School's out for summer (sort of!!)

Not that it really got started or going much this term in the first place!! The school holidays are upon us in a slightly weird and surreal context. Lockdown is slowly lifting and the world is starting back up. The virus is still out there in small in pockets and measures such as wearing masks, social distancing, lots of handwashing are still in place. These will be with us well into next year. Attractions, shops, hairdresser, restaurants and coffee shops are slowly opening up with measures in place. The world is pushing forward quite quickly to get back to normal. The family Hammond are taking small but tentative steps towards this, but we are cautious and are not quite going at the same pace as other families I see on social media for example or in the news. The girls have started to spend a small amount of time with some friends, Anna has returned to football training and Lucy braved a shopping trip with me. We have also been having socially distancing barbecues with friends and family each week too. Which have been amazing and I have really enjoyed seeing people. Its such a difficult balancing act we have to juggle as parents, the risk is still out there, but we have to be so weary of supporting the girls to start getting back into the world. The longer this goes on, the more it will have a profound impact on their well being. The added dynamic to this is that poor Mrs Hammond is still really struggling with her knee. Now the other one, which has been compensating and doing all the work for the other is becoming a problem. Her mobility remains poor and this will restrict us in getting out and about. I am winding down my work so that from next Friday I can have ten days off. If I am honest I am feeling a bit haggard, taking lots on and under lots of pressure. I am ready for this break and we are going to have to think of some ways we can all get out and enjoy the safe spaces that Norfolk has to offer. This will be a welcome change of scenery and will be good for us all 😊 

Parentally sneaky and devious!

Child number one will not indulge me and let me take her photo. I was promised a selfie with her on Father's day that never came of fruition and was definitely avoided. In order to get an up to date picture of my Lucy, ashamed as I am, I have resorted to underhand tactics and stolen her latest Facebook profile picture. I like to have photos of my girls on my phone so when I am not with them, they are with me at all times. Makes me feel secure and safe, they bring me home when days are tough. I wish that Lucy could see what I see as her dad, I wish she could see the beauty, kindness, humour and integrity I see in my oldest daughter every day when I see her. She is beautiful inside and out and annoyingly photogenic!  Love my Loobychick very much xx

Birthday celebrations with a bit of a difference...

It pays as a parent in these difficult times to not underestimate the significant change that Covid-19 has thrust into the lives of our children and how difficult this all is for them. Key dates in their lives such as birthdays do not normally come with restraint, risk assessment, compromising decisions and strange behaviours needed by us all that do not even involve such basic human need as being able to hug loved ones. In the week that restrictions have started to be lifted in a more phased way, our lovely Anna has celebrated her twelfth birthday. Amy and I were determined to do what ever we could to make this as normal a day as possible for her. She and her sister have been through so much in recent years and the strange reality of a lockdown birthday is quite a difficult thing for a child to digest. We did this by organising at Anna's request a socially distancing barbecue. Invitations went out to Granny and Grandpa, Kate, Stu and the girls. It was very important indeed for Anna to have wider family there to help her celebrate a special day. So proud of her, for her compromises and thought process for such a young lady and modifying her expectations in these hard times. Very proud indeed. It was lovely, truly a lovely day. Anna received much swag, gave Uncle Stu a lesson in kicking a grown ups arse at football (great to see another person being the victim of her skill and positioning themselves with an ever growing list of excuses - been there and used them myself such as I am wearing the wrong footwear! 😂) I can't say thank you enough to all the family in making what could have been a day to forget into something memorable and special to remember. Most of all Amy, who exhausted by her injured knee - cooked, baked cakes and was amazing. Now to start planning October birthdays!!!! I wonder who that could be? Happy birthday darling Anna - you are much loved xx

Victory was inevitable....

About ten days ago I challenged the girls to a 'lockdown' game of Monopoly. It was a good way of spending time with them and also greatly appealed to my competitive nature. After all, we still have quite a bit of time on our hands. Mrs Hammond, injured and semi dying with her knee on the couch, politely declined to take part. The initial phase of the game lasted a couple of days and I slowly got the opportunity and positioned myself, picking off Anna in a fit of anger and a massive and famous Monopoly strop! Within another day I had Lucy on the ropes and for the next the eight days, she declined to carry on. This evening she finally accepted the inevitable conclusion and conceded defeat, claiming unconvincingly that she hated the game anyway! 😆 I retain an my undefeated crown in playing the kids at this strategic game and I have no intention of giving this up or going easy on them, for as long as I live! Father's day was lovely with us hitting the beach for some fossil hunting and a first family trip out together for months. Lucy did give me teenage permission for one photo with her on this day and then avoided it like the plague! The virus is still out there so we remain very cautious and are still not allowing the children freedom yet, despite some restrictions being lifted. One day at a time. Two more sleeps to go until a certain young lady is twelve. Where did that time go!!? 😲

The time of Chocdown!!

