Yesterday was a bad day from start to finish. Terrible in fact.
Lockdown life is wearing thin, everyone is climbing the walls and it was just generally terrible.
It started small. A little bit of dissent amongst the ranks.
A bad attitude from one.
Spreading to the rest of us.
Until all five of us were utterly miserable, lethargic, moping.
It was 9:08am and already it felt like it should be bedtime.
Everyone is bored, but not motivated enough to do anything. The cries of THAT’S BORING ring through my house.
Suggestions to bake, bike ride, make diaries, colour, spy messages, play LEGO, Playmobil, read a book.
They’re all met with the same lethargy.
But I probably can’t blame them too much as I don’t think I’m putting them across with as much enthusiasm as I should.
It’s a real low day.
One where we question our parenting, worry about the children, about our mental health, yet still seem to be stuck in the same slump.
The bottom of the coronacoaster.
And the problem is we all seemed to pull each other further into it.
Yesterday no one was positive enough to pull the others up.
Sure, there were silver linings where the middle one baked banana bread, the baby had a whale of a time on the slip and slide, and the eldest had a fantastic karate lesson.
But the overall mood from start to finish?
Misery.
And I know that even from waking up today will be better, that we’ve reframed our mindset and in doing so have helped reset the kids.
But it’s hard.
And we’re all slipping into lockdown blues.
Feeling caged in. Trapped.
It’s not helping that the heat is slowly ramping up to levels where we can’t go outside.
Or that we have to wear masks on the street that make your face sweat, itch and aren’t conducive to exercising.
But these things we keep doing, to keep safe, to keep others safe.
All the while hoping that others are doing the same, that the high levels of coronavirus will drop off.
And we can emerge from lockdown.
Until then we will just keep riding the rollercoaster and know that good days will follow bad days.
And at least we’re all together, all healthy.
While some days we might be Instagram worthy, with treasure hunts and shiny fun lists, with others where we feel like we might just be going insane. Pacing the walls. Fighting. Screaming. Children wrestling.
We’re just riding the ride. Same as everyone else.
You are not alone in having bad days, in feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, annoyed, angry, even though it often may feel that way on social media.
Just remember, the rollercoaster has to go up again at some point.
