Day eleventy-hundred in the lockdown 2021 house and madmumof7 has diverted temporarily from binge watching "4 in a bed" to "Married at First Sight (Australia). Which is either a fascinating social experiment or pure gratuitous people watching with a side order of judgment. You choose.
I'm watching it with the sound off and subtitles on since my lounge is also a classroom. Many thanks to my oldest son who showed me how to activate them. I'm grateful but I feel like a dinosaur.
At the risk of jinxing it all, the home learning is going better than I anticipated with my youngest especially. He struggled so much last time but this time he is taking it all on board quite well. I do have to sit next to him and supervise as, because of autism, he sometimes struggles to process the fairly fast paced instructions from the teachers on their hangout. And the most recent maths lesson was challenging as my maths is terrible.
My decision to wear proper clothes lasted two days and I'm back in my very comfy loungewear. I and trying harder to eat healthily and not snack too much but its sooooo hard. We've broken out the Wii and Just Dance but after three dances my fibromyalgia paid me back with a lovely flare-up and the message loud and clear that I should remember to pace myself.
The house is at least clean and tidy even though no-one except those who live here will see it. And frankly mostly they don't care. I've even misted my orchids and this might be the first time ever I've saved one to flower for a second time.
I'm growing my hair which is slightly frustrating but if a national lockdown isn't a good time, when is? I was curious to see what my natural colour is now. I have noticed the texture is different now it's grey and white so have invested in a good conditioner from a brand known for using natural and ecologically sound ingredients.
As I have mentioned previously we have made quite a few changes at home to choose eco-friendly choices for cleaning and self-care. It costs slightly more but everything is delivered so I am saving money and protecting my health by not going out shopping. Plus if I can't go out for breakfast with my family or dinner or drinks with my friends I might as well spend a little of the money I've saved treating myself.
The rest goes on feeding hungry teenagers who emerge from their lessons starving like a very small plague of locusts. It does feel a little like we are lurching from meal to meal and I can't tell you how bored I am with the question: "What's for lunch/dinner?"
As I am typing this my phone has just flashed up a message from KFC offering me an "epic" 50% off a tower burger meal. Which sounds lovely but one of the downsides of living a rural life is that the nearest KFC is about 12 miles away and they don't deliver out here. And neither does Uber Eats so for the love of everything please stop sending me promotional messages!!!
We have reintroduced "Takeaway Wednesday" which the whole family looks forward to. My 21 year old son helps pay for it and it's a real treat on what PR people love to call hump day. One thing I have learned in this pandemic is you have to build in treats to get you through the endless days, weeks and months and if a weekly takeaway boosts morale it's worth the calories and money.
What's your go-to treat?