Day 140

Well, believe it or not that is 20 weeks now since we started shielding. Having had a few days away last week, in an isolated farm cottage, today was another milestone, when we went to my wife's brother and sister in law's house for scones, a cup of tea and a chat. They have a massive garden, so it was easy to sit in a socially distanced circle. Again, it was just one of those touches of normality that we have not noticed slowly slip from our lives.

5 months is a long time to be in this position and I think my wife is slowly coming to the end of her tether with staying in - but yet at the same time hasn't got the confidence, or really the desire, to go out! Hopefully all the while the weather stays decent and we can use our garden it shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Back to the trip out - when we walked up to my wife's brother's our little one fell asleep in his buggy, which meant we were able to have a bit of time chatting. However once he was awake he was in his element, wandering around their garden, using their play equipment and best for him - putting his hands in their decorative garden pool. Water is like a magnet to our little one and this was heaven to him! By the time we left there he was soaked, but he didn't care and the sun was out, so what's the problem!

My daughter had messaged to say they would like to pop round to say a socially distanced hello - my wife, with her new brave head on invited them to come round and sit in our garden! Granted our garden is a little smaller than the one we had just come from, but it was more than possible.

It was a shock to answer the door to see my daughter and her little one standing there in their face masks, but it was really good of them to do that. I ushered them through to the back garden, standing aside and little one being told by his mum not to touch anything! Welcome to the new normal...

My daughter's partner arrived soon after clutching some well needed beers, which once wiped down were all enjoyed in our garden, in the sun. The two little ones played in the garden, splashing in the lily pad pool and just acting like two three year olds should. The highlight of the day though was my daughter's little one trying to remove fluffy tennis balls from a Velcro target. As he pulled one ball off he put his hand with another ball onto the target, which then promptly stuck. He repeated this process for probably the next 5 minutes, one ball released, another ball stuck and so on, until he had the foresight to put one ball down, before taking the next one off - by then we were all in tears, of laughter! It was lovely...

After my daughter and little one had gone the four of us stayed in the garden until it got dark. Our little man loved the solar lights as they came on and was in his element. All in all it was a lovely day.

After everyone had gone my wife got rather emotional, she found the whole day a wonderful insight into what we have been missing, but at the same time she felt really upset that this is how we now live. Hopefully we can have more days like this, at a distance, and in time she will become a little more tolerant of the emotional roller-coaster...!