Return to normal?

So it’s been a while but things are starting to look a bit more like normal again. It’s a big week for the Findlay’s this week. I’m went back to work after 13 months of Maternity Leave and the boys are back to school after 5 1/2 months, 165 days off thanks to Covid 19. 
Let’s talk about work first. I am not going to lie I was not happy about going back. I’m sure like many mums I feel a bit robbed of my maternity leave. Don’t get me wrong I was glad I could be home with my boys and not have to worry about working from home but it was not the mat leave I had planned. So although I’d had 13 months off only 7 had been focused on Munro. Then we were thrown into homeschooling and lockdown life. Anyway to cut a long story short I didn’t want to go yesterday at all. 

However, it was totally fine. In fact I quite enjoyed it! It is a completely different place now thanks to lovely covid 19 but everyone, unsurprisingly was super supportive and lovely. I didn’t enjoy the 956 emails but i did enjoy being there. I think it helped that Munro was amazing at the childminder. We have used our childminder for a couple of years now and we all love her and thankfully now so does Munro! She sent me a wee update and a couple of photos and it put my mind at rest and I could then just enjoy being back. It also helps that in general I love my job, I’m a librarian by the way. 

So yesterday was good, I had a positive day and ended it feeling happy. Now let’s talk about today. Today my 2 big boys went back to school. Angus started Y3 and Brodie Y1. In the last couple of weeks we’ve spoken about going back to school and Angus has made a face but actually he’s been fine about it but Brodie has been quite serious about not wanting to go back. I was a bit worried about today, I shouldn’t have been though. He woke up and was so excited about going back! It was lovely and although going into school is all different now they went went in happy and confident! I was a proud and happy mummy. 

I got home though and I thought I’d love the peace and quiet. I thought I’d love having the day with Munro but I’ve felt really flat all day, I miss my boys. Honestly, this parenting thing is hard! Munro and I have bimbled about all day kinda just waiting to pick up the boys. It will get easier and seeing how happy they are back at school will help, I just wasn’t prepared to feel like this, naive maybe. 

So that’s us, back to normal, we’ll as normal as things can be at the minute. 

P.s. I also gave back the school guinea pig, Pip today. We’ve had him since school closed in March save for a couple of weeks over Easter and then when we were away last month. But even that made me emotional, I’ve grown attached to that bloody guinea pig! 

YouTube

I love YouTube, I follow lots of different channels and watch it whenever I get a chance. Since the boys have been off school though my love for it has grown even more! Lots of people are doing some fab videos for children while they are off school. There’s drawing, storytelling, music, pe, sign language, science, maths, dance, English, history basically you name it, it’s there. I thought I would share our 3 favourites with you.

First up, science. Everyday at 11am Maddie Moate and Greg Foot do a science video. Last week the theme was gardens and this week it’s been the body. It’s a great show there is a quiz, lots of cool facts, demonstrations and usually a make for you to do after. They also include lots of resources for you to print out and use after. Honestly cannot rate this show enough! We have dissected a daffodil, looked for mini beasts, planted tomatoes and potatoes and made bird feeders inspired by the show!

Next we have, sign language. Again everyday at 1pm Natasha Lamb and her sister Kelly-Anne (Kelly-Anne is deaf) do a sign language lesson. So far we have learnt our numbers to 100, greetings, the alphabet, colours, feelings, foods, animals, hobbies and family members. Angus and I especially enjoy it but even Brodie gets excited when Stuart comes home from work and he can show him what he’s learnt. It’s really good and it’s been fun for the boys to learn a new skill.

The last one I’m going to share with you is storytelling. Everyday at 2:30pm Adam Bushnell does a storytelling session on his YouTube channel. He’s a brilliant storyteller and he’s so good at getting the children to think about their own stories and inspiring them to draw and write! Adam goes to schools and libraries regularly and is very good at engaging his audience. 

These are our favourites but like I said there are loads of other people and channels on YouTube if these ones don’t float your boat, I’ll leave a list and links below.

Let’s go live 

YouTube.com/maddiemoate

Learn beginners British Sign Language 

YouTube.com/natashalamb

Storytelling 

YouTube.com/adambushnell 

P.e

YouTube.com/thebodycoach 

Drawing

YouTube.com/lizmillion/obrien 

Music

YouTube.com/myleensmusicklass

Maths

Themathsfactor.com

Dance

YouTube.com/otimabuseofficial

History

Tv.historyhit.com

English

Worldofdavidwalliams.com

Food tech

Channel4.com/keepcookingandcarryon

Exercise - wild workouts with Andy 

YouTube.com/CBeebies 

Yoga

YouTube.com/cosmickids 

One week down...

