A day in the life of a "lockdowner". (Feel free to pass on by if this is boring, and don't make snarky comments)

[pollyglot]

How do you spend your day under lockdown? Perhaps I'm just a bored curtain twitcher, but I do find it interesting how people manage on a day-to-day basis.
Polly's day (recently retired teacher, over 65, living very remotely)

6.00 Get up to enjoy the early dawn and watch the sunrise. Tea x2
6.30 Feed cats-our two, plus all the strays that have adopted us
7.00 Watch BBC news.
8.00 Mooch, coffee, toast, chat with 'im indoors. Basic housework
9.00 Into garden -2-3 hours heavy digging/weeding to work up
sweat
12.00 Lunch. Wine. nap
2.00 Working on computer - researching family history. Also doing
Future Learn on-line studies. The Old Guy in workshop.
5.30 Wine. Prepare supper. Feed cats
6.00 News. Wine
7.00 Supper. Tidy up. Chat online with kids. Feed cats.
8.00 TV .
10.00 Bed. Listen to podcasts in the dark.

My own kids, with their own families, obviously have a very different lifestyle. One working from home, with a toddler, one on the hospital frontline, one on furlough with 2 smalls. Wish I could help them out a little. Have SO much admiration for all you young 'uns coping with babies and small kids in confined conditions.

Oh should add in video call the grandparents sporadically but I find it quite stressful as inevitably we end up talking about the news and I’m trying to avoid too much as it’s not helping my anxiety

(Nonworking day for me and dh)
7am: woken by toddler ds chatting on the monitor, doze for 10 minutes as hes happy.
7.10am: toddler shouts "out!" I get up, cuddle with him, look at a book, go downstairs for breakfast.
7.30: make toddler breakfast
7.40: eat cheerios and make tea, toddler helps with cheerios!
7.50 - 9ish: freeplay for ds, telly on cbeebies but he will wander about and play with his toys and look at books too.
9: take ds to get dressed and brush his teeth, go wake daddy up!
9.15-10.30: lately I've been having a nap whilst ds is with dh (or vice versa if dh got up first)
10.30: wake up, get dressed.
10.45: play in garden with ds or do activity such as drawing or baking.
12.00: ds lunch then either a walk or playtime before going upstairs to look at books.
13.30: put ds down for nap, he will chat and sing for up to 45 mins then settle. I'll have a tidy and potter about.
15.30 wake up ds
15.45 long walk if not already done
17.00 ds tea
17.30-19.00 wind down, bath time, story and bed for da
19.30 dh and I make and have dinner
Then dh and I will have baths, watch a bit of telly or play on the playstation, 3 times a week watch a movie with a glass of g and t.
Any time up to midnight, bed!

I am enjoying lockdown. I was clearly more socially distanced than I realised. I haven't really missed anyone except my parents, and actually got a bit tired of the incessant zoom chats and face time with people I wouldn't normally be talking to, certainly not in that context. I speak to my real friends via phone or WhatsApp most days.

Our day looks like this:
6/7 get up.
Breakfast with the youngest dc
By 9am- everyone dressed/showered etc
16yo dd will get up around 11/12 - I'm letting her do this for now because from 27th April she will be starting A level work from school and having to log in at 9,00
Dh is wfh so he goes into his office.
I will do some sort of 'job' each day, eg, gardening, cleaning task type thing as I get bored. I have been putting different cuddly animals out on our front drive for the children to see as they walk past (eg yesterday was monkeys in the tree)
Both Dh and I will go for a run on most days, separately
I do yoga most days, and a local class I go to is putting online sessions on so I do those some days
The dc play outside or in their rooms. I haven't done much 'homeschool' yet
We eat dinner at 6, boys to bed, watch something on TV and go to bed.

I am an FE tutor so currently college is on holiday but after next week I will return to wfh; I do 2 hours on two evenings, and 2 hours on Wednesday afternoon: contacting students, setting work, replying to emails etc.

This weekend will be different because Dh has Friday/Monday off so we'll do more family stuff but it's not really that different to our normal life except we'd probably have seen our parents.

