This time last year I was heading back from America, where Sam and I spent 5 glorious child free days in New York, our first kid free holiday ever. And boy have we made up for it by spending the next 365 days with our kids 24/7 practically, bar the time when they were actually at school which wasn’t much really – one whole term and a few sporadic sessions for Arlo in the summer. So, that holiday feels like a lifetime ago. I know we’re ‘all in this together’ and we’re ‘all in the same boat’ but that doesn’t mean that we’re not sailing on very different seas… my sea is tumultuous, turbulent and liable to overturn my boat at any given moment.
Not everything is bad I must admit, we barely change out of our PJs so there is a lot less washing to do and we don’t have to worry about unexpected visitors when the place is a mess (which is always as we’re all here all the time.) We don’t have school runs in the rain, and we can stretch hair washes for a few more days as nobody is here to see our lanky locks.
The future does look a little brighter, in some ways. We somehow managed to find a new home a few towns over and are in the process of buying it and selling our current house. I am excited for a house rather than a flat, and a small garden. I am excited for a bigger kitchen and for the kids to have their own rooms. But with all that comes the upheaval of moving house in a pandemic, and hoping we complete before the stamp duty break ends! It also means moving schools for the kids, and after the stress of the last year it just seems so unfair on them when they are barely seeing people they know anyway. For as long as school is virtual we’ll keep them where they are, then look to move them more local when they can mix with other kids again.
But all that considered, it’s still a pretty shitty time if I’m honest. This past year has been so dire for everyone though, we all miss our friends and family, the unknown future is not a good ‘unknown’ and the sheer level of deaths around the world is heartbreaking.
I’m not really sure of the point of this post really, but if it serves as a reminder to someone else going through all this and feeling shitty about things to know they’re not alone then it was worth writing. It’s definitely been cathartic for me to write anyway!
Onwards and Upwards!