Posts in category: Personal

I have to admit something.

I don’t really do Halloween.

We never celebrated it when I was little.  We didn’t go trick or treating and the day basically went by like any other day.

And we’ve never really celebrated it much with the children.

This year though it seemed almost mean to not do anything at all with them.  Nerys in particular had been excited about the whole thing this year.  I blame all the American families she watches on YouTube.

With the national lockdown in Wales though there was no way we would be able to do anything like trick or treating.

Luckily my in-laws treated the children to pumpkins to carve, some Halloweeny masks and a few goodies to make the day a bit special for them.  So on Saturday I left Steve in charge to supervising pumpkin carving.

It was actually a much easier process than I thought it would be, the children had a lot of fun with it, and they were so proud of the end results.

While they were busy carving, I set up a few activities that I’d downloaded from a few different websites.

I found a Halloween themed wordsearch, an eye-spy page full of Halloween pictures, and a few colouring sheets.  The winner though was the fortune teller scavenger hunt.

You know those paper fortune tellers we all used to make when we were younger?

I found a great one on Red Ted Art that you can print out along with a sheet of ‘tokens’ that match the pictures hidden in the fortune teller.  So basically, whichever picture they pick on the fortune teller they have to then find the matching token that I’d hidden round the house.

Both the children love scavenger hunts and treasure hunts whenever we do them, and this idea just added an extra level of fun to the whole thing, as well as making it last a bit longer than they normally do.

We also found some films to watch that were kind of spooky but not at all scary, which was actually a bit trickier that you might think.  So many films that I remember from my childhood are so much scarier than I remember, and my children are both still quite sensitive to scary things.

In the end we went with Zombies 2 (for what felt like the hundredth time this week) and Hotel Transylvania, which actually made me laugh out loud a few times and had a nice, happy ending.

For someone who doesn’t do Halloween, it was quite a Halloweeny day, but really worth it to see how happy the children were.

Do you go all out for Halloween?

Or do you not really make much of a fuss over it normally?

I can’t quite believe we’ve come to the end of another month and it’s already time for another me and mine post.

We started October in a local lockdown here in Swansea, and are ending the month in a full on Wales-wide lockdown.

So it’s not much of a surprise that it’s been a pretty quiet month.

Although, the more I think back on the month the more I remember happening.

We celebrated Steve’s birthday at the start of October in a very low-key way, thanks to all the lockdown restrictions.  But there was cake and pizza and a distanced visit from his parents and, in its own, strange way, it’ll be a birthday I think we’ll always remember.

The children lost about 5 teeth between them over the course of the month.

We had a week with Rhys at home isolating after a classmate tested positive for the coronavirus.  He coped really well with being stuck in the house and doing school work via microsoft teams.  And Nerys was just happy that she could still go to school and be with her friends.

And we finally made it to the half term holiday after the strangest start to a school year I could’ve imagined.

Between Wales being in lockdown, the clocks going back and the weather being pretty wild and wet all week, the half term break has been really quiet.

We ventured out for a walk around a few local parks at the start of the week, which is when we took this month’s family photo.

A lot of the time though we embraced the situation and enjoyed spending time at home.

We had a bit of a clear out, tackling jobs we’d been putting off for ages.  Rhys spent a lot of happy hours getting to grips with creating things in blender.  Nerys watched zombies and zombies 2 more times than I want to think about.

We baked, and ate, a lot of bread.  We tackled half term homework.  We had a bit of spooky fun at home for halloween.

It was a slow, lazy half term and it was just the break everyone needed after a weird term at school.

Now we just to see what the next month has in store, with a new term and a new set of rules to be announced for us all in Wales.

We made it.

We made it to the end of an incredibly strange autumn term.  And now we’re into an equally strange half term holiday.

We’re in full lock down again here in Wales until the 9th November.

During a normal half term we’d do things like get the bus into town and have a day browsing in the shops and visiting the museums.  We’d go to a craft event at our local library and borrow a new pile of books.  We might have a day with my sister and her girls.  We might meet up with friends in the park.  The children would have a day, and maybe a night, with their grandparents.

