Working towards our normal

With our children completing their first full week back at school, I am actually looking forward to the weekend! It's felt like such a long time since weekdays and weekends seemed to merge into one, with the exception of not having to teach lessons on the latter. We have all missed our own versions of normality. Our children following us around the house requesting repeat snacks, break time, computer time, play time and every meal time, (even though they know exactly when it is time for breakfast, lunch and dinner) just shows us the importance of school routines and how much they were missed by our kids. 

 

With the return to school being so welcomed by teachers, children and parents. We've finally had time to reflect on our own routines and what it was we missed about them. 

 

It goes without saying our isolation from loved ones has been our hardest battle to overcome and still is, but seeing a timetable of when lockdown restrictions are set to ease, helps keeps our minds focused and the end in sight. For our children though, that connection with their friends has been so sorely missed, going back to school could not have come at a better time.  

For us it has meant happier children, who are mentally nourished, socially cherished and finally full! 

For our business it has meant a quieter working environment, with less juggling and so much more time to do everything. 

 

So what have we really missed about our routines, certainly not the school run mental madness and forgetting everything you thought you had ready the day before. But saying hello to familiar faces, getting up and out with a purpose, rushing to work so you can get a quiet coffee before you start your day, focusing on you 'the adult' for a few hours before you turn back into you 'the parent'. All the little nuances as our routines and lives start to ebb towards our known normalities, may now be fully appreciated and perhaps we may even have had the opportunity to make some changes for the better, having had this time to reflect on what have had, lost, given up or taken on. 

 

I think its safe to say we have all gained perspective and as the sun keeps making attempts to show us what spring has to offer, I certainly hope everyone can start to feel more positive than we did in the winter.