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Family dynamics

28th Jul 2020

Lockdown with the kids: 8 thoughts every mum has had during isolation

Anna Daly

Brought to you by Little Roots

Our kids are our life.

We just sometimes forget that when there’s been constant screaming in the house for three hours. You know, classic parent problems.

The only issue is that now we don’t even get a respite from it during work and school. Lockdown has really tested our willpower as parents as well as our ability to listen to nonsensical stories for hours on end (those really do start to drag after the first 30 minutes).

We don’t think it’s just us – we’re absolutely positive that all mums (and dads) have experienced a lot of the same thoughts over the last few months during lockdown. Here are a few of our most commonly reoccurring ones.

1. Our kids are now our best friends

That may sound positive but when we say “best”, we actually mean “only”. As in our kids are literally the only other people we have seen in weeks. Even on those few occasions when we go for a walk with other people our own age, the kids are there distracting us so much that they still get most of our attention. We’re not sure if we remember how to interact with adults at this point.

2. Yeah, teachers do NOT get paid enough

So you’re telling us that these people manage to calm around 20 students down enough to sit relatively still and actually listen and learn things? We find that very hard to believe and we have absolutely no idea how they do it. We’re finding it almost impossible with just two and we supposedly have that parental authority thing going for us. Does that actually work for other people? Even the counting to ten has lost a lot of its threat – we’ve had to move into the 9 and 7/8s territory.

3. Neither do we.

Like above, but more self-pitying. Did we actually agree to do this job for free? It must have been those pregnancy hormones…

4. Is four years old too early to learn to cook your own food?

How often do these little creatures need to eat? Wasn’t breakfast just five minutes ago?

There couldn’t have been a better time for STRONG ROOTS to release their new Little Roots range than during this lockdown. The range is specifically designed for kids and it contains scrumptious little bite-sized snacks for the little ones that are filled with three veggies in every bite. They are low in saturated fat, low in salt, and made with 100 percent natural ingredients. The kids have never eaten their veggies as quickly or without complaint as they do when we cook these up. Just 14 minutes in the oven and you’ve got a perfect snack to fill the bottomless pits that are our kids’ bellies. If we’re able to stop ourselves stealing them, that is (seriously, they are SO good). Keep reading for a chance to win a delicious Little Roots goodie bag below!

5. Quiet? Never heard it.

Hahahahaha. Yeah, remember when we used to say “ah, finally, a moment’s peace”? Us neither. We don’t think we’ve had one of those in many, many weeks now. We’ve learned to go about our lives with the constant background noise of children playing, fighting, complaining, etc.

6. Remember when TV time was limited? Haha those were the days

Look, sometimes you owe it to your own sanity to give into the TV demands. Perhaps it makes us bad parents but we also know that every single parent is doing it too, so at least we’re in it together. Plus, TV shows nowadays are pretty educational, right? That’s what we’re telling ourselves anyway. It’s technically the summer, so our teaching duties are over.

7. If someone could just wake us up when school has started again, that’d be great.

We’ve started to believe that this whole “school” thing is all a myth. Did the shouting really stop for several hours a day? Did our kids actually go out and come home more learned and sometimes even a bit tired? And did they actually sometimes stay out for even longer at a friend’s house? Sounds like heaven. Wake us up when that’s happening again.

8. We really do have the best family.

Okay, okay, while we do readily admit that our mini monsters drive us a bit up the wall, we have also enjoyed being able to spend so much time with them. Working from home ourselves has given us a chance to really observe our kids and see even more sides to them than we knew were there.

While it has sometimes (okay, often) been a bit of an ordeal, it has also been an unexpected pleasure having so much quality time with the whole family together. This pandemic has been very tough on the little ones too, not being able to go out or see friends, and they’ve handled it spectacularly, especially for their age. There’s nothing quite so wonderful as seeing your kids grow into delightful and more mature humans right in front of your eyes. We’d almost go so far as to say we’re proud of what we’ve made. We’re certainly proud of them.

In the spirit of being proud and celebrating the quality times! Why not treat your little ones to a Little Roots goodie bag by filling out the form below: