The differences between now and then

Being a mum, and a writer, during this pandemic has been quite a different experience to normal. Well, I say that, but really it's not much different for me, apart from the fact that all my boys are home of course. The biggest difference has been that I have my youngest in my office while I'm working, which makes the writing a lot more difficult. But I think we're all in this new environment aren't we?

Then

Before the virus spread and caused this pandemic life was pretty scheduled for me. On weekdays the Hubby would leave for work at about 7:30am and shortly afterwards the boys would leave for school. By 8am my house was quiet and I was setting about my day cleaning the kitchen and working through a list. Usually by 9am I was sitting at my desk having tidied the house. 

Sitting at my desk I would write, whether that was a post for the blog, like this one, or carrying on working on my book. I'd use my computer to do research, I'd read a lot, and I'd spend most of the day in my office.

It's a little tidier these days...

When the boys got home from school work in my office stopped and I became "mum" again. Preparing dinner, doing more cleaning if necessary (it's always necessary!) and helping with homework where I could. We'd sit and have dinner together and then chill out in the evening.

Weekends were a little different but not much. We would visit family, go to the supermarket, and sometimes go for a walk or a trip out. Usually if we got the chance we stayed home - life was busy and we liked spending time at home.

Now

Like I said, now isn't much different. We still get up fairly early, although not as early as we did when the boys had to go to school. Now I'm doing my cleaning at about 8:45am and finishing by about 9:30am. I still spend the days in my office, but now my youngest is with me. He does his school work in my room so I can keep an eye on him while the Hubby works in the lounge downstairs. My eldest has his own room where his computer is kept and he can usually be trusted to get on with the work the school has set for him. 

At lunch time we all take a break. We leave our rooms/offices and get away from "work" for a while. Sometimes we'll go for a little walk around the area we live but most of the time we'll watch something on TV.

Afternoons we get back to the work, my youngest continuing his school work and me trying to work on the book. Again it's not as easy when I've got the youngest chatting away every few minutes, but I try to make it work. 

Evenings are pretty much the same as they were, we chill out and watch our favourite shows. Sometimes we'll decide to go for a walk (if we didn't do one at lunch time) but weekdays are usually filled with work stuff. 

Wollaton Park is a lovely place to walk, when you can.

Weekends are where we've seen the biggest change for us. We've done our best to stay away from the supermarkets so we go there a lot less (where possible) than we did before. We're not visiting family - which sucks but is a necessity now. And what walks we do do are not as interesting as they were. We would often visit Wollaton Park and walk around the lake, or find some other interesting place to walk nearby. Now our walks are confined to the area we live. We are lucky that we live right by a canal so there are plenty of walking areas - the only down side is it's a lot busier than it used to be!

How have I changed?

Not much really. I always did work at home so things don't feel that much different. The only thing I'd say I've noticed is going to the supermarket less. Oh, and the writing is harder. Being creative while you've got a 10 year old talking constantly right next to you is not easy. I tend to get most done when he's reading and that only lasts about 20 minutes. But it is what it is and I'll deal with whatever I have to to make sure my family is safe.

How are you dealing with the changes between now and then?