LawyerLow Diaries

I suppose the big news of the day is that I’m properly injured. My leg has gotten progressively worse since my run yesterday morning and now I can’t put very much weight on it. I’m absolutely gutted and as I write my diary I’m sat with a bag of frozen peas (well, mixed veg to be entirely accurate) on it to try and make sure I can complete my 8.5miles tomorrow morning. I suspect I won’t be running and it’s a long walk to fit in before work starts! Nothing like a bit of drama!
I was definitely cheered up by the fact that E agreed to make today D for Daddy day again and I got my very own poster where she drew a lovely picture of us together and wrote all her favourite things about me: my kisses, my hugs and our walks 💜 Unsurprisingly the kids spent most of the day outside so #HomeSchooling was limited but I’m sure we will be back on it tomorrow. 
So what made the hot top 5?

1. We need to start with the weather. It was a belter of a day today and definitely one for shorts and ice cream. Stepping outside this afternoon felt like we were in the south of France or somewhere in the Med. If it wasn’t for the fact we were both working, I would’ve thought we were on holiday abroad. Steph even made us put suncream on us all before we went for our lunchtime walk. That smell brings back happy memories! So we headed out for an adventure and ended up finding a pond full of tadpoles and a secret fairy garden. Even more memories being created, and all just on our doorstep. E still wants to go abroad “when the Coronavirus goes away”. ☀️ 
2. Toothbrush-gate continues I’m afraid. The missing toothbrush heads have never been located and we have had to accept defeat. No doubt they will turn up in 16 years time when M is packing up to head off to uni but my teeth can’t wait that long. So Steph has bought a pack of replacements (sorry, how much were they?!?) and I got to use my new one for the first time this morning. So far so good. I then hear a ruckus upstairs and Steph shouts down. It turns out M has snuck into our bathroom, grabbed the once used toothbrush head, hot tailed it to the back bedroom en suite and thrown it into the toilet. So there’s no way that’s going into my mouth again so it went straight in the bin. Why me?!? 🦷 
3. Passers by will hear all sorts of weird and wonderful noises coming from our house during lockdown. This morning’s stand out were shouts of pain from the living room. Steph was in the kitchen and before she could head through, in walks E. This was the exchange:
Steph “What’s happened?”
E “M was pulling my hair so I kicked him.”
Steph “What do you mean you mean you kicked him?”
E “I kicked him in the head because he was pulling on my hair.”
Steph “But you’re not allowed to kick him.”
E “Am I to kick him in the tummy then?”
Steph “No just don’t kick him!!” 🤼‍♀️
4. M’s torture of snails is sadly continuing as I found him sat happily in the garden again poking and prodding into a shell making bubbles with the slime. It’s pretty gross. I picked him up and took him inside to wash his hands. I just couldn’t understand why the sink wouldn’t drain properly. Upon further investigation I discovered he had shoved an entire toilet roll tube down the drain, presumably to try and flood the house just for banter. Is there nothing safe in this house? 🧻
5. Tonight we managed to pack the kids off to bed and took part in our weekly virtual work quiz. I normally host so it was really good fun taking part for a change. Inevitably the competitive spirit came out from the very beginning! It’s absolutely fine when one of us knows the answer but the problems start when we both think we know but have different answers. There’s also some sizeable gaps in our joint general knowledge so I think some revision is in order before next week. Steph can read up on Geordie Shore and I’ll work on Disney animals… 🧐

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And so life goes on. There is a definite correlation between the quality of the previous night’s sleep and the productivity of the day. Today is a case in point and all 4 of us seemed to be running on empty.
One of the victims of this lack of energy was today’s #HomeSchooling theme much to my disappointment. E had, very sensibly in my opinion, picked today as Daddy day to add to the family tree but mysteriously nothing actually got done. I assume that tomorrow will be my special day instead but am reliably informed there is no guarantee of that. Only time will tell. 
I am very excited to report there is only a single, fleeting reference to poo in today’s top 5 as I am conscious it has featured far too heavily recently:

