Today was an interesting day. My daughter finally went back to school after a 7 month break. Living in lock down for such a long period of time was certainly a different experience for my daughter and husband. It’s not something they are used to. For myself on the other hand I am quite used to social distancing, to being isolated and stuck in the home and that’s due to my chronic health conditions.
I’m not complaining. Being unwell is no fun but the point I’m trying to make is that 2020 has been far from normal for Sylvia and John.
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Life Has Been Unpredictable
Life has in fact been very unpredictable. I’d say my daughter is now very much in the teenage stage. She has all the raging hormones of a twelve year old and her life is becoming ever increasingly more private.
Life has not been easy, being unable to complete year seven, losing Yoda our dog, (who passed away 3 weeks ago), having a sick mum and being an only child with no siblings has had quite an effect on my daughter, yet the older my child becomes, the more independent and private she becomes and the less I can or want to share publically
Concerns About My Child Going Back To School
What I will share is my worries and concerns as a Mother. I am concerned about coronavirus and the social distancing rules at school. My child has new rules to follow, she has a mask to wear in the corridors and out of the classroom, hand sanitiser and more. She is physically prepared to return to school, but I’m not sure if she is emotionally prepared.
There will be a lot to catch up on. I like many other parents am wondering how the lock down will impact my daughters ability to learn in the coming weeks. Has she missed out on key topics and learning.blocks? Has the fact my daughter only just started high school when the lock down began meant she has to try to make friends all over again?
Finding Good Friends Who Don’t Bully
I won’t go into details but there has been some bullying going on in the last few weeks and I’ve only just found out about it. Oh how I wish I had known it was going on but I only found out a few minutes before the first day back at school and I was not quite prepared to find out what I did.
However I am a mother and my priority is my child so I will have to find strategies and ways to help deal with everything that has been going on. As for blogging my daughter is over it. She has outgrown the toys and the fun kids books. She is not interested in reviewing children’s items, (although she wouldn’t mind some makeup, hair products or cos play items). This just means we will be moving away from toy reviews and sharing more “older people things”.
I also think it’s wise to make the blog more about me now. I’ve slowly been morphing this site into a family, crafts, recipes and ideas blog as I knew the time would come when Sylvia may not want to be involved any more. She’s happy to smile for an Instagram shot here and there but not interested in reviews and lifestyle posts the way she once was.
To be honest it’s good because when there are bullies out there, they can use information about you online to make life more difficult so the less I write about other family members the better I think.
Writing About Me
The one thing I will continue to do is write about me, about my life, my feelings and my experiences. This will be alongside the great ideas and Instant Pot recipes which I share and will focus on my own plans, goals, dreams and achievements. At the end of the day I don’t care what people think about me. If you don’t like me then tough!
John and I are developing one new recipe each week in the Instant Pot and last week it was creamy chicken soup which tasted amazing! Check it out!
My Health
My health is not good. It’s been bad for over a year and with the pandemic and lock down, testing and medical support I was due to have was cancelled. I am saving up to go private again because I’m not going to be seen any time this year by the Endocrinology team and I need a cortisol day curve test and a new adrenal pump…something else I’m saving for. I’ve only ever had a second hand one and with it being almost ten years old, I’m due to get my first new pump. I’m working hard to save for this as it’s around £3000.
Blogging Goals
So I have set a goal to share one new craft and one new recipe each week here on The Inspiration Edit. I am also writing a weekly newsletter and working on social media. I try so hard but with sickness always prevailing, my hours have cut back so I can rest more and I will keep chipping away to reach my goals for 2020.
My revised goals are::
- To maintain my social media numbers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
- To grow my Pinterest following to 40K members by Christmas.
- To grow my Instant Pot Group to 100K Membership
- To complete and publish my first book! I am actually going to do this in 2020! I’ve been saying it for years but I’ve almost finished the second draft of my Instant Pot Book. There are tips on how to publish books hassle free on Publishing Profits. (Way to go me).
- To build 5 landing pages on my blog to allow my audience to have a better experience when searching for certain topics.
- To work on making more slideshows and videos for our recipes and crafts
- To create a Christmas Gift Guide For the Kitchen!
Those are the goals for the coming months.
Family Goals
We have family goals to move home next year. We have dreams to one day have a studio/kitchen where we can develop recipes and work from and I have dreams for Sylvia to attend a certain school and live near certain family members in the future. This is a work in progress but we will get there.
I’m excited about the family goals as well as my individual goals. l also want to get a new Bichon dog within two years. Casper is lonely and missing Yoda but we are not yet ready, That might be something for 2021.
Finally I am going to take a honeymoon with John on our ten year anniversary which will be in 2023 and I hope to take Sylvia on an adventure at some point to some place we have never been.
Angela
I hope Sylvia has settled in well at school. My girl went back yesterday and I was worried about her but she got on great and came home full of smiles.
Ahh! My girl turned 13 a couple of weeks ago and she seems to have suddenly grown up. She is playing less with the toys and is more into drawing and everything anime.
That is rubbish about the bullies and Yoda! Sending love and hugs. I am so sorry.
That is great news about getting a new pump. I hope you get all the medical support you need. We have an appointment next week that we’ve been waiting for, for almost a year.
Good luck with your goals x
Thanks Kim. Yes lot’s of changes but lots to look forward to as well!