But I Smile Anyway…

Week two of this school home learning, and official lockdown three done… How was yours?

Right, got your drink?

• If we were having chai I’d begin with telling you about school, as always. It was a bit surreal, having just one child in for three days. He is a vulnerable child, and the extra attention was definitely good for him, but it means, for safeguarding sake, we need two adults at all times, for safeguarding and child protection reasons. We did think about having him incorporated into another yeargroup bubble, but it wouldn’t be fair, as each group are accessing the relevant learning to their age, so he would have been thrown in at the deep end, really. But we coped. So did he! Planning was done, many phone calls made to parents to make sure they were okay, and the odd device (government ones) handed out to families in dire need. We’ve had some online training too, and I know there is more of that to come. The great thing was that I managed to actually get everything done, that I needed to, so I could work from home on Friday, which was great. I woke a teensy bit later, but was no less busy, being logged in to interact with, and mark the children’s work, as well as being in touch with my team, and setting rotas for the following week.
• If we were having chai I’d tell you that we had to make a decision to try and lessen any contact with the in-laws, including the food delivery mum likes to provide. The numbers of the virus cases here in our area are amongst the highest in the country. Even though it really helps me, to have a little food made, so I can quickly rustle up dinner, a couple of nights a week, the risks are too high, and considering all four of them are classed as vulnerable, we can’t take chances. But Mum wasn’t too happy. It is hard to try and explain why we are making certain decisions… But we know it’s for the best.
• If we were having chai I’d add that our house situation is also something that they aren’t happy about. If we can’t see them, why are we still looking at houses? Tough to explain to them, but we need to carry on with our search or another part of our life is put on hold. We had another viewer of our property, and went to see two prospective homes as well… all done in Covid secure situations. I do hope I have positive news to share with you soon…
• If we were having chai I’d tell you that I finally finished my Bridgerton series reading binge, too! All eight books, read, as well as a second epilogue volume, too! Fun and games! I shall miss Regency romance, as I dive into the next lot of books I have to read!
• If we were having chai I’d tell you that I am still journaling every day, too, and it is my little respite from the world.

• If we were having chai I’d have a really sad face as I share the next bit of news from our world. A few days ago, when I went to have a catch up with my birds ( we have two parrotlets, Heer and Ranjha – miniaature parrots) I found one of them, the boy, Ranjha, dead, on the floor of the aviary cage, and poor Heer, the girl, just standing by him. He was only four. And we have no idea why he died. It was a sad time… And amazing how Sonu Singh was affected too. He keeps going and sitting at the cage, almost as if he knows Heer is alone now, and needs company. She was very quiet the first couple of days, after her mate was taken away, but is back to her feisty self again, now. I got her a little mirror so she thinks she has company, as well. RIP our beautiful Ranjha…

This week, I’ll need to ring the doctor first, to apologise for totally missing an appointment that I had booked, last week, and trying to rearrange it! Then, there is school, but maybe more working from home this week, as I am not on Key Worker children duty. And house stuff… it’s all a bit same same, isn’t it?

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Well, what a week, that has been! I sit here, on Sunday night, writing this, and feel exhausted just thinking back… and when considering the future, too…

Right, got your drink?

• If we were having chai I’d begin by telling you how the first week of remote learning at school went. As most of you know, especially if you read my Spidey post yesterday, and the the other one on Thursday, it’s ben a tough week. You wouldn’t think that having no children in the classroom could be more exhausting that having a whole class full, would you? Well, let me tell you, it is. Aside from my management responsibilities, I was on the computer all day, either responding to and commenting on learning, researching other ways to engage our pupils remotely, planning for next week, with my team, or answering emails from parents and SLT, (Senior Leadership Team). On top of that, we were phoning each family, to make sure they were okay, and giving them support and advice on how to help their children. And making rotas, and trying to be prepared for situations of any eventuality. I was shattered. And I still am, to be honest. IT is very hard to switch off, too. I have, even though I said I wouldn’t, been on our online learning platform, to see if there is anything I need to mark, or handle, urgently. But it will make tomorrow a little easier. that’s what I tell myself, anyway!
• If we were having chai I’d tell you that one way I have helped myself to relax is, is to continue my #journalingjanuary challenge, and I have really enjoyed it!

