February – another new start?

That was a bit of a flop! I don’t know about you but January felt like I was running multiple marathons and spinning plates while someone was shooting at my feet for fun. I’m not going to lie, it was HARD.

I set off into January with such good intentions, buoyed by the knowledge that my husband wasn’t going back to work until around mid month. My daughter was due back at school, so hubs had planned lots of board games for us to play (one of our many hobbies), and I was confident that I could ease into a new routine.

Weeeellll, we managed one day. One friggin day and then, Bam! Whole country in lockdown and homeschooling until March. The facepalm emoji has never been more apt.

Anyway, I tried to soldier on and gave it my all to complete my daily tasks, and I was doing pretty well, until Dave had to start working and everything seemed to rest on my shoulders again. You can quite clearly see where tasks are starting to be missed, or even completely shelved.

In some ways I know we are lucky. We have stayed safe all through the pandemic, my husband’s job is relatively safe and he can do most of it from home, and, as I don’t have a “job” I can help with homeschooling. But, by last week, I was at breaking point and ended up taking myself off to bed to hide under the duvet.

We started the process to test Amberley for autism way back in April 2018 and, as of yet, we are still on the waiting list to be diagnosed. School are brilliant with her and, even though there is nothing official, they have procedures in place to help her when she is in class. But, the constant flip-flopping of school, homeschool, school, holiday, school and then homeschool in the space of a few months is really taking its toll. Then there is the so-called independent learning that is in no way independent and has to be explained and walked through multiple times in order for the information to have any hope of sinking in. What should be just a couple of hours of work takes us anywhere up to five or six hours and nothing else, including my own writing etc, could get a look in.

It’s not been all doom and gloom though. We did have a great couple of snow days and made use of our home-made sledge, a washing basket pulled along with a skipping rope. It really came in handy when we went up to the local shop as we could bring all the bags back like a little cart. We also went for a muddy walk in our local woods. And, probably the biggest and best thing, we finally got our new bed delivered! As with everything I touch -nothing seems to be straightforward- there were a few issues but they’ve mostly been resolved, and I’m getting the best sleep I’ve had in ages.

So, on with a new month and I’ve made yet more changes. To start with I contacted our school and explained the situation and they have begun sending a slightly easier version of the work through. I would recommend that be the first port of call for anyone who is struggling. We have to remember that the situation is strange for the teachers and schools too. Really, they just want the best for our kids, and everything is trail and error right now.

I’ve also figured out how to use the stopwatch on my snazzy new Apple Watch (look at me being all tech savvy!), and we only work for up to three hours a day. Whatever we don’t finish just gets left at that point, there’s only so much we can do in a day without tantrums and meltdowns. We also make sure to take lots of little breaks throughout the day too.

Finally, I’ve set up another daily task spread in my bullet journal. Only, this time I’ve added all of the homeschooling tasks and laid it out differently in the hopes that I get a better understanding of how my day goes.

Despite missing a few days, I’m still attempting the 100 days of learning. I’m hoping this will become a regular habit so will likely go on beyond 100 days, but I can always add on an extra week or two if not. I’ve also set a target of writing 250 words a day. This may not seem a lot but, as I hardly did any through January, something is better than nothing. And, it all comes down to building good habits again. If I can manage a small amount every day in February, perhaps that can be increased in March.

I’m getting closer to releasing my first newsletter. I’m currently in the process of planning out the layouts and coming up with content ideas. If there is anything you would like to see, let me know in the comments. In the meantime, if you haven’t already, please pop your email in the box below so you can be with me from the beginning!

Finally, during February, I am going to re-read everything that I already have written for Book 2 in the Divine Prophecy series, Sorceress of Flame, and make notes in preparation for finishing it in March. I really want to get it out into the world soon as I know there are so many people waiting to read it, and I know you are going to love it!

Anyway, I’d best get going. It’s already 11.30pm and it’s a school night.

Take care, Jodie xxx