A Matter of Choice

Originally published on 'Talking on Eggshells' at the start of January, just before the 2nd full lockdown was announced in Cyprus.  As the UK and many European countries head back into a full lockdown it's hard at times to think of anything else.  Everyone has an opinion, for or against lockdown,  schools closing or not,  vaccines good or bad and so on.  But whatever your opinion on the subject, it is what it is and like it or not we have to make the best of it.  There was a lot said at the start of the lockdowns in March last year about using the time productively,  to get fit, learn a new skill, reorganize your home and so on.  For me at the start I tried to embrace this and loved the inspiring posts I saw online.  It kept me going in a strange and scary time and helped me focus.  Being productive gives me a sense of achievement and I've always worked on the theory that even if it doesn't cheer me up, at least I've done something ...

As part of the relaxation of lockdown in Cyprus primary age children (and those in their last year of high school) return to school today after the latest covid measures shut them all down again.   We saw it coming in December as our cases were rising so it was no surprise to anyone that they did not open as planned after Christmas.  Home schooling was a 100% better for us this time round, although we are so glad to see them back in today.  Last year home school was a nightmare with tears and tantrums, and the kids weren't much better, but for a host of reasons this time was so much easier.  I think main reason was that it was less of a shock for everyone, I wrote about getting up for school when I didn't have to and reading it again reminds me how strange everything felt back in March last year.   Of course schools were not prepared and there was so much uncertainty everywhere.  This time round Leo had online lessons from 8 am till 10:30 am ever...

Here we are in the second month of 2021. I hope you all made it through January relatively unscathed? What a strange time it is,  and what a strange mood I find myself in now it's February.    I'm happy to say I'm ok, which is pretty good I think considering.  I'm neither sad or bouncing off the walls happy, we are plodding along in our own little world and getting through it ok.  Home school isn't the best thing of course but the last 2 weeks have been a thousand times better than the previous lockdown so I'm feeling very grateful for that.  We have fallen into a routine of sorts with Leo getting on with his online lessons,  he's not really enjoying them but does it all without fuss and I'm proud of how he's handling it all.    Louka generally has worksheets to complete, and I usually have to sit with him to give him encouragement the whole time but if I give him 100% then we are muddling though them together with a bit of  Google trans...

Like most of the world Cyprus has been in lock down since March.  It all happened quite suddenly here, first the schools closed on 12th March, and these were quickly followed by bars and restaurants closing on 15th March and airports and borders closed with exceptions for repatriations who had to go straight into government quarantine for 14 days.  I was really surprised at the speed it all came about, it seemed like one minute people were sharing info on facebook with a list of European countries that were free of the coronavirus of which Cyprus was one, and then the next everything was closing around us.  Towards the end of the week of March 15th,  there had been cafes and bars voluntarily closing,  I was watching the comments and the general mood on facebook as it started to change.  Some were being praised for shutting up and many were being judged and also slated for continuing to open,  it was even said that bars were trying to 'profit from a pa...

I last published a blog post on here at the end of March.  The Cyprus lockdown had begun but had not yet reached the strictest measures.  What a strange time the last couple of months have turned out to be, a time that none of us could have predicted or even imagined just a short while ago.  Like many others I was full of plans, ways to keep busy, and making lists of educational online activities, home schooling plans and fun family activities to do. Exercise plans, jobs around the house and work.  I was going to blog!  (I always say that, but I do still miss the ol' blogging days)  I've not done everything, but I've not done nothing either. While it hasn't all been wall to wall productive time, I'm doing pretty well I think, I'm sure others out there are 'doing better' but I'm even more sure there are many doing worse..... and by worse I don't mean doing less productive things, but fighting with some sort of guilt that they are not 'doing en...

Be careful what you wish for...you might just get it I don't know when I first heard that expression but it was a long time ago and I remember thinking how ridiculous it was,  surely if you wished for something it would be good to get it right? I also don't know how many times since then I've realised just how true it is. This morning I woke up at 6am.  The curtains were open as they usually are on weekdays to make it easier for me to get up for school. I'd left them open for the last two weeks despite the shutdown just so it was waking me up naturally around 7 ish.   Not as early as a usual school day as my alarm is usually set for 6:30am, but not as late as I'd normally get up on a weekend these days. The clocks went forward yesterday, but I forgot how much lighter it would be in the morning so when I woke at 6am it felt later.  I lay there for a while trying to get back to sleep, I tried for about 5 minutes and but restless.   I debated w...