Covid 19 has brought along many challenges for us all and many changes that we are all having to get adjusted to. One of these for me is homeworking and balancing family life.
Waking up to your alarm going off and knowing that you only have to take a few steps to your makeshift office is an unusual feeling but also seems to feel more exhausting than travelling to work. You can’t explain why you’re more tired, maybe it’s the lack of fresh air before you start your day or it could be your brain thinking why am I out of bed if I’m not going to work. When I figure it out I will tell everyone the secret, but hey on the cold days I get to stay in bed.

Pouring your usual coffee in the morning and realising how quiet it is without colleagues chatting away asking how you are or trying to encourage you to have a morning drink are things that you start to miss. It’s amazing what you start to miss when you’re not at work, I’m starting to miss the complaints that technology isn’t working.

Starting the day with checking the emails the quietness of the room settles in, I don’t like the quiet I can’t seem to concentrate. Turning on the tv I let 999 rescue squad run in the background, but it won’t be long till my son takes over and I’m humming along to Disney or even his new obsession cats which I’m starting to regret introducing him to. He enjoys me being home and often wants to help me do my work by closing the laptop on my fingers, and he is learning that I sit there staring at something else instead of him and as punishment he shows me how he has learned to stand up alone but as soon as I look up and take a picture he sits back down.

The entire day seems to blend into one with working, looking after my son and home duties taking place at the same time as I can’t move away from one to the other. I can’t just leave the house duties to go to work or have a moment without my son as he is stuck inside like I am. But on the plus side my dinning room has now been painted, something I usually wouldn’t make time for.

So to make it a little easier for us both we have our treat tub full of snacks and treats and I put his rocking horse up that he spends hours pushing around the room (he’s not figured out how to climb on yet but he is a master of getting off it) and his smile makes it easier. And when I finish work for the day we get out our blankets and attempt to watch a film without one of us needing a nap, or we have a lovely video chat with Nanna who we both miss seeing in person. We attempted to do some baking but that ended up with him stealing all the cakes and stashing them in secret places for later, resulting in a very fun game of treasure hunt for his parents.

In these times I’m grateful that I have a little boy on hand to make me smile and keep me on my toes. Today he smashed a small plate by accident and he tried to put it back together whilst looking to me for help, the look reminded me that whilst I may be stuck inside this house I am still needed. And that I can make more of this troubling time by spending it with him and watching him grow.

By Elisha