1. The never ending cycle of Rundays continue but today was a little different. I was not in a good frame of mind after a rubbish night’s sleep and my niggle had not gone away. As any sensible athlete will know the solution to overcome such a negative start is to pace things, not over exert yourself and cause more pain issues and think positively as much as possible. I failed to do any of those things and ended up smashing out both a 10k PB (now very close to breaking the hour for the first time) and a leg PB in the full knowledge my leg was getting worse. That’s all very good and well but boy am I paying for it now. I have been hobbling around the house all day and the stark realisation that I still have 3 runs to complete is sinking in. It seems that all runs I’ve started feeling positive have been disappointing and vice versa. I’m sure a sports psychologist would have fun assessing me! Not long left to sponsor us and raise some much needed funds for Brain Tumour Research – link here! 🏃‍♂️ 🦈 
2. We have made the difficult decision not to send E back to school next month (if indeed we move to phase 2 and the school does reopen). Everyone has to make their own personal decision on these types of things as there are all sorts of factors involved and you just have to do what you think is right. I had assumed that Steph had mentioned this to E this morning and therefore was pretty blasé when I mentioned it at lunchtime. Turns out of course that she knew nothing about it and she is devastated. We had full on wailing which caused Steph to come rushing down the stairs, assuming some serious accident had occurred. She was just inconsolable about the fact she won’t see her teacher and her friends for a while longer. Bless her. Perhaps she’s just fed up of spending so much time with us. Apparently me telling her the feeling was mutual was “not helpful”! 🏫 
3. The kids got two walks today, one with Mammy this morning mainly to take the dog out and then we all went out for our usual lunchtime stroll. By all accounts the morning walk was more eventful as Steph was trying to juggle one dog and two kids. To be fair it’s only M who is the handful as he will make a break for freedom at every opportunity. Whilst I missed it (gutted!) the main events were him trying to pick up horse excrement and getting his head stuck in a gate. Seriously he is an absolute terror and literally looks for trouble 24/7. Apparently I’m doing both walks tomorrow! 🐴 
4. Our lunchtime walk was far less interesting (we had M strapped into his pushchair to avoid any near death experiences) but there a classic Steph line which had to make the top 5. She started itching her arm when we were nearly home. I asked if she was okay and she said it happens everything time she goes out for a walk. “I must be allergic” she says to which I innocently asked “to walks?!?” Apparently that is both unhelpful and rude and I’m making my own tea tomorrow! 😷
5. The kids have decided that their constant demands for food (which have increased exponentially during lockdown) are not being dealt with quickly enough and so have taken matters into their own hands. At various points today we have found E putting bread into the toaster, them helping themselves to bagels (second breakfast), E climbing up to the high cupboard to help herself to snacks and her showing M how to butter toast. Between that and E’s stated love of housework, we are nearly there and then Steph and I can kick back and let the kids serve us food! 🍽

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Yet again I’m struck with the Monday morning feeling of “How can it possibly be the start of yet another week?” Work continues to get busier (good), E gets more challenging (not so good) and M is simply impossible (standard!)
We are still experimenting with our shift patterns at home as we strive for the right work/life balance. I still don’t think we will get there by the time the lockdown ends. It did mean I got some more #HomeSchooling time with E today. I do think she gets it all but she’s got the attention span of a small insect. How anyone could possibly teach a class full of similar children all day, every day is beyond me! Kudos once again to all the teachers out there.
I am really not looking forward to tomorrow’s run after I tweaked something in my leg today. No idea what I did, or how but will only a week of the challenge left, I am determined nothing’s going to stop me finishing!
Inbetween all of my work today I still managed to find a top 5:

1. We started our new theme system today and decided to base it on family thanks to a great suggestion. We left it up to E to decide which member of her whole family she wanted to start with. You won’t be surprised to hear she didn’t take long to decide on her first choice and immediately went for the newest and littlest member. No, not her delightful brother! She went for the dog!! So today, B is for Buddy and she did a lovely poster about the things she likes to do with him. She’s going to be gutted when he has to go home! 🐕‍🦺
2. Whilst it has been lovely having Buddy to stay, you do have to take the rough with the smooth. All my walks are great but his love of sleeping in our bed (always on my side!) is not so great. I’m also not a great fan of chasing after him picking up his excrement. No one else in the family is keen to help out and there’s no way I’m being one of those pillocks who ignores the No Dog Fouling signs. So off I trot with my nappy sacks in hand morning, noon and night. Tonight was perhaps not ideal however as his repeated deposits left me scrabbling around for an emergency bag… I’m not saying what happened next… 💩 
3. From the dog to the sprog and M had another very excitable day. He is definitely thriving on all the time he is getting with his parents and sister but his constant grazing and demanding nature is exhausting. I was very happy to make sausage sandwiches for lunch today (a Low family favourite) and had the bread all buttered ready to go. I turn round and my boy has climbed up onto the breakfast bar and is wolfing down a piece of E’s buttered bread. His appetite is insatiable except, of course, when it comes to the actual meals we make for him which he just throws on the floor or ignores. And when he does eat, he eats like a pig! 🍞 
4. I know a lot of families have taken to completing jigsaws during lockdown and we are no different. Steph and I don’t really have the time but E has shown M how they are done and he absolutely loves them! His memory is amazing and he seems to remember exactly where every piece goes. He’s also so very proud of himself when he finishes one. We just need to work out how to get him to do 5 in a row by himself so we can get on some schoolwork in the next room with E! 🧩 
5. A house with kids in is always a house full of noise. Many of those noises are lovely and heart warming. Some just strike fear into your heart. One such noise is the sound of your wife shouting “David. I need you right now. It’s a poo situation!” In that split second I needed to decide whether to hide upstairs and pretend I didn’t hear anything or whether to come rushing. I did the latter. I wish I hadn’t. I walked into the living room to find a disaster zone. E running round in circles shouting “YUK!” whilst Steph was in the middle clutching M’s wrists above his head. He had someone managed to pull down his own nappy, which normally wouldn’t be a problem however it was a very full and very dirty nappy. He had poo on his legs, on his ankles, on his fingers, on his arms, on Steph’s wrists and so it went on. I had a whole packet of baby wipes thrown at me by E and just had to work around him inch by inch. I mean, what a life! It’s definitely a noise I never want to hear again! 💩