I do miss my mum and dad as it's 8 weeks now since I've seen them.

Lovely to read how everyone’s days pan out.
I am in awe though, Theodoreb as you seem to keep going on very little sleep or time out. Do you have any support?

We are a family of 4, dh, me, ds16 and dd13. Dh and I run our own business which is now on hold so have lots of time to ourselves atm.

1. Breakfast. Take dh a cup of tea in bed and then either one or dc or me will set the table although I decide what we are having depending on what we have in stock.

10-1 dd and I are sewing for the nhs now so will do that. Ds and dh will do jobs around the house or garage. Dh is also teaching ds how to strip an engine so they spend a lot of time in the garage!
Prior to Easter holidays both dc would be doing school work in this time.

1. Lunchtime. This has been lovely as we can sit in the garden together in the sunshine and have a game of table tennis after eating.

1. I do the cleaning, Dh in garage, and dc can do what they want. Dd often plays online PlayStation games with her friends or FaceTimes them. Ds will chat to friends or go in the garage.

1. Start getting tea ready. We are taking it in turns to cook so dc are learning.

1. Ds and I go for a walk with dog. We often walk past a friend’s house who is shielding and chat on the phone outside her window.

1. Have tea and watch tv.

1. Dd and I go upstairs to read, play on iPads etc and dh and ds watch a box set.

It’s all quite relaxing in our own little bubble really, although terrifying when we read the news. We do FaceTime friends and family regularly.

I did lol at the suggestion that OP drinks a lot. My mum has a tiny glass of red with her lunch and dinner and her bottle lasts for days, and she is certainly not an alcoholic.

My days are as follows. My husband works from home and due to Covid he's really busy and stressed out. I quit my job in February so I'm currently the one looking after our 3-year-old and doing most of the housework. Warning: 'tis boring.

07:00 My son wakes me up and wants TV and breakfast. I drink coffee, read the news and try to wake up.

08:00 I play trains with my son and mentally prepare him for Joe Wicks. Husband gets up and goes to work in his office.

09:00 P.E. with Joe Wicks! Followed by a shower and my breakfast.

10:00 Playing with son, housework, chatting to family on WhatsApp.

12:00 Lunch with my son.

13:00 Walk around the park/outdoor stuff.

14:00 Entertaining son/TV/housework/yoga if my son lets me.

16:00 Son's dinner. Cooking/tidying up etc.

17:00 Son's bath. If I'm lucky my husband finishes work around this time.

18:00 Quiet playtime with my son/books/TV.

19:00 Son goes to bed. Husband and I cook and have dinner.

The rest of the evening is "quality time" with my husband, my guitar practice and watching TV/mumsnetting, reading the news and staying up to fight for a Tesco delivery slot.

01:00 Bed. This is also when my son crawls into bed with us and kicks me until it's time to wake up...

7am wake and read through news headlines. Get up, get breakfast.

7.30am kids up, sort their breakfast, get them washed and dressed.

8.30am empty dishwasher, tidy up kitchen, plan meals for the day (lift out anything from the freezer that needs to defrost).

9am kids do Joe Wicks while I plan their school work.

9.30-11am school work with 4 kids all at different stages from nursery to early secondary school age, it's intense trying to keep them all on-task and engaged!

11am break, kick the kids outside while I grab a coffee and add to my lengthy list the reasons why I'm not a primary school teacher.

11.30am some sort of practical and fun activity with an educational slant (baking, art and craft, science, nature walk).

12.30am lunch and play time.

Afternoon is time for the kids to have free play, music practice, potter about doing a project on the computer while I try to catch up on my work that I'm supposed to have done as I'm WFH at the minute. It's hard though as I'm constantly interrupted and having to sort them out and also have to make dinner.

5pm dinner.

6pm DH takes the kids out to the garden and I collapse with a coffee and catch up on the news.

7pm start the bedtime routines, DH helps and I try to get a bit more of my work done.