This week though, we can’t do any of those things.

We’re back to being asked to basically stay at home, and only go out for essentials and for exercise.

The new restrictions came into place at 6pm on Friday.  So we popped up to Steve’s parents’ house after school to spend a couple of hours with them in their garden.

We all had a really lovely time, but the whole situation is just so strange.

I don’t think I’ve been in my in-laws’ house since early March, which is just crazy when they live just up the road from us.

We were all feeling a bit emotional by the time we headed home I think.

I think the children and I have been so focused on the finish line of the end of term, of reaching this point in one piece and now we’re here it caught up with us a bit.  Steve and I have been laughing saying that any day now we’ll all come down with a cold, or tonsillitis in my case which is what I used to fall ill with at the end of pretty much every term at uni when I went back home to my parents.

So in a way it’s a good thing that we can’t do much or go anywhere this half term week.

We can play at home.  We can rest.  We can pop out for walks in the woods and the beach.

Then hopefully we’ll be ready for any new rules and restrictions that are put in place once this latest lock down is lifted.

We’re back to normal this week.

Well, as normal as things can be at the moment.

Last week Rhys was stuck at home, not able to go anywhere at all, after a child in his class at school tested positive for the virus.

I really wasn’t sure at the start of the week how it would all go, but he’s coped so well, and managed to keep up with all the school work that his teacher set each day.  I was really impressed with how well organised the whole week was; the school have obviously worked hard to put plans in place ready for when a class inevitably had to stay home for a week or two.

Rhys’ teacher did a live video call each day with the class and that made such a difference in helping the children feel connected and keep the momentum going with their learning.

And it was quite nice to get some sort of insight into Rhys’ school life that I would never get under normal circumstances.

I hope it’s not something we have to do too often though, it was a tiring week all round trying to balance everything again.

In a way I think it would’ve been easier to have both children at home, but Nerys was still able to go to school so I still had the school run to do each day with her.

She was happy that she didn’t have to miss any school, but there were a few grumbles in the mornings when she was tired and not impressed with having to be the one who had to get up and dressed.

I think all the changes and restrictions are starting to get to her a little bit, and she needs us a bit more than usual at the moment.  So we took our time walking home from school each day last week.

We took the slightly longer route home through the park.  We stopped and rested for a few minutes while she had a snack along the way.  We slowed down and looked out for the prettiest leaves and the crunchiest ones to stomp on.

And I stood and waited each day while she walked along this wall, holding on to the blue railings.

It’s something both the children have done since they were little, and she’s so happy now she’s big enough to pull herself up on to the higher wall without my help.

There were a few days last week when, by this point in our walk home, I just wanted to keep moving.  To get on home so we could get tea sorted.  But she was so keen to extend our time out as much as possible.  To just be with me.

And it made me stop and remember that it’s such a privilege really, isn’t it.  To be that to someone.  To have someone want nothing more that to just be with you.

Things are looking like they might be changing again very soon here in Wales, with talk of another big lockdown.  So the few things that have started to bring a little sense of normality back for the children might be stopped again for a while.

I wrote last week about how it’s all making me so sad for the children at the moment.  All the little things that are just not quite right for them.

So wherever I can I’ll keep giving them what I can.

The extra few minutes playing on the wall on the walk home, buying us that bit more time together.

One more page of a book at bedtime.

Cwtches first thing in the morning, last thing at night, and whenever they’re needed throughout the day.

And honestly, those things are almost as much for me as they are for the children.

We’ve had a week of gloriously sunny autumnal days here; days full of blue skies and just a slight chill in the air.

Rhys has been stuck at home all week, (and has coped really well, all things considered), which has meant that it’s just been me and Nerys heading out on the school run.

With it being such nice weather, we walked home from school every day.

We changed our routine a little bit so we’ve been leaving the school grounds via a different gate, so Nerys can have a bit of extra time with her friend who heads out that way.

There’s a little grassy area near her house where the girls have been stopping to play; building nests, and hunting for bugs.  I think they try so hard to focus when they’re at school that all this excess energy comes bubbling out when they leave at the end of the day.  So it’s been really lovely being able to let them have this time together to run and be silly and just have fun.