I thought lockdown was meant to drag. As far as I’m concerned weekends continue to fly by and certainly weekdays are longer days! I know it’s a cliche but Sundays are meant to be lazy days and therefore all the jobs I didn’t get done yesterday will sadly have to wait another week as they didn’t get done today either!
This weekend we have inherited a dog (temporarily) and so I somehow ended up going out for 4 sets of exercise today – my run together with three dog walks. Suffice to say my step count is through the roof! The lifting of limitations on the frequency of exercise has certainly come in handy and getting out and about a bit more (from a socially safe distance) will surely do me no harm.
The kids have been on fine form so unsurprisingly feature heavily in today’s top 5:

1. My new descriptions of the days of the week are getting pretty repetitive as we are somehow back to Runday already. Unusually I was right up for it this morning and I definitely felt I had the hang of this distance, even though I had never done it before the challenge started. That confidence turned out to be ill founded and I should’ve realised that my runs always end up the opposite of what I predict! Granted it was my own fault as my confidence meant I decided to tackle the “forest route” again despite being fully aware that any type of gradient sets me back big time. My legs were therefore aching in mile 3 and I really wasn’t enjoying it. But it was meant to be a challenge and I did it meaning only 4 more legs left for me and 9 in total. My next run will take me personally over 100 miles of running in just over 3 weeks which is nae too shabby for a complete novice! Fundraising link is here so don’t be shy!! 🏃‍♂️ 🦈 
2. So the big reveal of my haircut is below. I have had 24 hours to get used to it and I must say I was quietly impressed at how well my wife did. I’d never admit that to her of course! However what a change a selfie can cause. I’d been looking at myself directly in the mirror and all seemed well. When I took the selfies on my run I inevitably took them from above (a far more flattering angle for those carrying a bit of excess baggage) and only then did I realise there’s a bit missing from the front. It’s not noticeable unless you’re looking down onto my head so thank goodness I’m taller than average! 👨‍🦲 
3. One of the three dog walks today involved the whole family although M did sleep through most of it. E loves holding the dog’s lead and we do try and let her wherever we can. A bit of responsibility is an important life skill. Apparently. Personally I’d rather I just did everything myself as I know how to do things and do them well. I certainly know how to do things better than a 5 year old. But I digress. E has the lead (both literally and metaphorically) and a couple of other dog walkers came round the corner. Not knowing how the dogs would react I rushed to catch up and tried to take the lead from E. This did not go down well. I got another of those penetrating looks, a hand on the hip and the immortal works “Leave me Daddy. I am handling it!” 🐕 
4. The kids went for a shower tonight which continues to be a source of much excitement for them. Steph also continues to make herself scarce and lets Daddy do his thing! So tonight M kept poking his head out the shower door and I was trying to coax him back in so there wasn’t a bathroom flood. Now I assume she wasn’t aware of the fact his head was sticking out, but E decided to shut the door really quickly and I confess I did shriek a tad before just managing to stop it before he was decapitated. Just at that moment Steph arrived and, noticing the shower door was open, leaned past me and slammed the door shut. Boy were we lucky he chose that same moment to pull back and start playing with his bath toys! 🚿 
5. WARNING – POO STORY ALERT! Regular readers will recall that we had an issue earlier in lockdown with M putting his hands into the toilets. We have therefore been staying very alert to the situation and have managed to avoid any recent repeats. We thought we had cracked it and inevitably when your guard is down that is when the kiddies strike. So this evening E went to the toilet and the next I hear “Daddy! I need you! It’s an emergency!” So I rush through and there is M with his hands down the toilet. I mean fully in with his head well down there too having a good rummage. Unfortunately he had got hold of Emma’s recent deposit. There is no amount of hand washing which makes me feel comfortable touching him ever again! 💩