Firstly this was meant to be up a couple of days ago so apologies for that but here we are, better late than never. 

I thought it would be good to share some of the things I’ve realised/learnt since we’ve been in lockdown. Some of these have come as a surprise and some not so much! 

1. Structure is our friend

This has not been a big surprise, I like structure and so it’s quite natural for my boys to expect structure and routine. On a normal day they would ask what we have planned and when things are happening so it made sense to have some structure and routine to our mon-fri and so far it has worked well.

2. Snacks are not as big a deal as I thought they’d be

Now this has come as a surprise. Usually during the holidays the boys eat me out of house and home, I would be forever filling up the snack cupboard but certainly last week, this didn’t seem to be the case. They didn’t even want their normal snack plate in the afternoon. I expect this might change.

3. I don’t have any free time

Like none, if I’m not doing activities/homeschooling with the big boys, I’m doing something with the baby, playing, feeding, getting him down for a nap, and when I’m not doing that I’m trying to keep the house clean/tidy and cook dinner. This has meant there is almost no free time for me, I don’t know why (perhaps stupidity) but I wasn’t expecting that.

4. I’m more patient than I thought

Again this one was a surprise. I’m not a patient person but last week I only really found myself getting impatient once or twice. Again I expect that to change.

5. The boys need more exercise

Playing in the garden, a walk with the buggy and a bit of pe with Joe Wicks is not enough for my two. Again I’m not totally surprised by this. Im going to start getting Stu to take them out for a quick run before dinner I think.

6. Working out before the boys get up has been the best

As I mentioned above I have very little time for me, so as much as I hate getting up at 6 to workout it actually makes a huge difference to my day in a positive way. I like that little half hour that is all mine and I feel happier and calmer once I’ve worked out! (This might be helping with the patience)

7. Munro misses his old routine 

He’s not alone but I was surprised by this, I thought he’d be content enough having his brothers around but he misses our baby groups and time just me and him. 

8. 3 children is a lot

Haha, no surprises there really eh? However, until we’ve been trapped in the house together going from 2 to 3 didn’t seem that bad. Things have changed.

9. I have lost some power               

What can I threaten/bribe them with now? We go nowhere and do nothing really. If I take the iPad away I might as well shoot myself! 

10. Mum guilt is alive and well

This one is not a surprise, that mum guilt is never far away is it? Are we doing enough, are we doing too much? Blah blah blah... I’m pretty sure we are all doing great in these very unusual and uncertain times and we need to cut ourselves some slack.

So that’s it, as first weeks go it’s not been to bad, I really hope we haven’t peaked but I’m also sure there will be many highs and lows before this is all over.

Stay home, stay safe x

Mother’s Day

Today is mothers day in the uk and for most of us it has been a slightly different one. 

Although we are not in official lockdown, all the bars, restaurants and cafes are closed. We are also being asked to stay home unless necessary and not to get together with friends or family. As we live 300 miles from our family this has made little difference to us today but I know a lot of people have struggled today not seeing loved ones. This has meant though that people have been getting creative and doing drive bys (the nice kind) and using social media to wish their mums a Happy Mother’s Day! Like I said our family aren’t close so our day only changed a little.

So how did my Mother’s Day look? I had a nice lie in, received some lovely cards, wore a new dress, got to read my book in peace, went for a walk, spoke to my mum and my mother in law and had a lovely roast dinner and a couple of gins. We didn’t go anywhere or doing anything ‘special’ but it was special just being all together. All in all a pretty nice day.

I’m now in the bath and apart from thinking how lucky I am to have 3 gorgeous wee boys that call me mum, I’m thinking about tomorrow. Homeschooling but not really homeschooling, filling in the day without us killing each other would be more accurate.

There are a tonne, in fact so many that it’s a bit overwhelming, of resources on line and groups on Facebook with ideas and thoughts on what you can do. For us I’m going to keep in quite structured. We like routine and I feel like it might give us a little sense of normality. That’s not to say we aren’t going to have fun, I plan on lots of baking, stories, gardening, Lego, tv and cuddles. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little apprehensive about a) how long it will last and b) can I actually do this. A day or two, even a week is one thing but weeks and weeks is quiet another. I’m fortunate though as I’m on mat leave I don’t need to worry about work and how I would fit that in around having the children here, which I know is a concern for lots of parents.

