes

Self care is good. My kids are older - but therefore DD is also more of a risk to us. Kids around her age range are apparently at least 7 times more likely to bring infection home than primary school kids...

sashybo

I hope you can get something sorted re childcare if the schools are closed. Both DH & I are key workers and can't do our jobs from home - I'm actually really glad as it must be sooo hard trying to work from home with small kids. 😱 

It's so draining not knowing what to expect with it all and I think everyone is fed up in general. 

DancingInTheRain

Thanks both, got the message this morning that school is not reopening and they will move to online learning during this time 😱

DH and I have both spoken to work and while a little flexibility can be offered to us both realistically there's a large chunk of work I just can't do while I have the children home so looking at either full furlough, PT furlough and cramming some work in to my evenings or unpaid parental leave, just waiting to hear back from work and trying to cram as much work into today and tomorrow as possible in the meantime.

As DH is support staff for the police, he can't be furloughed, although he has been offered a bit of flexibility to work evenings and weekends if needed. He can do the bulk of his work remotely so we'll see how the next couple of days unfold.

Money news - have started using an unused savings account to hold any additional earnings we make, not sure what the savings will be used for at this stage though.

£35.32 in there so far this month as a result of DS2 not bring able to attend DS1's school's 2 year old provision twice this week, £5 redeemed from HuYu, a small eBay sale and an even smaller payout from TCB ☺️

Anyway, back to work - yet another Teams call us pending...

Lookafterthepennies2020

Well done on finding some time for yourself, its surprising how difficult that can be some times
Sorry to here kiddies are now off school, mine are both in this morning but I am counting down the days before we are deciding how to manage them when it closes.  I can WFH but will struggle to do so with mine (9 & 4), luckily I can probably do a few hours out of hours to make up some time in the day but I am dreading it.  OH was furloughed from March -August this year and won't have the opportunity to do so again as they are so busy!

beanielou

Hope you can get something sorted out.  

savingholmes

Hope you get something sorted that leaves you with a decent income.

DancingInTheRain

Thanks for your comments all, much appreciated x

It's so hard whatever situation any of us are in isn't it? Such a juggling act, I really feel for you @Lookafterthepennies2020 as it's hard to stay motivated outside of normal working hours especially with a young family - it's really tricky balancing everything.

No definite answer from work yet, think they're waiting to see what Boris says tonight before committing to anything.
In the short term I've been advised to just do what I can when I can, don't think this good grace will last for long but I'll take it for now.

I've had a productive day today and should be able to do the same tomorrow before online learning commences for DS1 Wednesday. Mum doesn't have internet access so it's definitely down to me! Thank goodness he's only in reception (age 4) so the work shouldn't be beyond me 🤣 the hard task will be keeping the tornado toddler (age 2) occupied enough to let DS1 get on with his tasks.

I'm sure it will work out one way or another 🤞

Hope everyone is okay after the lockdown news from Nicola Sturgeon earlier too, at least she sets her plans out clearly unlike the waffle & bluster we'll get from BoJo the 🤡 later! Xx

Lookafterthepennies2020

That's the problem isn't it, just do what you can... Until what you need to get done isn't.  I'll have everything crossed for you tomorrow, plan the teams around TV for five mins quiet hopefully. Then suffer the mum guilt later lol 

savingholmes

J0lly Phonics videos ( they were then) worked wonders with mine for learning to read and write, had singing and dancing and actions as part of it. A lot of kids TV has an educational element