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Well, how did that happen? 60 days of lockdown in the Low household – I suppose that makes this my diamond anniversary with my readers. That’s lovely and all but just don’t expect a gift! It also happens to be Eurovision day which is usually a particular highlight of my year. I’m very sad there was no Eurovision party and have had to make do with playing back some classics whilst preparing my Europe themed quiz for this evening. 
Fortunately today was a Restday and a chance to recharge the batteries after a particularly busy and exhausting week. As usual the kids didn’t get the memo but we did manage to bat them away until nearly 7am which I’m still marking down as a win! I did feel pretty motivated this morning and as with most of my weekends recently I had a list of all the jobs I wanted to get done today and now I’m simply reflecting on how little I actually achieved. It does mean tomorrow is going to be hectic as I also have the matter of Leg 22 to smash through at some point.
So what made it into the top 5 on this Eurovision Saturday?

1. Where else to start but with the big news of the day. I have let my wife have a go at my hair after we sourced a set of clippers. Now I’ll be honest, after a little apprehension I was feeling quite relaxed about the whole affair as I saw a lot of confidence in her eyes. I should have stuck with the apprehension I think! She gave it a once over with the largest setting and then we agreed it needed to be shorter – my reasoning was that if I get it shorter now, it is less likely I’ll have to subject myself to a repeat performance. The only problem is she selected a VERY short setting – I suppose it will grow back. All of it except perhaps the section on my right side which she completely removed when her “hand slipped” during the ear trim section. Truth be told it was a pretty good effort compared to some of horror shows I’ve seen during lockdown and I was feeling okay about asking E’s opinion. I really wasn’t expecting her to say “you need to leave Daddy. I am about…to…freak…out!” 💇‍♂️ 
2. We went out for a lovely walk altogether as a family today – lovely weather and no excuses not to. It was all pretty uneventful until M decided he wasn’t interested any more and just sat down in the middle of the track. Oh, to be a child and be able to just do what you want! What is an adult going to do other than pick you up and carry you home? He seemed to perk up when that happened and suddenly butter wouldn’t melt again. But don’t be fooled dear reader – that boy knows what he is doing and he will play you and keep playing you! ☀️ 
3. Something else we keep being reminded of during lockdown is the incredibly memory our daughter has. She literally does not forget a thing particularly when it is to her advantage. We will mention things and out of the blue she will remind us that about something contradictory one of us said months and months ago. How do you compete with that? I have a rubbish memory at the best of times and now I have a 5yr old who is going to keep tripping me up. I really have no chance. 🐘 
4. Daddy made a decree today. Now, decrees do not get pronounced very regularly but enough was enough. I have ordained that there is no longer any food or drink to be consumed by the horrorbags in the living room. We have been so lax on this issue over the last few weeks and I’ve already written about the crumbs and spilt milk. Today’s unexpected but final straw was a banana with M brought through and for the first time decided that just sitting and eating it nicely wasn’t fun any more. So he ripped the whole thing into small pieces, then scattered the skin around the living room and worked the flesh into the carpet. I was furious! He loves bananas and so it has been the one thing he would always just eat – alas, no more and therefore I have had to put my foot down. All I need to do is enforce it now! 🍌 
5. It’s occurred to both Steph and I that our kids won’t stop growing during lockdown but perhaps we don’t notice it as much as we would otherwise given we are with them 24/7. That was brought into sharp focus tonight when I put M into his sleepsuit – he doesn’t wear them very often these days but most of his PJs are in the wash so I thought I’d dig one out before he grows out of them. If you look closely at the photo below you’ll see that I was far too late as he burst through the toes on both legs straight away! It was a real Incredible Hulk moment. Perhaps this is one of the silver linings of lockdown – we’re not missing a moment of our children’s development! 🦍