Poor Amy has knackered her knee and ripped the cartilage. She is in a great deal of pain and discomfort. Oddly, we have no idea how she did it! She could have broken medical history and this be the first box set watching, chocolate eating injury ever recorded. Medical professionals could study this for years to come and we may never know despite the involvement of all their expertise and skill!!! Chocdown as its now called continues to slightly ease and in celebration of this we invited Granny and Grandpa for a socially distancing barbecue. The discussion moved onto how Sylvia (nana) used to clip me with her walking stick to gain my attention. The presence of Amy's crutches gave me an idea😆Revenge is surely a dish best served sweet or in this case at a safe distance. I was tempted as they were the right length for a safe coronavirus two meter safe swipe at Grandpa's ankles! Only kidding, but it was quite funny. It was lovely to have something a bit more normal, a social event and relax in the midst of all this panic, stress and building paranoia. Who would have ever thought that having guests to one's house would carry such importance and meaning in relation to what is going on around us! The girls are good and continue to do well. We started a game of monopoly last night, so this could get messy in the coming days.....

A safe place...

As we continue to live in these strange times, all being it in a slightly reduced state of lockdown conditions, family life is not what it should be with each of us quietly getting on with keeping ourselves busy and simply getting through the day. We are all longing for normal life to return, but this is a long way off, probably months, with infections still in the country and in recent days on the rise again. Home has become a place we would want to escape from having lost many freedoms, and yet a real place of safety and calm. We are all leading slightly separate lives. Amy and I working and still going out. The girls schooling at home, messaging friends and almost in a weekend state every day. We do catch up at various intervals during the day, but this feels a bit fragmented. I am worried about the effect this is having on us all. I keep myself busy gardening, dog walking, a newly found love of nature and doing 'jobs'. For Amy and the girls they relax, watch television, gaming in Anna's case and watching crime documentaries for Lucy (a new interest which intrigues me as to what interests her within this emerging passion). This is not my cup of tea and never has been. I can't sit still and hours will go by when I do not interact with my family. I expect this to a certain degree with near or actual teenagers in the house, but I can see lockdown compounding this. Amy and I having to discuss challenges and issues such as when do we risk sending the kids back to school. There is no respite from the monotony and the worry. With the weather changing to wet and miserable this week. I would love for us to simply go out together for the day as a family and do something we love and go for a meal out together. It will come I know, but is some months off yet. In the meantime, home is a double edged sword and the safety side fills me with reassurance in keeping my girls safe. The longer this goes on though, the harder it will be to make a new normal and stop the insular family life that is emerging....

Looking for suspects...

A cunning and shifty crime has occurred in my house in Lockdown. Someone, yet to be identified has raided my fifty pence jar, with five pounds worth inexplicably found in Amy's car. With no other evidence available, I am in the process of completing an in-depth investigation and slowly ruling out suspects. The jar is kept in my office and the scene of this heinous crime! Joan never goes down this end of the house, so she has been eliminated from my enquiries. Lucy never leaves her room, only for food and this is mostly witnessed. That leaves two very shifty characters. Anna is unable to leave the house and she has worked out her own ways of spending our pennies online, inadvertently (said with high levels of sarcasm) signing up to an extra X-box subscription this week and she has no need for cash at the moment as she can't go anywhere to spend it. Anna has also had her own version of 'treasure' this week in winning the parents player of the season award for all those awesome saves. She does have attitude on many occasions, but not in this context. Ruled her out. This just leaves Mrs Hammond and all routes point to her clear guilt. Umm...A mask wearing high spending lockdown yummy mummy, the money was found in her car and she admitted it with a 'rumbled and guilty' face when questioned. She giggled in that way she does when caught out. It didn't take much to break her! Stay away from the jar Mrs Hammond and written permission is required in order to enter my man space/office!!!!