Cooped up with the kids

From preventing all-out combat to supervising budding chefs, Nora McElhone on life at work from home.

It’s 11.20 on Monday morning and I am trying to write a column on life in lockdown with my four little angels. Fischy Music is blaring out A Special Kind of Hero and I have just realised that most of the children who were happily singing and dancing along just moments ago have sloped off without my knowledge. Now Fischy Music is lovely, but wouldn’t be my first choice for my working day (Radio 2, in case you were wondering). My husband, having tried to log into his work PC, conveniently encountered technical issues and had to go into the office to sort them (there is no one else there) leaving me to do my day job and oversee Home Study for one P7, one P5, one P2 and a pre-schooler. What could possibly go wrong?

Luckily, before making his escape, he planted the seed of a “walk to school” resulting in a few laps of the house. Next up, it’s a Joe Wicks workout via YouTube. All four children actually try to join in but the contrast between The Body Coach’s pristine living room and our own sitting room is fairly hilarious.

Joe, broken arm and all, bounces round a space entirely devoid of furniture, while we attempt spiderman lunges and the plank in a jumble of limbs with more than a few badly aimed fists and feet. I resort to awarding points for progress to maintain motivation and discourage total combat.

Week one of Home Study while working from home had its highs and lows; the teachers have done an amazing job of getting packs and online learning set up, but it’s not easy for any of us, and by Friday we all wanted to hide under my duvet (especially me!). My P7 boy and pre-school girl have effectively had their last terms of primary school and nursery cut short, with none of the important transitions to high school or primary, and son number one is acutely aware he will miss his end of school celebrations and traditions, such as ringing the school bell on the last day of primary.

Going to pick my little girl up on her final day of nursery was nothing short of heartbreaking. On a surreally sunny afternoon, she and her friends were playing in the garden, blissfully unaware of the looming changes to their lives. She has spent a large part of this morning writing cards to her friends because she misses them so much. I was very brave and didn’t cry when she told me that!

The two youngest have been the toughest to entertain and keep focused, especially my littlest one, who just wants to play with us. She’s great at sitting drawing, writing and doing crafts but understandably likes to have someone engaging with her. Number two son would sit at the PC and play games all day long if I let him. All the kids desperately miss their friends and we have gone from the parents who try to avoid electronics at all costs to finally relenting and buying our eldest a mobile phone. It is going to be vital in maintaining his friendships – if his inability to tear himself away from it doesn’t drive us demented.

Small victories have included storytime with granny and music with gran via video call, our very own stayat-home pizza restaurant and lots of cooking and baking. We have discovered number one son makes a mean banoffee pie – although his forward planning could improve. He discovered way too late that the final stage required a blowtorch (not easy to come by during lockdown). At times we have all felt overwhelmed by the enormity of the situation and pretty (very) shorttempered, but there have been hilarious moments and many hugs and small victories to keep our spirits up. Many video games have been played but the children have also had lots of outdoor play and enjoyed connecting with their family and friends in new ways. I have also: Cut the hair of two sweetly trusting daughters (results surprisingly good), encouraged the kids to set up a tuck shop and eaten way too much cake. Things could be a whole lot worse.