• If we were having chai I’d say that my reading goal for this month was to read all the Bridgerton series, after bingeing the series on Netflix on Boxing day, and out of eight books, I am now on number seven! All in January. #Bridgertonuary I may just finish them before January is up. Don’t fear, though, I have plenty of other books to read!

• If we were having chai I’d tell you that life outside of school continues, and we had someone come aand view our house on Saturday. Apparently there may be another viewing, too. And we went to see another prospective forever home, but, alas, it wasn’t the one to make our hearts tingle. Onwards and upwards. It’ll come forward, soon enough…
• If we were having chai I’d have to give you some HUGE, wonderful news, though. Lil Man, after three years of trying has been selected for the North West Kent Cricket Squad! He is over the moon, as are we, but, obviously, until the lockdown ends, there can’t be any face to face training, so they will be having thrice weekly Zoom meetings, and a once a week squad training session, online too, focusing on fitness, so they are all in a good place, once things get back to some normality. Happy mummy, here!
• If we were having chai I’d leave you with a photo of my gorgeous Sonu Singh, who tried very hard to get my attention, and to stop me from reading… but it didn’t last long!

This week, I’ll be trying to juggle all of the above at school, along with a couple of my pupils in, as well, under the Key Worker or Vulnerable status. It will be interesting to see how things pan out. Obviously, I have to still plan, and respond to everything online, as well as be there for the children in front of me. Let’s see how this works. And we have another house to go and view, as well as getting feedback on the viewing of our property. Honestly, I can’t think much further than all that!

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The first Monday of 2021! Is it just me, or did that weird year, 2020, actually fly by?

Wonder what the joys of 2021 will bring?

Right, got your drink?

• If we were having chai I’d tell you that I wasa quite excited to get my desk a couple of days early! Yes, I had one before during the original lockdown, but when we did our house refurbishment, my desk ended up being repurposed as a TV stand! So, with the chance that we may need to work from home more this term, and the fact that I really want to get writing, again, I decided to sort another desk out. It’s still white, but it’s a little highter, and bigger, so I can really spread out. Ideal, as I want to be able to get back into my lettering and journaling, too, and the space is perfect!

• If we were having chai I’d have to tell you that I signed up to a #journalingjanuary challenge. They email a prompt a day, and I get a chance to sit and relax while I create! How do you think I’m doing?

• If we were having chai I’d tell you that we visited another three houses, too. It is tough trying to find a place that everyone agrees on! Pretty much everywhere there is three out of the four of us who likes, and one who says a flat No! So, the search continues…
• If we were having chai I’d say how we had to give in and take the tree down just after Boxing Day, because of this little munchkin. He has a tendency to go aand chew the branches, then spends a while regurgitiating all the fibres he chews… nutcase. I’ve had enough of waking up, and having to clean the carpet or floor!

• If we were having chai I’d excitedly tell you that I took part in a Tweet competition for the RNA (The Romantic Novelists Association) entitled #RNAFestiveTweet, where we had to write a mini festive story… and I came third! I won an Amazin voucher, which will always come in handy!

• If we were having chai I’d have to tell you that I have not slept well the last few nights. Three reasons. 1. I am struggling to get back to my school routine. 2. The government have done their usual of playing havoc with the Education Sector, at the nth hour, and many, but not all, schools are transferring to online for the next two weeks. That means Lil Man’s mocks for his GCSEs are postponed. And as we are in Kent, with a really high infection rate, our primary schools are shut, too. So we need to get all our home learning ready for the next weeks, and make sure all safety measures are in place, including some amendments. We will be having Vulnerable/Key Worker children in, as we did in the last lockdown, too. A definite reason to not sleep well… and 3. because I am not sleeping, I end up reading, and then it is 3am in the morning!
• If we were having chai I couldn’t forget to tell you that, if you have signed up to my newsletter, I managed to actually send my first one out! I’d love to know if you received it, and whether you enjoyed it, too!

