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!!!! 

The smug face of a teenager....

Never take on someone who is an emerging master with their craft. Lucy has such a great memory for something she is really interested in and she wiped the floor with me on a Harry Potter trivia quiz. To be honest with you, I never had a chance or a prayer!!! The upside of this, aside of the deep humiliation I suffered and believe me it was extreme, was that I got to spend some time with her which is rare. We still have the challenge of getting her to come out of her room and in teenage fashion her stark reply is 'I don't like people!' If it gets her out and I spend some time with my lovely girl in this time where we can, then I'll take a tonking and ritual humiliation every day! Yesterday, I helped her tidy her room and after the initial levels of disgust I felt and agitation at her slob like ways, I really did enjoy her company, chatting and doing something together. More please Lucy, more of your time please. I really love you and being with you x 

Eat, sleep and repeat...

Lockdown is so hugely important for ours and the rest of societies well being and health. I have to confess that it is starting to get to me a bit. A combination of feeling penned in, frustration, worry and fear is starting to catch up with me a little bit. I'm finding it hard not to be in 'keep myself busy' mode. I'm especially worried in the context of being a parent and keeping the girls safe. I'm not really sleeping, not really settling down and struggling to take this opportunity to rest. I'm also finding it monotonous too and feel I'm loosing my freedom a bit. I know it is necessary and I have absolutely no just cause to complain. We have what we need, we have a beautiful place to live in, we have each other and we have space. I just can't help the way I feel at the moment and am desperately trying to change my mindset. So I have filled my days with gardening projects, work from home and some visits to homes, long dog walks and generally pacing up and down. Some fun things into the bargain as well. Mine and Anna's football challenge is progressing with new games such as 'football golf' being designed and played. I'm making a slight comeback and currently trailing 41-33 as it stands! We did manage to sort out our lockdown haircut situation with some free clippers coming our way. My hair was expertly cut by Anna and Amy. I was slightly worried as they had a heated debate and argument mid way through in trying to decide what to do with my awkward hair! To say I was slightly petrified was an understatement! I must pull myself together as we have many more weeks and months of this life changing situation to work through yet and I need to stay strong. I will do my best and try not to let my fears rule my head and my heart. Take one day at a time, enjoy this time of peace and quiet with Amy and the girls and push on through.....

The struggle is real...

Lockdown has been extended for another three weeks and well into May. This is the right thing for the government to do in order to keep us all as safe as possible, I fully expect it to continue to at least the end of May. Some days it really isn't that bad, especially if you have the beautiful Norfolk sunshine to enjoy. Its a strange world and space to be in at the moment. There are moments when you forget relaxing in the garden and then you remember the silent threat out there. I know we don't have access to all the usual things we usually have such as going out for meals, coffee, shopping, cinema and the beach for example, but we have so much around us in the house, the garden and dog walking (not been as fit in years). This really helps reduce the stress and tension. Unless you are Anna! We truly never quite know which Anna we are going to get in lockdown - full of hormones, frustrations, irrational responses, a bit of boredom and you get quite a stroppy combination! Thank heavens the house is big! On other days we are treated to a helpful, caring and relaxed young lady with slightly dodgy lockdown hair. Don't mention her hair at the moment, it's a touchy subject and without a cut is not quite her desired style at present. Never mind she's safe and that's all that matters. P.S Still trying to get Lucy out of her bedroom this week! No word of a lie, she's experiencing a sloth like few days and she's nailing it!