MUM WHO SAYS LOCKDOWN MADE FAMILY CLOSER
WHEN the Government’s selfisolation rules were extended to 14 days for entire families, mother-of-four Katy Walton from Bath, left, wondered how she’d cope. Katy and her husband have two sets of twins under the age of 11 – all boys.
Her three-year-old son Austin had had a high temperature and he had been in isolation for a week. Then, on Tuesday, her eldest son developed a suspicious cough.
‘We have only a modest fourbedroom house and it’s chaotic at the best of times,’ says Katy, a PR executive. Yet she has been pleasantly surprised at how she and husband Ross, 37, an IT manager, have dealt with the extraordinary situation.
She says: ‘I’d never usually be able to spend this much quality time with them because of drop-offs, pick-ups and deadlines.
‘It’s been oddly nurturing. ‘We can all eat and chat together, the older boys have rediscovered Monopoly, and we’ve been playing with Lego, watching movies and sharing more intimate conversations.’
Government guidelines advise against close contact, but Katy says: ‘If I was to tell them to be quarantined to their room, it wouldn’t be great for their mental health.
‘If they’ve got it, we’d all be infected anyway.’
Empty supermarket shelves don’t faze this family either.
‘We’ve been making do with a strange set of products we’d never normally use,’ Katy says.
‘But it’s introduced the kids to new, nutritious meals. I’ve tried to help the boys see it as a shared sense of adventure.’