This week, I’ll need you to give me some strength. This week will be all about school. Getting back into school, but getting into school online, which I have always said, is far too hard for the younger ones to cope with. School is not safe, right now, with the numbers, and the inability to socially discance sufficiently. We have seen it with the amount of staff who tested positive over the holidays. We are starting back wth at least 4 members not able to return to work yet, because of either testing positive now, or still being unwell. Hoping to hear about more house viewings, but that just isn’t my priority right now…

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So it’s Monday, again, Peeps. I’ll try to make it as happy as I can, but I tell you, it’s been a bit of a week to be honest!

Right, have you got your drink?

• If we were having chai I’d start and probably end with school. School and its implications have totally taken over my week, to be honest… We werent sure how many children would be in, last week, envisaging parents wanting keep children hom, to get them out of the germ-holes that are schools. But our classes ended up pretty full, to be honest. Well, our reception classes were, anyway. There were a fair few absences further up in the school. Everyone was operating on fumes. We are shattered. The whole of the population of school staff, from teachers and teaching assistants, to the caretakers, dinnerladies, mid day supervisors, and cleaners. And the leadership teams. What can I say? There are heads and deputy heads who have been working their arses off (excuse my french) since March, trying to decipher the coded rules that the Government and DfE have been setting for educational establishments, jumping at last minute changes to guidance, writing and rewriting policies, losing weekends and well earned time off to try and ensure as safe a return to education as possible, without much support from the powers that be. Everyone deserves that two week break…
• If we were having chai I’d then huff and say “Break? What break?” Heads had been told they couldn’t transfer learning in the last week to online, so everyone had a fair shot at isolating before Christmas, where they may have had a chance to mix with family they hadn’t seen for months. And they were also informed that they would be on duty until around the 23rd, at least, as school track and trace systems, dealing with the fallout from any positive tests that may get reported, because even if it’s the holiday, a positive result, even then, could affect the Christmas of many. And that is exactly what happened, the night before we were to break up. A bubble popped, and it popped big. A staff member tested positive. Someone I had contact with in the 48 hours leading to her symptoms becoming noticeable. That was a straight ten day self isolation for me, taking me, and many others, to Boxing Day. Good bye Christmas… Then two other members of staf tested positive, too. A whole year group, and a huge wave of staff now isolating for the majority of the Christmas break. Thanks, BoZo, for not letting us work online the last week, so we could at least have had a more relaxed break…
• If we were having chai I’d sigh and tell you how it really didn’t matter in the end. The cases of this virus have been shooting up, and a new variant has been discovered, that is prevalent in the South East, where I live. Apparently it transmits faster, especially via school-age children. And officials have been aware since September. Yet still they threatened schools, academies and Local Authorities with legal action, if they tried to take school online for the last week of term. But the icing on the cake came on Saturday afternoon, when BoZo decided to, at the very last minute, cancel the promise of Christmas with your loved ones, a five day period where rules were to be relaxed, and families could be together, and introduce a new tier, the highest of the high, basically lockdown mode, where no one can mix outside of their households until 30th December, and the rest of the country, can only mix on Christmas Day. Queue crazy last minute panic buying from all corners, as non essential shops were to close as of Saturday night. I had a colleague in tears, as she tried to cope with the rush of the local shopping centre, trying to buy gifts for her family. Things she would have done over the few days before Christmas, but didn’t have the time to do, because of school. I’m sitting here, shaking my head…
• If we were having chai I’d have to share with you the incredibly generous gifts from parents and colleagues at the premature end of term. This year, I wasn’t expecting anything. We had to quarantine anything brought into school too, but as I unwrapped yesterday, they all brought a smile to my face. From the ever practical hand sanitizers, and notebook, to the pampering bath bomb, candles and face mask: the choccies and biscuits, bottles of wine and fizz, and a wine glass with my name engraved on it, to the gigglesome We Do Lockdown book. It’ll definitely be merry here in the Bhathal household!

