Have you heard we might be locked down until June, or even longer?
I shouted at my friend who told me this on Facetime.
She’d read it somewhere. “What?” I shouted. “Tell me you’re kidding.”
She poured another glass of Prosecco; I topped up my red wine. It was 10am on Saturday morning.
Don’t worry, I’m only kidding, it was 8pm on Saturday night but Jeez, don’t the hours and days just merge into one?
As I am often away with work, I’ve dreamt of spending more time with my family.
You don’t get this time back, I think wistfully as I enjoy the days we do have together.
Then we have lockdown for a week and I wonder how the kids ever got through school with a play piece and lunch.
Are “worms” a symptom of the virus, I fret.
Thank goodness for the school mums’ WhatsApp, which reassures me they are all the same. Constantly hungry.
Every day feels like a game of “how many times can you put on the dishwasher and washing machine?” (I might pitch the gameshow to Channel 4) and on Wednesday I swear time stood still.
And yet there are moments of beauty.
Like when you see the insecurities, the loves and fears of your children placed under the microscope you didn’t have the time to look through before all of this.
You (sometimes) learn how to be the parent that brings out the best in them.
So while the extra time can be frustrating, whether living alone or with a squad of wee ones, it can be beautiful – listening to soul-lifting music while finally painting the living room or appreciating the beauty of the Silvery Tay or a glorious sunset.
As a footnote, I realise these are all relatively frothy thoughts in these most bizarre of times, but there’s enough heavy news around.
It’s not all lattes and yoga – there are deep anxieties and fears.
But I’ll save that for another column, when you really need cheered up.
For the original article and Martel’s weekly Evening telegraph column click here https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/there-are-moments-of-beauty-even-in-this-most-bizarre-of-times/