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And there we have it. Another week of #RemoteWorking and #HomeSchooling is at an end and we have survived relatively unscathed – I think. Today it was my turn to man the office so it sadly meant an entire day away from the kids. I was so looking forward to it!! Peace and quiet for the first time in weeks. It did leave Steph to deal with the kids for the whole day but I knew she would be fine.
We didn’t exactly get off to the best of starts as E decided to wake M up at 4.30am and through to our bedroom they trooped. We thought we had played a blinder last night by letting them both stay up later than normal in the hope they would sleep in. Yeh right! Wishful thinking. It did mean M had his afternoon nap at 10.30am but other than that they have just been knackered and ratty all day. 
I must confess that since everything in my diary is completely true I was worried I’d have nothing to write today, but how wrong I was. When I arrived home this evening I’ve never seen Steph so close to the edge. The kids had pushed and pushed all day and clearly sensed blood with only one parent to run rings around. After only being home an hour I had also had enough – wish us luck for the weekend!
So here we go with the top 5 (and don’t worry, no snails today):

1. Leg 20 of the Lawyers in Lockdown 10 Marathon Virtual Relay Challenge is now completed after my latest Runday and I can’t believe I only have 6 runs left to do. Today was a slog and I felt pretty rubbish throughout so I was shocked to find at the end that it was my second fastest time. Maybe all these miles are starting to make a difference! It was an extra early start this morning so I encountered very few people along the way. A perfect opportunity to remind myself what a beautiful area we live in especially when it is peaceful in the early morning. I’ve passed the baton back to Steven for tomorrow. Please don’t forget we are trying to raise money for Brain Tumour Research and the link is here if you are able to spare anything at all. 🏃‍♂️ 🦈 
2. After being publicly called out in yesterday’s diary entry, Steph decided the kids did need a theme today and in a very cunning move chose Housework. As soon as I left for the office, she had them scrubbing the kitchen floor, hoovering throughout and washing the dishes. Long may this continue! I assumed like with most things they would lose interest pretty quickly so I was shocked that E asked if she could stay up tonight to do some more washing up. I’m putting my feet up tomorrow and letting them sort everything out! 🧹
3. I’ve been having some problems with the bar stools in the kitchen which we replaced last year. On one, the 4 screws underneath keep coming loose and I am constantly tightening them up. I assumed it was because the kids swing round on them all the time but they’re clearly badly designed if that movement causes the screws to come loose. Well to assume makes an ass out of u and me and so this proved to be the case tonight when I sat on the stool. M came in to see me and immediately crawled under the stool and started unscrewing everything. The little bugger was trying to dismantle the stool whilst I was actually sitting on it! Perhaps he’s going to be an engineer when he grows up. 🛠 
4. We had a remote bedtime story tonight with my mum reading over FaceTime – it was really nice for me to have a night off. Or so I thought. Inevitably when I took E up to bed she wanted a second story. So I gave her one of Daddy’s special bespoke stories all about the adventures of Princess E and Prince M. Tonight’s adventure was all about the importance of sleep and the disasters that befell our intrepid explorers when they got up too early! I think she got the message! 🥱 
5. It had to change my top 5 tonight half way through as after a lot of focus on sleep (or lack thereof) E has just turned up downstairs after 11pm saying she is hungry. Now, bear in mind she had her tea and then M’s tea (as he is apparently on a blueberry and bagel only diet) and then a massive slice of homemade chocolate brownie and then another slice she snuck past us and then biscuits. Why are our children refusing to sleep!?! Just give us a break!!!!!!! 😩

Restday, Thursday, Workday, Quizday… everything seems interchangeable these days. Looking back I had a pretty good day although it has felt incredibly long. I can feel tiredness begin to creep in earlier and earlier and perhaps my runs are catching up with me. Tomorrow is due to be a busy day as well so I think the weekend is coming at the right time!
E continues to excel with her work ethic. She’s smashing the schoolwork set for her and even received a couple of certificates from her teacher in the post today. I asked Steph about the theme for today’s #HomeSchooling and have been told there was no theme – just work. To be frank that sounds just lame and I am worried my regular readers will be sorely disappointed. It might be too short notice for tomorrow but if anyone has any great ideas for themes next week, please let me know!
There’s a definite family theme with today’s top 5 so here goes:

1. During handover at lunchtime I came down the stairs to hear E shouting for me,
“Daddy, you need to come. M has found a shell. And it has some water in it”
Now, I’ll confess my initial thought was he had grabbed a soap dish, or better still just one of E’s toys but the reference to water did worry me a little. So I came down to find M outside sat on the patio. Holding a snail shell. Sticking his finger into it. And squishing the snail so the gloop was oozing out. And starting to lick his fingers. He is genuinely a disgusting little boy who clearly has a desire to be French! But he’s still my little boy and therefore I’m obliged to say I wouldn’t him any other way but perhaps he could leave the snails alone in future! 🐌 
2. After a bit of quizzing tonight I went out to the garden to tidy up the kids’ toys. “Get them outside” I said to Steph this morning, “they need to burn off some energy as they’ve been cooped up too much recently.” I mean it was well intentioned and certainly M had a good long nap this afternoon after being in the garden for the most of the morning. But what I discovered outside this evening was a layer of chuckie stones all over my lovely lawn. E knows it needs a cut this weekend and so I’ve been on my hands and knees picking up hundreds of stones. What has my life become? 😫
3. E took some lovely photos of M this evening and rushed over with the iPad to show me. I told her what a lovely sister she is and it was a lovely family moment where everyone was just in a positive mood. Until E replied: “We need nice photos of M so we can remember him when he dies.”
I asked her what on earth she was talking about and as usual she spoke to me like I was a naive idiot! “Not everyone survives Daddy and so M will die sometime. But before that I want to marry him as he is my best friend.” Bear in mind this is the boy who has been pulling clumps out of her hair all week. My heart just melted! 💝
4. We’ve been trying hard to keep in touch with family and friends and inevitably talk about them a lot in from of the kids. Sometimes they latch onto these conversations and today E overheard us talking about my dad. “Can we go and visit Grandpa when the Coronavirus goes away?” Of course we can I replied and she got very excited! “Yippee! I love staying for sleepovers at Grandpa’s because he lives in a hotel!” 
“A hotel?”
“Yes it’s like a hotel because there’s lots of doors and we have to go up in a lift.”
“You mean he lives in a flat E?”
“Whatever Daddy. I think it’s a hotel!” 🏨 
5. Pinkie promises in our house are sacrosanct. They cannot be broken and I think it dates back to when I first told E that if you break one, your pinkie falls off. I was trying to get her to eat her tea tonight and she was conducting her usual negotiation – what’s in it for me Daddy? She wanted to stay up for the NHS clap so there was a pinkie promise that if she ate everything on her plate she could stay up for that. But whilst making the promise she added in that she would tidy the living room, clean the kitchen floor and do the washing up. I’ve no idea where it came from but apparently she wanted to help Daddy with “his chores”! Who knows what her Mammy has been teaching her. Anyway, when trying to pack her off to bed we found her with a dining room chair pulled up to the kitchen sink ready to wash the dishes. I’m thinking we need to harness this enthusiasm and get a big clean going over the weekend – maybe that will be tomorrow’s theme!! 🤙

Boy, today’s been a long day! Steph and I discussed last night how we haven’t used an alarm clock once during lockdown and sadly that’s not because we’re able to lie in every day. I feel very conflicted every morning as the emotions of pure joy at seeing my children first thing and anger at them waking us up so early battle for supremacy. This morning the joy definitely won as I got a couple of lovely cuddles which set me up for the day perfectly. 
After what feels like a very long run of #HomeSchooling we are finally at the end of the alphabet themes. I was all for Zzzzz for Z and wanted to try and teach E about the importance of sleep but that was never happening. So we went with Zoo. Lots of animal chat, a virtual tour around Edinburgh Zoo and an afternoon matinee of Zootropolis made for a great day of learning. The big debate now is what we do next. Numbers has been suggested but I think we will discuss this with E tomorrow and let her have a bit of ownership. Perhaps a bit of guided learning as if she has free rein I think I know what tomorrow’s theme will be (Paw bloody Patrol!)
So what made today’s top 5?