• If we were having chai I’d tell you that I managed to finally get my flu jab done, at least, and aside from a slightly achy arm for a day, all was well!
• If we were having chai I’d be a little relieved, though. I managed to buy most of my Christmas dinner, and freeze items, already. It was like I had this feeling things would take a turn… I also wrapped presents, ready for the big day. And I have read… The next few days, I still can’t go out anywhere. So my friend will be my Kindle, and hopefully, my MacBook Air, as I try to forget the crappiness of the last week, and bury myself in the world of words. I was lucky enough to treat myself on Thursday, just before finding out about my confinement. I bought a Pill-O-Pad. It’s like a stand for a Kindle or tablet, and I can confirm it is fantastic to use! See below, as I enjoyed a sneaky Baileys on Saturday night, while reading, with Sonu Singh watching me.

• If we were having chai I’d mention that Lil Man has had the last of his District cricket trials. I really do hope, for his sake, that he gets in to North West Kent squad, this year. He has worked so hard, and really deserves it. And he has been working so hard for his GCSEs too. He needs this boost. Meanwhile, Lil Princess is just finding frustration, upon frustration, with all these Covid related changes. We were meant to get our eyebrows done on Friday, but due to my isolation, we couldn’t go. Then she was devastated that we weren’t going to be with her grandparents for Christmas. And after we went into tier 4, she was concerned that her teeth extraction wouldn’t happen, either, cancelled a third time… but that still needs confirming. I just hope her Christmas presents put a much needed smile on her face!
• If we were having chai I’d end with a little house update. We went to see another place on Monday, which was an interesting prospect… but need to see it in the daylight, too, to be honest. Since last weekend we have had two more viewings on our house. One was a no no. Didn’t like the woman, to be honest. The other… promising, but lets see… And Hubby Dearest went to see another house, himself, yesterday, as I can’t go anywhere. Another interesting prospect, but again, it becomes evident how talented Estate Agent photographers are, at making properties and gardens look much more spacious than they are… Hopefully 2021 will be our house year!
• If we were having chai I’d gasp and say “How could I forget?!” Being as I an housebound, and it’s the week before Christmas, there was no chance of an online shopping delivery slot, so the grocery shopping was entrusted to Hubby Dearest. Let me explain a little background here. It’s not his usual duty to do the shopping. I am a bit pernickety about getting what I need and want, but equally, he doesn’t have the patience! The last time, a couple of years ago, I had a terrible migraine so he took my list and went shopping, for the week. He arrived back with two bags and a bill for around £40. Because he bought everything on the list, but nothing out of the regular items, like bread, milk, fruit, cheese, ham etc… I had to go shopping again, the next day! Thing is, I usually only add the odd items to my list, because I know we will need things like bread and milk! This time, I clearly wrote everything down, even in department sections, so it would be easier, and bless him, he got it all! (Okay, one dessert for Christmas Day was dated use by 24th December, but hey, I can deal with that!) So at least we won’t be starving, this week, at least!

This week, I’ll be stuck inside, reading away, and stopping the kids from causing havoc. Christmas will come, and it will be our first one on our own, since we got married, so that will be weird. I’m just praying that I stay healthy, and don’t develop any symptoms, either, so we can actually have a quiet, but merry Christmas of our own…

And while you’re here, did you sign up for my mailing list? I am in the middle of writing an exclusive Chickpea Curry Lit story for my subscribers, and there will be news, tips and even recipes! You know you want to join… go on! Click the pic below to sign up!