We’ll get through it though and it might not be perfect and it might not be what we wanted or expected but we’ll get through it. I’m going to try and focus and just keeping it fun no matter what. The boys will miss their friends and their clubs and the normal things they do and I don’t want them to look back on this and only remember the negatives. In one way it’s a gift, a gift of time with our children and in this day and age how many times can we say we are given that?

Happy Mother’s Day and good luck for the next week xx

End of Term?

So that’s it, it’s Friday evening I’m sitting with a glass of wine and apparently it’s the end of term perhaps even the end of the school year. It hard to take in.

How do I feel? Well a bit sad if I’m honest. Not sad for me but sad for my boys. Angus will miss his friends so much and I am heartbroken that this might be the end of Brodie’s Reception year. Which to quote Angus is the best year of your life!

I’m worried too, worried that this will last longer than my patience. I’m worried about my mum and for all my friends and family who fall into the vulnerable category. I’m worried we will struggle to adapt to this new way of life and the restrictions, however necessary, that are put upon us. I’m worried about getting food and although so far we have been lucky and I have managed to get what we need I worry about these panic buyers. The day I couldn’t find baby milk was not a good day, thankfully we didn’t need any that day but we were running low and now I live in fear that we will run out and I won’t be able to get any. The list goes on, you get the gist and I’m sure you are the same. 

However, I am a naturally positive person and believe it will all be fine and hope that they will get back to school sooner rather than later. What also helps is that I think this is the best decision and feel better that they will be home and safe with me. Worse things happen, we are not at war, I am not losing my husband or my sons, and other than the threat of the virus that we will probably recover from, we are in no danger.

So what next? Lots and lots of lovey family time and I guess some homeschooling, plus a plan to try and entertain the boys for what could be a very long time! 

Stay indoors, wash your hands and keep smiling. 

Easter 2019

I can’t believe it’s been a week already since Easter! We had a lovely time, keep reading and find out what we got up to.

I love traditions and try to have some for all big occasions! Our first Easter tradition is to watch Hop (2011) on Easter Saturday. Not that Angus and Brodie need any encouragement to get excited about the Easter Bunny coming but it gets us in the mood!

 The boys each have an Easter basket that we fill for them. Stu and I usually get the boys one semi big gift and them some little things which is from us. The Easter Bunny leaves an Easter egg for the boys and then he leaves some little eggs all around the house for the boys to find in the morning. This year was no different and the boys had great fun searching for all the little eggs!

Stuart’s parents were also here this year so there were some extra presents from them and some other family members! The boys very very spoilt and very lucky!

Our other tradition at Easter is to hard boil eggs and then decorate them. We then take the decorated eggs to a hill and roll them! Stu and I have done this for years and I always did this as a child so it’s really nice to continue with our children.

After we rolled our eggs we spent some time in the park playing and enjoying an icecream!


We went home for some bacon rolls before we went along to the Easter get together in our estate. We are so lucky where we live, it’s such a lovely friendly estate and so family focused. Every Christmas, Halloween and Easter they have a get together for the children. For Easter this includes a sweetie hunt, egg and spoon races, face painting, egg decorating competition, colouring, a raffle and food, including cakes, hot cross buns, teas and coffees. The children really love it and it’s lovely to see our neighbors and catch up with friends.

Normally on Easter Sunday I would cook a big roast dinner and we would spend the rest of the evening eating chocolate but as Stu’s mum was here she offered to babysit for us so we had a quick pasta tea and then Stu and I headed out to the cinema. It was a perfect end to a really lovely Easter!

Angus loses his first tooth!

We thought this day would never come but today Angus finally lost his first tooth! In fairness Angus was quite late in getting them in the first place, he was about 9-10 months when he got his first one. But bless him he has waited very patiently while most of his friends and classmates have lost at least one if not a couple!

During February half term Angus complained of a painful tooth and it turned out he finally had a wobbly tooth. We’ve had lots of wobbling and lots of “can we get some string and pull it out!” Today however, was the day! On the way home from swimming Angus declared that his tooth had come out. He was so funny checking himself out in the mirror and looking at his new smile. We were also very surprised to see that the new tooth is already poking through!

He’s off to bed tonight very excited about the tooth fairy visiting. Meanwhile I am pleased for him but trying not to be sad as my baby passes another milestone and grows up a little more!

                            One happy boy!