So that's the end of week two (though you could tell me it's month two and I'm not sure I'd argue with you).
It's been another week of adjustments. Like many people, I'm now running a school timetable five days a week and it's instantly made me realise how hard being a teacher must really be.
I think we did a passable job of it this week. We decided that even trying to replicate a school timetable (or have all the same stuff every day) was impossible. It's anchored around some of the amazing online stuff that's cropped up (PE with Joe Wicks on YouTube and English Live! with Holly on Facebook) but there's a lot of flex around our diaries so we can 'teach' a bit and put some variety in alongside Maths, English and Reading.
It definitely felt like a long week at work - I was emotionally exhausted by 5pm on Friday. It's hard to work out how best to pace yourself when working, sleeping and living all really take place in the same four walls, but I'll get there with time.
I've been out for my state-sanctioned walk every day (even fitting in some Plastic Detectives with Violet a couple of times - full back catalogue to be uploaded), and that feeling of fresh air (and even some sunshine) can't be over-estimated right now. I even managed a 'run' on Sunday - now seems as good a time as any to try and get back into it, however slowly.
What's struck me is how quickly behaviours have changed when you go outside. On the pavements everyone moves out to the edges, even stepping into the road to keep a safe distance. Walking down the gennel near our house, people wait at the end or press themselves tightly up to the fence to let someone pass. We're actively thanking people for keeping away from us which feels like a big behaviour change in a fortnight.
I've kept away from the news pretty well over the last week. I've stopped watching the daily briefings live and just pick up the main points afterwards. I've also decided it's no good to think about how this plays out in the long term and really just try and do a day at a time. Estimates for how long some elements of our current lives could continue vary a lot and I don't see the point in trying to dwell on something so uncertain. Last year's Stress Control has evidently been good for something!
Finally, it was good to see the nationwide reaction in support of the NHS this week. I've got friends and family working there, all balancing the same challenges the rest of us are, but alongside the daily work to care for people.
Until next week.... stay safe, wash your hands
Monday 30 March 2020
Monday 23 March 2020
Week One - Listening Through The Noise
What a week eh?
I feel like I've watched enough disaster movies to know that the coming weeks and months are going to be less than ideal, but that we should all emerge blinking into the sunlight looking at a different world.
I'm encouraging Violet to keep a diary through all this because I think we'll all look back on these few months for years and years to come. I thought I should try an do the same.
Like most people I know, I'm trying to be as sensible as I can be. I don't have 2000 loo rolls, the only real stockpiles I have are half a dozen partially used bags of cous cous and quinoa (peak middle class eh?) and some Ryvita that ran out in 2016 but still tastes fine.
We've been outside every day but kept well away from anyone else. I skipped visiting my mum for Mother's Day and I'm on day 8 of working from home. Given I'm in a higher risk group, I'm only going to the shops when it's absolutely necessary as well.
Social media and the news, things I've always relied on for my own sanity and sense of connectedness are having the absolute opposite effect right now. I've given up scrolling pretty much anything apart from Instagram and only posting elsewhere occasionally.
I get that people are angry. Angry at those people ignoring advice. Angry at those pushing three trollyfuls of shopping through crowded check outs. Angry at people heading to the pub for 'one last night out'. I'm angry too.
But I think people are scared. Fight or flight has never felt stronger for me at times over the last few weeks. That idea of 'doing what I've always done will mean I'll be OK' is completely out of the window now. People resort to routine, comfort and self preservation when they're scared and I think that's what people are doing now.
Yes it's selfish, but I think it's understandable too. People's anxieties manifest themselves differently, whether that's buying 10 bags of pasta, going to the pub or climbing to the top of the moral high ground. It's all noise we're trying to process to do whatever the right thing is.
The advice means different things to each of us. DON'T GO OUTSIDE. SELF ISOLATE. SOCIAL DISTANCING. It's panic-inducing, that means people will panic.
I don't think any of us fully understand what this means right now and we're all doing what we can to get by. I finally found a loaf of bread in the shops yesterday and it felt a little quieter. Not normal, but not end-of-the-world either.
I don't know what the 'right' thing is. But I know we need to be kind. Buy what you need, stay a safe distance from people, don't berate those who perhaps genuinely don't understand, help a friend or neighbour, don't watch too much news or scroll Twitter all day. Do what you can do and others will follow.
Stay safe, wash your hands
I feel like I've watched enough disaster movies to know that the coming weeks and months are going to be less than ideal, but that we should all emerge blinking into the sunlight looking at a different world.
I'm encouraging Violet to keep a diary through all this because I think we'll all look back on these few months for years and years to come. I thought I should try an do the same.
Like most people I know, I'm trying to be as sensible as I can be. I don't have 2000 loo rolls, the only real stockpiles I have are half a dozen partially used bags of cous cous and quinoa (peak middle class eh?) and some Ryvita that ran out in 2016 but still tastes fine.
We've been outside every day but kept well away from anyone else. I skipped visiting my mum for Mother's Day and I'm on day 8 of working from home. Given I'm in a higher risk group, I'm only going to the shops when it's absolutely necessary as well.
Social media and the news, things I've always relied on for my own sanity and sense of connectedness are having the absolute opposite effect right now. I've given up scrolling pretty much anything apart from Instagram and only posting elsewhere occasionally.
I get that people are angry. Angry at those people ignoring advice. Angry at those pushing three trollyfuls of shopping through crowded check outs. Angry at people heading to the pub for 'one last night out'. I'm angry too.
But I think people are scared. Fight or flight has never felt stronger for me at times over the last few weeks. That idea of 'doing what I've always done will mean I'll be OK' is completely out of the window now. People resort to routine, comfort and self preservation when they're scared and I think that's what people are doing now.
Yes it's selfish, but I think it's understandable too. People's anxieties manifest themselves differently, whether that's buying 10 bags of pasta, going to the pub or climbing to the top of the moral high ground. It's all noise we're trying to process to do whatever the right thing is.
The advice means different things to each of us. DON'T GO OUTSIDE. SELF ISOLATE. SOCIAL DISTANCING. It's panic-inducing, that means people will panic.
I don't think any of us fully understand what this means right now and we're all doing what we can to get by. I finally found a loaf of bread in the shops yesterday and it felt a little quieter. Not normal, but not end-of-the-world either.
I don't know what the 'right' thing is. But I know we need to be kind. Buy what you need, stay a safe distance from people, don't berate those who perhaps genuinely don't understand, help a friend or neighbour, don't watch too much news or scroll Twitter all day. Do what you can do and others will follow.
Stay safe, wash your hands
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