Usually work until about 10pm, until brain fog prevents any real productivity and I give up, watch a bit of TV, chat with DH, read the paper and then bed around midnight.

12.05am Promise myself I'll exercise tomorrow and will actually get some housework done.

Wake at 7am. Start groundhog day again. Break both promises. Again.

Also enjoying this - I am v nosy and do a job supporting families so v interested in simple facts of daily life for others.

6.30-7 woken by 18mo old, lie quietly breastfeeding and cuddling for 30m if lucky, more usually she is performing acrobatic feeding and trying to put fingers up my nose, or 4 y old has joined us and is cuddling on a good day, or nagging me to get up and fighting with wee one on a bad day.

7.30-8.30 breakfast and attempts at tidying up
8.30-9.30 playing/attempts at getting us all dressed
9.30 if dressed etc successfully, then get out on scooter for walk and running about in park for us all. If not successful then hang about at home playing or pottering in garden
11.30 home and think about lunch
12 lunch
1-3 toddler nap and 4yo watching movie or cartoons with snacks, I work if a working day and lie about mumsnetting and eating too many snacks if not (I long for the latter)
3-5 Go out if haven’t already, otherwise nag big one to get off tv, Cuddle wee one before she wakes up too much, more garden/ making dens/drawing (mainly on walls by wee one)/baking (not often as I want to kill myself afterwards)
5-6.30 make and eat dinner
6.30 4 yo bedtime routine, wee one stays downstairs with whoever’s turn it is tidying up etc before putting her to bed closer to 8 (we implemented this later bedtime at clock change to stop 6am wakes and it actually has worked), big one asleep 7-7.15.
8 downstairs with DH, a bit of monging on our phones, a bit of chatting with each other/ family
10-11 bed

DH is keyworker and out or working upstairs 4 days, but is involved in whatever he’s able and takes over on days off so I get some lie ins and more breaks. Looking forward to having him around this weekend.

The really hard days are when I try to wfh around kids and bedtime and get no breaks, otherwise it’s all quite pleasant unless I’ve been up in the night with one or other and I’m tired, and when the wee one has not shit on the floor. We had suspected Coronavirus and she pooed so much during it, her bum got really rashy and it’s been hard to get on top of so she has a lot of bare bum time, super dangerous

@pollyglot - your day sounds perfect!!

My day depends very much on who's working. I'm frontline Police and DH is frontline NHS. At the moment we're isolating as I have symptoms, and as my symptoms are mild (awaiting result of test) and no one else is showing any yet, our days have been fairly relaxed.

Around 8am - either 2 or 7 year old wake us up

8-9am - breakfast

9am - would usually be a dog walk with the kids but obviously I can't leave the house currently! We are very lucky in that we have a small garden but the gate opens up onto a football field, so we mooch round there with balls, bubbles etc

9.45 - snack and brew time

10 - 12 - term time - English maths work with the eldest but in the hols we've sat in the garden, played on the trampoline or in the sandpit, coloured or painted, read books together

12-1 - lunchtime. Cartoons on

1-3 - much the same as the morning. We try to do a craft activity, and I sneak some learning in with virtual tours of places my 7 year old is interested in. In term time, this is subject time, so he picks a subject for the week and we research it together and do activities based on that. Baking with the 2 year old.

3 - snack time and brew time

3.15 - 5 - free time for the kids. I encourage independent play while I clean / make tea. Eldest can go on tablet if wishes.

5-6 - tea time.

6-7 - bath, book, bed for the boys

7-10 - tidy up the house, catch up on work emails, put a film or box set on. Wine or gin.

Not boring, fascinating! And, a massive well done to those of you with little ‘uns keeping them going all day! You sound like you are doing amazingly.

The days I work from home:
7.30am. get up, shower, dress, cup of tea
8am. log in and work until 5-sh
12.30. lunch in garden
Teenage child is doing school work online all day
5pm. run/walk
6pm. dinner
7pm. wine/tea + telly until 11

Last few days when I haven't been working DC is on Easter break
9am. Get up
9.05am. telly on/internet/mooching around feeling like i should be doing something
1pm. lunch, wine
2pm. back to telly etc...
5pm. run/walk
...and thats it, until wine + dinner at 7

I’m 50, locked down with DS 30 and DD 29. Was wfh before all this started so this hasn’t changed.