1. The never ending cycle of Rundays continues and I started this morning reminding myself why I’m putting myself through it. It was 0 degrees when I started today so I had to put on my sexy tights and woolly hat as the last thing I need is to get ill. There is no way Sharky would have let a bit of cold stop him and so I sucked it up and got going. After a couple of miles I was surprised to find I was feeling strong so just kept pushing and ended up with a 10k PB and after a somewhat unnecessary sprint finish managed to knock 7 minutes off the time I set on my first long run (on the same route). Now that I think I’m getting the hang of it and there’s only 6 legs left for me to complete, no doubt something bad will happen on Friday! Our sponsorship total is creeping up but we’d really like to kick on as we get towards the end of this challenge – link is www.justgiving.com/fundraising/DaveLow  🏃‍♂️ 🦈 
2. Steph was in charge of the walk today and so off the three of them trotted whilst I got on with some work. So far so good. The next second I hear a noise on the roof and look out to see hailstones hammering down. Impeccable timing by my wife as usual and like any good husband I stayed tucked up, safe and dry in the house whilst she sorted out her own mess. It turns out they huddled under a tree for a bit before rushing home. Apparently I’m back on daily exercise duty tomorrow!! ❄️ 
3. Today was definitely a foodie day with my wife donning an apron and knocking out three cracking home cooked meals. To be honest I could get used to this! Egg in the hole for breakfast, garlic potato and chicken salad for lunch and seekh kebabs for tea (although they did look like massive poops before they were cooked)! I can’t think of a time she has ever cooked me three meals in a day but boy did she excel today. I’m stuffed! Fingers crossed she reads this and, boosted by the compliments, does the same again tomorrow! 🍳 
4. Hide and seek tag. E has invented a new game which is really very simple and combines the classics of hide and seek and tig and tag. If you find the hider then you have to tag them and they then immediately count to 10 and so we go on. Of course M is too little to play and Steph seems to be excluded (lucky her!) so it’s just E and me chasing each other around the house given that there are a very limited hiding places here. Especially for me. I mean where is a 6’2” guy meant to hide in 10 seconds? Suggestions very welcome! 💁‍♂️
5. Don’t cry over spilt milk. I think M is going stir crazy with lockdown as his misdemeanours have reached a new level. More pulling of his sister’s hair, ripping apart everything he can find including wallpaper and when all else fails running around and around in circles until he gets dizzy and crashes into something. I also still haven’t found my toothbrush head or my ear bud for my headphones! I almost lost it with him this evening when he took his bottle of milk into the living room to drink and when I came in to check on him shortly after I found he had tipped it upside down and run around pouring it all over the carpet and the couches. As I sit writing this now I can still smell the milk – what goes through his head? I think I might lock him in the garden tomorrow and see what happens! 🥛

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Another day and another Restday which I feel was well earned after yesterday’s run. Work is certainly keeping us on our toes especially as the shift patterns ramp up. We are both as bad as each other at turning up to the home office at the allotted time tapping our watches as the other runs over! 
So with the #HomeSchooling the colour Yellow was today’s theme and it was embraced wholeheartedly by the entire family. E’s love of jokes really came to the fore when I tried to explain to her what yellow snow was! On our daily walk we looked out for anything yellow and E listed everything she could think of even if she couldn’t see it. There followed a debate about whether ducks really are yellow or if that is just in books and cartoons. Half way through it occurred to me that these are the conversations I wouldn’t get to have if it weren’t for lockdown – silver lining and all that.
A few crackers today so the top 5 was pretty easy:

1. “Cocks wake me up” said E to me on our lunchtime walk today. Excuse me I hear you cry? Well quite! I gave her a quizzical look and asked her what she meant. She did her usual exasperated and unimpressed look and set about explaining:
“If you had been listening Daddy you would have heard what I was telling you. I was saying that we were walking past the chickens and the difference between the boys and the girls is that the hens lay the eggs for me to eat and the cockerels wake me up!” Phew! 🐓 
2. We treated the kids to pizza for tea tonight which always goes down well. They sat really nicely in the kitchen or so I was told as I was still working upstairs. The first I knew about teatime was Steph telling me that I had to wash their hair in the shower. It turns out M ate most of his then scooped off the remaining tomato sauce into his hands and then not only rubbed it through it own hair but also leaned over and smeared it into E’s hair. That did not go down well but a rigorous Daddy shower soon showed that all problems can be fixed – all it takes is a bit of soap and water! 🍕 
3. Both of our phones have been completely jammed up with photos both of our kids and random scenes around the house. Even M has now worked out that he can switch on the camera app without unlocking the phone. E is the master of the selfie but they both seem to enjoy taking photos of each other or just of things like the TV. Why take one photo when you can take 73? They don’t know the joy of camera film or the disposables you used to take on holiday. You wouldn’t waste on of your 27 on just anything! But now they can snap to their hearts content and we just spend every evening deleting them all! 🤳 
4. Steph has been harking on for months about upgrading her phone and to be frank I’m fed up hearing it. So last week I told her just get on with it and get a new one and today it arrived, all shiny and new. I mean these days any delivery is likely to be the highlight of the day but the kids were very taken and wanted to help open the box. Little did we realise there was an ulterior motive to this excitement, particularly when it came to E. About 10 minutes later she suddenly pipes up, “Mammy, can I have something?”
“What do you want to eat now?!?”
“No, Mammy. I need a phone. Not a toy one. A real one. And I can have your one now as you have a new one!”
Well played my girl!!! 📱 
5. Lockdown is really emotionally tough, and it can creep up on you a bit even if you are feeling strong. I was doing my domestic goddess thing this evening making a super homemade tea when the tears just started to flow. I came through to the living room where the kids immediately rushed over and E was all concerned about me. “What’s wrong Daddy?” but I was struggling to speak. She called for Steph and she arrived and rushed in for a hug upon seeing the tears rolling down my cheeks. “Don’t worry” she said “we all are feeling like this sometimes… just let it out.” I took a few deep breaths and composed myself and managed just a few words. “I’ve been chopping the onions, that’s all.” There wasn’t a lot of sympathy after that! 😭

