October - Firebreaker

  In came October and another word entered our weird, 2020 vocabulary - 'Firebreaker'. The plot thickens. Here in Wales we now have one of these things. This is somewhere between the pretend lockdown of last month and the proper spring/summer lockdown. This time however, the aisles in the supermarkets which house the stationary products and scented candles have been cordoned off by that stripy tape that they use for a crime scene. It would seem that for the past week and a half, it has been a crime to purchase a pack of highlighter pens. I panicked when I first saw this and dashed straight to the last aisle where thankfully, I found an array of wine bottles all untaped! I am so relieved that we have our priorities in order here in Wales, regarding what constitutes an 'essential item'. Phew!😌 

      It has indeed been another trying month. It began with a period of self-isolation as we nervously awaited the results of Molly's Covid test. Following a slightly raised temperature, John had become hysterical and we'd booked her in for testing. This meant the whole household being imprisoned at home and what a joy that actually was!

     'Not happening!' Cleo declared.

     'I think you'll find it is!' John announced. 'I think you'll find, it's the law!'

     'And I think you'll find that I have an important assessment on Tuesday which I have to do or I'll get chucked off the course.'

      'Well, I think you'll find that .....'

     'Just shut up! Shut up the pair of you! Why do you have to make things twice as hard as they already are? Now ..... who can we contact to get the wine and biscuits in for us?'

WhatsApp Group:

Me: Anyone going to the supermarket today?

Karen: Can do. What's up?

Me: We're under house arrest. Waiting for Molly's test result and I'm just about to run out of wine. Should have got extra supplies on the way to the testing centre. Rookie mistake!!!

Vyshali: Oh nooooo! 😱 Is Molly ok? X

Me: Yep. Only a slight temp but John is acting like she's just about to turn into a flesh-eating zombie or something. He's driving me crazy😣 The twins argue constantly over the Xbox and don't even get me started on Cleo and her adolescent mood swings!!!

Sarah: How long have you been living this hell?

Me: About two and a half hours x

Karen: Shit! I'll have the wine with you before the hour's out! X

Me:😘

After two hellish days in which I suspect that I added another half a stone to the previous lockdown's weight-gain, Molly's test came back negative. That wasn't the end of the month's trials though, as half term came along, with this Firebreaker thing thrown into the mix. 

     'We're gonna have to come up with some sort of strategy,' I told John. 'We could work out a childcare rota so that we can take shifts at working from home in the bedroom in peace. Maybe we could try to do a few nice family things too, to mark half term for the kids. Ooh - we could do a little Halloween party for them, being as they can't go out trick or treating this year.'

     'Good idea,' said John. 'You're brilliant at things like that. I don't think I'm gonna be working from home though.'

     'Oh. Have they closed the project down for a few weeks cos of this lockdown thingy?'

     'No. I mean I'm gonna need to go to the site to work. The project's at a crucial stage now. You know that, Daisy.'

     'You have got to be fucking kidding me!'

     'Oh come on, Daisy! You've got this!'

     'Oh I have, have I?'

     'The kids love having you at home,' he said with what I can only describe as a patronising wink. THEN, to add insult to injury, 'A little Halloween party on the Saturday would be brilliant.'

     'Screw Halloween!' I said. 'Looks like we're moving straight on to the fireworks!'

     'Yay! Fireworks!' Marcus screamed from some hidden location. 'Mum said we're getting fireworks.'

     'How do they always do that? Where was he hiding?' John asked. 'They'll be expecting a fireworks display now. You know I hate the idea of setting off explosives in the garden.'

     'No idea!' I snapped. 'You've got this!' I grabbed a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, a family-pack of Crunchies and absconded to the bedroom.

So ..... half term came and went with a miserable succession of windy, rainy days. The clocks went back, throwing darker evenings into the equation as well. The Halloween party? We did our best, given the limited Firebreaker shopping possibilities. To be fair to the twins, you give them pizzas, green fizzy pop, enough sweets to ensure a two hour sugar-buzz and they're happy. Give me a glass of wine and a horror film on Netflix and I am too. I still don't know what John has decided about the fireworks though. I eagerly await a surprise .......🎆🎆