LOCKDOWN DIARIES #2

If you have not read my last Lockdown Diaries then please head on over and read Lockdown Diaries #1 first. Here is my Lockdown Diaries #2 post. Let me let you in on a not so little secret; I love being home with my little family. It is my favourite thing ever. I suffer with anxiety, and the anxiety I currently have about leaving the house is actually crippling. I am a very happy chatty person and for some reason that comes across as confidence. I am not a confident person in the slightest. I am very shy and I take everything to heart. I am also on the autistic spectrum and have difficulties with things that ‘ordinary’ people may not find troubling.

One of those things is planning. I have to plan everything in my head and know what is happening. I have to feel in control and my way of feeling in control is knowing what the plan is. Not knowing what is happening to the World at this time is really hard for me to deal with. I am currently lucky enough to be off work at present and so is Mike. There is a very real possibility that Mike will be called back to work before the pandemic is over as we both work in roles that are classed as key worker roles. I myself will not be returning to work for the foreseeable as I am high risk due to my asthma and weakened lungs from pneumonia previously, and obviously I am Elaras primary care giver.

Another difficulty I have is the loss of routine. I thrive off routines. Routines drive my everyday life. If you are on the autistic spectrum or know anyone who is you will know that a disruption to a routine can be hugely difficult for some. For example if a package has arrived and Mike answers the door, I will ask him if he has locked the door. If he has disinfected the package. If he has washed his hands. And sometimes I will need to ask again because my brain did not retain the information. It’s hard for me to deal with. Bless him it’s probably very difficult for Mike too.

Something I am really enjoying lately is the extra time I have to write blog posts and create content on Instagram. I’m sure if your reading this then you have noticed a huge increase in blog posts and I have also been uploading content to my Instagram daily for almost a month. Who knows if I can keep this up when life returns to ‘normal’. The extra time has really rekindled my love for creating content and I have been super lucky to work with some incredible brands over the past couple of weeks.

That would never have happened if life had continued on as ‘normal’. Its really given me my passion for writing back and has made me work harder to reach my goals of working from home in a creative job that I love. Office work really isn’t for me; I always knew that, but there is the slightest possibility that I could work from home doing exactly this.

I am currently on week 7 of not leaving the house and it feels strange but it has also become our new normal. We are lucky that we have our garden, albeit not the best one but we have an outside space to escape too. Elara seems to be okay with lockdown. She does get upset at times as she loves to see ‘babas’ but obviously there is no one around to see. We are trying to keep up with FaceTiming grandparents as much as possible but she is very shy while we talk to them so it will definitely be strange for her when we do get to see other people again. If you are trying to stay fit from home then this post by Becky is incredible and a great way of keeping sane.

We have been using our extra time with Elara to practice her speech and she is coming along really well. We have a set of flash cards that are technically for ages 4+ but out of the 54 words she can now say 35 of them. Elara can say the words without prompting just from seeing the photos. Her favourite card is the Robot to which she responds with Woahbot and then does a robot dance. Its just something we did to help her understand what a robot was and now she does it every time. Hilariously Elara changes n’s to l/’s. Banana is the funniest and the cutest word as she says balalalala.

Elara is also now joining in when we do the clap at our bedroom window on a thursday evening and is loving seeing people from a distance and hearing all the noise. We’ve even been seeing fireworks being let off in celebration for everyone working on the frontline. We are so thankful to be home and safe. I’ve recently read this post about Mental Health During the Pandemic too.

Katie x