The start of yet another week in lockdown. In some respects things are getting easier as we continue to get used to the “new normal” but in other respects the isolation is getting harder and harder. Missing family and friends and work colleagues in particular. But I keep reminding myself I have a lot of entertainment under this roof if only I look past the naughtiness. I’m not sure whether M’s bump to the head yesterday is a factor but he has taken his tinkerishness to a completely new level today starting with more clumps being pulled out of E’s hair. She’s very patient with him!
The #HomeSchooling kicked off again in earnest with a bunch of maths and English together with our X theme of X-Ray. Not the most inventive, I grant you, but it allowed us to talk about the human body and bones. Emma now appears to have an unhealthy obsession with breaking a bone just so she can have a real X-ray!
So in between the work and the tellings off, what made today’s top 5?

1. Another Runday and certainly a very different experience to the last one. I slept in and didn’t get up until my usual start time so I only really had 10 minutes to throw on my gear and get out of the door. As a result the first 2 miles was really just me waking up. It was also a very different climate going from roasting hot to hail and sleet. But I felt surprisingly good on the last part and dared to think for a few minutes that perhaps I was getting the hang of this! My legs as the day has gone on tell a very different story and perhaps that is because we are on leg 16 of this crazy relay. I am delighted we are now past half way so it is all downhill from here (apparently!) I am also delighted that my Saltire arrived today which I will undoubtedly drape around my shoulders at the end of the last leg. E and M think it is great and keep trying to use it as a tablecloth for some reason. Once again thank you to everyone who has sponsored so far – link in the comments section for those who haven’t…. what are you waiting for? 🏃‍♂️ 🦈 
2. Whilst Steph leads with the home schooling I do try and help out when I can. Today I managed to squeeze in some phonics during my lunchbreak and was really impressed with E’s knowledge. The only problem is keeping her focused and I’m genuinely not sure how good old Mr Baxter manages! We made it onto the final question with a bit of coaxing and encouragement and then she just turned to me and said “Why is stuff hard?” A very astute question I thought but not one I even attempted to answer! 🤔
3. E took on responsibility for pushing M’s pushchair during the lunchtime walk today and when she got back she proudly explained that she’d had a good chat with him as they went around. I should make clear that, as usual, he was fast asleep so I can only assume she was speaking to herself. At least he wasn’t talking back! Apparently she was explaining to him all about how important it is for him to eat his 5 a day and he “needs to eat his veggies”. She then told him a series of jokes which she is still learning about and she certainly hasn’t mastered the concept of punchlines yet. My favourite today was “Why did the body cross the road? To get to the skeleton on the other side. But its Mammy’s body as she needs a skeleton for her body!” A work in progress I think. No wonder M had a three hour nap! 😄 
4. Magpie M. The missing toothbrush heads remain unaccounted for and now the ear buds for my running headphones have disappeared too. We know M had grabbed them and we’re just praying he hasn’t eaten them! I am now convinced that he has a stash somewhere in the house where all the things that have gone missing during lockdown have been tucked away in a Borrowers style. No doubt he will wait until all of these things have been replaced before proudly showing us where his hiding place is. It’s just that knowing look he gives us, coupled with his smirk, that makes me so sure he knows a lot more than he is letting on. I have searched everywhere though so he’s playing a very canny game of hide and seek! 🎧 
5. So my usually very patient and understanding wife is being pushed to the very edge with the ongoing lockdown. It’s not so much the “being stuck at home juggling work, children, home schooling and generally running a house” rather than the apprehension every evening about what I’m going to write about her in my diary. And apparently last night’s comment about her somewhat suspect use of utensils appears to have been the last straw. She announced this afternoon that I could make the tea and that way I could use whatever utensils I wanted! I decided I would show her and make something lush which I duly did. Homemade mozzarella stuffed meatballs with a rich, Italian tomato sauce which went down a treat. This has completely backfired however as she now has suggested I did such a good job I can cook every night this week! 🍝

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