Then Nerys and I have walked the rest of the way home together via Singleton Park.

By the time we get there the sun is getting lower in the sky and it’s just beautiful the way it’s been shining through the trees full of red and yellow and orange leaves.

I’ve been amazed at how much the leaves have changed over the course of just this one week.

It’s another reminder of how lovely it is to be able to slow down, to look around, to really notice all these changes as they happen.

We’ve been looking out for the most colourful leaves we can find as we walk through the park and up our hill.

And then as we get closer to our house we start trying to find the leaves on the ground that will make the best crunching sound when we stand on them.

It’s these little things that make me so happy, and with all the chaos going on around us at the moment I really appreciate those moments when we’re not in a hurry, we don’t have to rush off anywhere, we can just take our time and enjoy each other’s company.

Can anyone tell me where the last month went?

I swear it was the start of September just a week or so ago.  And now the children have been back at school for around 6 weeks.

They’ve adjusted really well to the new routine.  Of course, that’s now changed again this week.

Rhys is back doing school work at home and isolating for a week after a child in his class tested positive for the coronavirus.  Nerys is pleased she can still go to school and be with her friends, but she’s not too impressed at being the one who has to be up, dressed and out the door in the mornings!

Rhys is coping pretty well with the change but is annoyed at not being able to leave the house.

Hopefully the weather will be kind and we’ll be able to make up for it next weekend with a trip to the beach or something.

The last time we went down the tide was really high and it was so, so pretty.  I took the chance to get a few photos of the children together, and had a play with the lens ball my sister got me for my birthday.

The next few months are starting to feel more and more uncertain, and with half term not far away I’m not sure what we’ll actually be able to do and where we’ll be able to go with the children.

I’ve got a feeling it’ll be pretty much like the summer holidays and our time will be spent mostly hanging out at home, with trips out to the parks and the beach to burn off energy.

One of the things I’ve been really grateful for this year is having so many different places close to home that don’t seem to get too crowded, where the children can run around and get some fresh air.

We’ve actually started walking home from school over the last week or so, and some days we’ll take the slightly longer route through Singleton park and it’s so much nicer than driving through the school run traffic.  I did worry a bit the first day we walked home, that the children might complain a bit about being tired, with it being a half hour walk at the end of the school day.  But they’ve not even mentioned it once.

With all the changes that keep happening at the moment, I think we might try and keep this new routine of walking home going for a while if we can.  It’s really lovely to have that half hour together to chat about our days, before getting home and starting the next busy stage of showers and dinner and homework and so on.

The way time is going at the moment though it’ll be getting dark on the walk home before we know it!

Do you walk your children to school?  Do you do it all year round and in all weathers?

I’m trying so hard to stay upbeat, but I’m honestly feeling so sad for the children at the moment.

Nothing is quite the way it used to be.

Things they’ve been looking forward to have been cancelled and so many other things seem so uncertain.  And the few things that have started up again for them recently have paused again before they really got going.

Their swimming school managed one week back before being told that the school they hire the pool from needed to put additional safety measures in place, so lessons are postponed until that’s all sorted.

And Rhys’ cubs pack met up in person (outside) last week for the first time in almost half a year, and now he has to miss this week’s session as he has to isolate after a child in his class at school tested positive for the coronavirus.

He was so excited to be back last week.

He was dressed and ready in his uniform over an hour before we actually needed to leave the house.  And he bounced off towards the rest of the pack when we got to the field behind the scout hall.

He was absolutely buzzing when I went to pick him up.  Full of stories of the new youth leaders and the games they’d all been playing together.  Already looking forward to the next session.

And now he has to miss it.

And I know it’s just one week.  And in the greater scheme of things it’s fine.  It’s not really a big deal.

But it just feels like one more thing.  One more thing that was almost like it used to be.  One more thing that’s changed, that has to be adapted to.

I try so hard to stay positive about it all, to find the moments of joy, to focus on all the wonderful things I have to be thankful for.

But some days it’s really difficult to do that.  It all just makes me so sad.