8am ish wake up, make small pot of coffee and take it back to bed, feed cats
9 or so, do an hour or two of work
11 shower, dress, breakfast
12 another hour of work
1 have been doing an hour or so garden sorting with DD. We are quite leisurely about it and have coffee and chat in between tasks. I don’t really eat lunch, probably as I have breakfast quite late.
2/3 some more work, mixed with household chores
5 usually watch the daily briefing or have it on in the background while reading or similar.
6ish prepare/eat dinner, feed cats
7 usually watch something with either DD or DS, some evenings we’ll play board games, sometimes chat with my DSis on the phone.
10 go up to bed with cats! Read for a while and sleep around 10:30

2 x primary age DCs here. I'm a teacher but haven't volunteered for school holiday work as DH is vulnerable. He was working from home but has been furloughed.

7.30-8 kids wake up, make cereal and watch tv
8- I make coffee, feed pets, have breakfast, empty dishwasher
9-shower, get dressed, nag kids to get washed and dressed
9.30-11.30 home school, DH does DIY or gardening
Then do some cleaning, make lunch, eat as a family
Afternoon - play in the garden, watch TV, baking, crafts, whatever we feel like. DH takes the kids for a long walk near our house so I can relax in peace for a bit.

Dinner together, then board games, TV and bed for the kids 8-8.30pm
Tv for us
10pm-bed

Weekdays are looking like this for us. Which is me, DH and DS (6). DH and I are both trying to WFH so have split the day so one of us is upstairs working in relative peace, the other is downstairs with DS.

Up anywhere between 6-8am

Person A works upstairs 8-12
Person B works downstairs 8-9/9:30 whilst DS has breakfast/watches TV, then does Joe Wicks and other activities with DS (or just keeps him company, whatever).

12-1 all 3 of us are going for a mile walk, DS taking bike or scooter sometimes, then home for lunch together.

1-5/5:30 Person B working upstairs
Person A downstairs with DS, and working 4-5/5:30 whilst DS plays on his PlayStation.

6-7/7:30 DS dinner/bath/bed

I’m still doing 2 exercise classes per week (via zoom) and DH is doing Les Mills stuff a couple of times a week too in the evenings. So between that, dinner, watching box sets and calls with family/friends that fills the time until bedtime.

Weekends we are doing longer walks and working our way through a list of household jobs we’ve been putting off for ages, watching films together etc.

6am
DH gets up & starts work. I MN on my phone in bed & catch up with news

Every other day- 8am go for run (I used to hate running but IM ALONE!)
Other days- get up, breakfast & start work.

9am shout at kids to get up
(School time I then spend the day nagging them to work whilst I try and work)
11am: coffee & snack & make soup with a child for lunch (leave to simmer)

1pm drag DH out of study & we all have lunch.

If term time- kids have a break for half an hour, then enforced walk round lanes (rural) with either me or DH
If not term time- kids spend day reading/cooking/trampoline/minecraft

After lunch/exercise- work again till 4ish.
4pm: clean/garden/MN/call my family
Cook dinner
6pm: family dinner - or if DH still working the kids eat & we eat later. (Weekends :G&T then wine)
7pm: try and get kids to shower/tidy rooms. Often fail.

8pm kids in bed/reading I do jigsaw or binge watch box sets online
DH reads.

10pm DH goes to bed or watches news
1030/11 I go to bed.

Our usual lockdown routine (M-F):

6.30 - up, quick shower, cup of tea
7-9: work (around 7.30 DS - 21 months - wakes up and DH gets him ready)
9-11: play with DS in garden or living room, do a bit of housework
11-12.30: work
12:30-1: lunch (DH makes) then DH puts DS down for a nap
1-3(ish): DS nap, DH and I both work
3-5: play with DS, sometimes take him out for a walk (sometimes DH does that in the morning). DH works
5-6: DS TV time, which I use to both catch up on email and make dinner
6-7.30: dinner then bed routine with DS (DH tidies up after dinner and does some other housework)
7.30-9: both DH and I work
9: collapse in front of TV, usually with something alcoholic in our hands!

