Almost a Year

Day 364...

Well, we have a Wednesday and it is almost a year since I started writing this 'lockdown diary'.

In fact it was a Wednesday afternoon this time last year that myself and my deputy made the decision to close pre-school. We beat the government's announcement that education would close by one day. It was an awful and horrid decision to make but with less and less children attending and parents simply lost as to know what to do for the best we felt we had to take charge of the situation and close our doors. There were tears as we made the decision and I sent out emails and text messages to our parents.

I could not have possibly foreseen the events of the past year; the twelve weeks we remained closed; the effects on our liberties and freedom; the ever changing 'scientific' advise; tier systems; lockdowns and operating from June last year all the way through till now with very little governmental support.

But it was Wednesday today and that meant a full day in work, which meant the usual bits of admin, banking, emails and invoice prepping. 

And after being open since 15th June 2020 we have now been given access to lateral flow tests which can be used (should we wish to do so) from next week. We have also been sent a supply of face masks...450 face masks to be precise...for a staff team of 6...who all work in one room together...who have been working together since June...

Now I don't wish to sound cynical or ungrateful but we have just two weeks left in pre-school before we break for Easter. The use of lateral flow tests and masks in education settings is supposed to be reviewed in time for the Summer term (four weeks away), if they decide that tests and masks are no longer needed then there will have been an awful lot of expense for pretty much no reason. As one of my team put it 'providing masks and tests now is a little like closing the gate after the horse has bolted'!! Whilst it is very nice to finally be thought about we have been open and working for nine months without either of these 'protections' available to us...and we have survived...at our own financial expense!

Having had our vaccines yesterday both Simon and I have reacted differently to them. I was awake for most of the night not really getting to sleep until about 4am but was still able to get up this morning and have a full day in work. There were times I felt a little achy but not enough to stop me and I simply made sure I had paracetamol to take to keep me going. Simon also had a disturbed nights sleep but for him it manifested in muscle aches; he described it as having 'restless leg syndrome' but all over his body. He decided to take it slow today and not do any work; he has felt tired and achy and his arm where he was injected is sore and he can't lift it above his head.

But this did mean that when I got home from work we were able to spend some time together, with a coffee, sat outside in the surprisingly warm sunshine and chat about our day.

Who would have thought almost a year after the world went mad and we entered the first of these bizarre lockdowns we would be dealing with the side effects of the vaccine for the disease for which our lives have been dictated over these past 364 days!

Take care out there.
xx