Sooo, dare I ask how lockdown is going in your house? It’s a loaded question I know!

If my social media feeds are anything to go by I think it’s fair to say we’re all finding it tough, whether you live in a 10 bedroom mansion like some of the celebrities keeping us entertained online or a 4th floor, two bedroom flat like us.

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I know that in many ways we’re incredibly lucky – we live on the south coast with a view of the sea, and we also have an allotment we can escape to in place of a garden. But at the same time it’s not the same as having a back door you can throw open so they can come and go all day long.

What I’d give for a trampoline, a sandpit, a teepee or just a simple patch of grass for them to roll around on! I’d even entertain the idea of a mud kitchen which under normal circumstances I wouldn’t dream of installing!

So, after trying to inject some humour into the situation by sharing what lockdown has taught me about my family, I thought I’d share a window into our life living in a block of flats with three kids and no garden – and unsurprisingly it’s not all fun and games.

The reality of lockdown in a flat with no garden

There’s no getting away from it: only being able to go out once a day for fresh air is hard. And I’m green with envy of the owners of back doors who can let their kids run freely in and out.

There’s quite simply nowhere to escape to within the confines of our four walls – and owing to the fact we live on the 4th floor of a seven floor block of flats there’s neighbours, most of them elderly, to consider too.

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We can’t start the day with Joe Wicks to burn off some of their endless energy because it’s simply too loud. Telling the kids to stop running, stop jumping, to walk lightly and consider our neighbours umpteen times a day – reminders usually reserved for weekends and holidays – is exhausting, and three weeks in to lockdown our pleas are falling on deaf ears because (unsurprisingly) we both sound like a stuck record.

Instead there’s lots of den building, baking and drawing going on, and I’ll be honest: far too much screen time.

As for the grown ups, the main frustration is trying to maintain some sort of exercise routine with our usual classes cancelled and our gyms and swimming pool closed, and no outside space.

I’m continuing with pregnancy yoga and have also enlisted the help of a personal trainer via Zoom, and Misery Guts is trying to keep up with Crossfit and meditation classes online – all of which is easier said than done when they involve taking over the largest room in the flat, require peace and quiet in the case of yoga and meditation and there are three little people to entertain.

But, it could be worse. We could live at the top of a London tower block where all the parks are closed and without the means to enlist the sanity-saving help of online classes via Zoom.

I’m pretty sure our elderly neighbours hate us even more than they did already, but we’re doing our best and our best is all that we can do under the circumstances.

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How’s lockdown going in your house? Can you relate to any of the above?

If you liked this you may also enjoy reading:

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