Someone sent me a lovely message saying ‘Have a good weekend’ and I thought ...weekend??
Is it the weekend??
in fact it is Mothering Sunday today and many of us won’t be able to hug or see our children, or our mums, but I’m sending a bunch of primrose everyone’s way because I refuse to leave anyone out. We all ‘mother’ in one way or another, especially at the moment.
But isn’t it strange that I barely know what day it is and am wondering if you are finding the same. Suddenly all the weekly markers have disappeared beyond the bin men on a Wednesday, and it was at this moment that we realised we needed a bit more of a routine...because suddenly time doesn’t matter really and it’s easy to slip into an existence.
I’m sure you will all have lots of tips and advice about what is working for you, so please do share in comments. There are no rights or wrongs but it might help others to know.
I think there has been so much news to absorb and so much certainty removed from our daily lives on a worldwide basis, that it has the potential to create a state of shock from which we need to quickly contain anxieties if we can, regroup and reorganise. Perhaps control the things we can and acknowledge and somehow let go of the things we can’t.
We are making sure we get out for a good, long,slow walk each day and are finding ways to extend it beyond the usual basically because we are not rushing back in order to be somewhere else. We don’t see another soul but I am very aware that some of you may be more confined to barracks by circumstances than we are, so please do share any tips about how you are dealing with that if you want to.
And then there’s the news....
From being a Fear of Missing Out person embracing everything on every channel and in every newspaper, I have become a much more discerning reader of the news so we have now created a cut off point for ourselves if possible of no news after the 6pm bulletin. We are trying to watch a good engrossing box set or recent series (The Split at the moment) each evening, or Bookhound and I migrate to our working corners and read etc. Again what is working for you...please do share, especially suggestions of good TV series to watch. We do have Netflix which would be great if our broadband was full speed but currently it is snail’s pace.
I’ll be honest, reading hasn’t been easy, concentrating seems quite difficult at the moment but I feel sure this will settle down. Right now keeping in touch with family and friends in ways various is proving essential...it will all balance out soon I’m sure.
This brings me onto sleep.
If you are still managing your nightly average that is brilliant, if you are not it can be really hard. Waking in the night with that darkest hour just before dawn, fretting about family and friends, or ourselves, or have we got enough dog food, or OMG I’ve forgotten to get any disinfectant ( I really had). Sleep experts out there will know much more than me but isn’t it about thirty minutes or so before your circadian rhythms come around again and you feel sleepy. Kindle reading or drifting off to an audio book helps, even putting out a post among my circle of Facebook friends to see if anyone else is awake has worked this week. And it is an amazing comfort to know you are not the only one.
And maybe you have more tips for sleep or night-waking so please do share them. We have become advocates of the Anytime Nap. If Bookhound or I feel overwhelmingly sleepy at any moment during the day, we don’t fight it, we slink off for a quick power snooze and wake up refreshed and recovered. This might not be for everyone but we are working to different rules for different times.
Meanwhile I hope you are all managing to cope with this new normal and please don’t be afraid to say if you feel you are not. It’s entirely understandable and I’m sure there will be lots of help and support and suggestions here that may help. Those that feel able please do respond to others in comments if you want to and I’ll be in there as usual.
And here’s a thing....
I’m rightly proud of my NHS career and will admit that I am really feeling the pinch now, because every instinct tells my generation to get out there and man the pumps in times of crisis, and yet the best help we can be is to stay out of the way and not become a liability. There are other ways to help and the next generation have taken over. I’ll bet quite a few of you have family or friends on the front line ( and not just in the NHS) and are feeling immense pride mingled with fears for them. The daughter of one of our ‘godmothers’ decided to change career a few years ago and do her nurse training, she qualified last year and chose to head into a career in intensive care, (good idea I said at the time, they’ll want you anywhere in the world) and here she is at the pointy end at Derriford in Plymouth.
Rosie is the pint-sized one holding the words ‘stay home’
She sent me a message, ‘You have put enough time in, stay home, stay safe
Bless all of them and here’s a lovely rainbow, guarding the sleeping barn owls, just because...
All shall be well and all manner of things shall be well and fingers crossed for the return of the swallows soon and owlets to come.
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