SO happy to do have four days of a more relaxed routine now! I'm not yet dressed and I think we'll all watch a film together soon. Also hoping to tackle the garden at some point over the Easter weekend...

Two OAPs aged 76 and 83 one ‘shielded’ one vulnerable
Wake about 6.30-7
Frequent trips back and forth to lavatory
7.30 tea in bed, let cats (3) into bedroom for tummy tickling etc.
Read till 9 then take it in turns to get up and do breakfast
Breakfast and papers till about 10 then get dressed
10 to 11 ask each other what we are going to eat for lunch/dinner
I go to load/unload dishwasher and make a desultory attempt at cleaning kitchen surfaces.
Hoover living room...dh exercises by lifting his legs as I pass with the hoover.
12.30 lunch, very light, fruit and cheese or tinned soup.
1-2.30 dh has a sleep and I watch a recorded tv programme or read.
2.30 to 4.00 go outside and either do little jobs in the garden or just sit and enjoy the fresh air. If it is raining we just have a bit of a moan and carrying on reading.
At some point have WhatsApp video chat with dd and dgc
There may be deliveries of food which can be unpacked and added to list of what we might eat and when.
We do make lists from cupboard and freezer for theoretical meal planning.
5pm I do litter trays and dh feeds cats
5.15-6.30 TV! Pointless followed by House of Games
6.30 prepare evening meal if not already done
7pm have dinner
7.30 clear away then have WhatsApp chat with our friends
8-10 watch tv and read (often simultaneously)
10ish bed with milky drink and biscuit and share a game of solitaire on iPads.
11ish sleep if possible.
And so it goes....

pollyglot I really like the sound of your day although my wine glasses will also be bigger

I'm also relieved after reading other posts that mine are teens.

Ooh, good idea for a thread! I will share my routine. Currently DH is furloughed and I am WFH, we have a DD who is a toddler and one due in Sept!
7am- one of use gets up with DD, the other gets and lay in or chill time until 9am. We then alternate this everyday so that we both get our fair shair of lay ins- such a luxury!!
9am- WFH for 2 hours. I do this everyday including w/e to match the hours I usually work at work.
11-1pm- time with DD, usually out in the garden making mud pies. I will also make lunch for us. DH will use this time to potter around and get things done.
1-2pm family time. We eat lunch and then do an activity together, all 3 of us.
2-4pm- luckily, DD still has a nap so we get about 2 hours here. I usually WFH during this time. DH just chills out.
4-5pm- one of us spends time with DD while the other goes and cleans the house/odd jobs etc. We are deep cleaning, decluttering room by room. It's slow progress but the house has never looked so good! We alternate this daily depending on what jobs need doing and how long it takes.
5-6pm- one of us spends time with DD while the other one does smaller odd jobs, but also cook the dinner ready for 5:45pm.
6-7pm fininsh eating dinner, then more family time, choosing an activity with DD. Every other day it's bath time (unless particularly dirty!) Bed time routine at 6:45pm, DD in bed by 7.
I love the routine we've created. I'm usually quite tired by the evening and morning sickness has been kicking my ass but I'm grateful to be safe at home. I've tried really hard to save the money we aren't using, eg, petrol/childcare. Some of it will make up for DH 20% of his missing wages but the rest is for when the new baby comes (we had zero savings before that!!)

Also cats eat a lot from reading this thread.

Some of these days sound idyllic tbh. Not mine so much- hubby wfh, older dd complete with toddler grandson plus two primary age kids and throw in the odd night shift at hospital (green zone thankfully)... complete chaos ensues.

Can’t wait to escape lockdown

Great thread, it's so interesting/reassuring reading about other people's days.

Here DH is still working, I'm working very part time from home (about an hour a day) and a 5 year old.

6.30-7.30 5 year old wakes up and gets into bed with me (DH already left for work) she watches TV on ipad, I check news, emails, browse Internet.

8.30 make breakfast for 5 year old, I shower and dress.

9.00 I tidy, do washing, unload dishwasher etc. 5 year old watches TV or plays, draws etc.

9.30 I eat breakfast, 5 year old dressed, washed, teeth etc

10-12 school work with lots of playing breaks and a snack time to break it up.

12. 00 lunch

1. 00 5 year old reads to me for 15 mins or so

1.15 arts and crafts/cooking/walk/bike/
scooter ride/playing in garden. If not helping 5 year old (which is usually needed) I potter about doing jobs/ bit of work etc.

3/4.00 video call grandparents then more playing for 5 year old. I get dinner ready.

5.30 dinner

6.30-7.30 Bath, teeth stories/bed for 5 year old

7.30 DH and I watch TV, stare at phones etc

10.00 bed/read/continue staring at phones.

I’m 30, full time working from home, DH and I are staying with my parents, sister and granny. No children.

0715 get up
0730 breakfast
0745-0845 exercise- I alternate running, yoga and HIIT that my work is putting on for us with virtual trainers
0845 shower
0900 daily morning call with my team
0900-1100 work
11ish coffee break with parents
11-1300 work
1300 lunch (this varies as me and my husband try to coordinate so we have lunch together)
1400-1530 work, often outside if weather is nice
1530 coffee break with parents
1530-1830 work
1830 wine o clock!!! Trying to not drink more than 4 days a week... may also have a work drinks zoom call or call with friends at this time
1930 dinner - we have a family rota which is great as we only have to cook once a week with so many of us
2030-2230 watch a series or film with either mum, sister and granny (Golden Girls) or DH (VEEP). DH and I have date night once a week where we get our own takeaway and hang out to make sure we still get some couple time.
2300 bed

Looking at it mine looks hard work and very regimented, but actually I'm quite enjoying it - I normally work full-time so it's lovely to have so much extra time with DS, and I also find that having a long, broken-up work day is nicer for me. Work is very, very stressful at the moment so stopping for two hours to play with DS really helps me; it takes me a bit to switch off work in my head but once I have doing that regularly stops it getting overwhelming.

Lovely thread. I am afraid mine isn't going to read as relaxing either but I thought I would contribute.
This is a typical weekday at the moment..

7am get up have a shower, wake some of the kids up
8am start work
Between 8am and 6pm juggle conf calls, tidy up, help with home work, logging on issues, arguments, lunch, snacks, sort cats out, mail, washing, ironing, more tidying, wattsaps/calls from parents etc. Don't get any break basically!
6pm finish work but more of the above
Glass of wine most nights now
7pm dinner
I'm bed by 9pm!!!!!!!

Typical day here- three kids both me and husband are key workers but he is only in two days a week as teacher and I'm in three as nhs (awaiting redeployment but can work from home currently ) so kids usually at home (they have allocated key worker school places but we've not had to use these much yet)
730- three days a week I'll go for a half hour jog as it's quiet and don't have to swerve other people (hate jogging at any other time at the moment makes me anxious passing people on bridges etc)
8am breakfast then all on screens after - me social media kids Roblox
Get dressed
9am I'll work upstairs if a work day
Kids do joe wicks
Teenager gets up
930 hour or so one of us who isn't at work home schools kids- dh great with this as a teacher
Some days kids have online clubs such as karate via zoom

11 kids go for bike ride with dh or if my day off couch to 5k round the garden

1130 kids do online learning

12 lunch / kids screen time

1pm afternoon crafts / wellbeing type activities for kids

3pm screen time / free time kids
Housework / gardening is
Reading for me if day off ideally in garden
Dh playing guitar
Make dinner
5 watch daily briefing
530 dinner
630/7 yoga with adriene - me and kids
730 start getting kids ready for bed
Tidy up
8 watch tv / FaceTime friends or family
10 bed