As we anxiously await the results of the election in the Divided States of America, here’s what else has been going on for the Walks Between the Commons.
Last week was the half-term school break. We’d had flights and a place to stay booked in Italy, but obviously that was cancelled. So the challenge became: How can I give the girls a normal-ish fun half-term/Halloween/4th birthday in a pandemic?
We started by borrowing a car from a very generous friend for a couple days, so we could do some day trips out of the city.
I chose places that were all outdoors, and which claimed they were capping the numbers of visitors allowed in and had staggered entry times and all the other measures attractions are having to take now to make them seem safe.
On Sunday we went to Bocketts Farm Park, which was excellent.
There’s so much for the kids to do outside, and the indoor soft play area is in a big barn and we had a 50-minute time slot for that (and the parents wore masks), so it wasn’t crowded like it usually would be.
On Monday we went to Legoland in Windsor, which E has been asking to go to since she was 4.
I was excited for this, because the other experiences we’ve had taking our kids to amusement parks, like Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, have all been really good. This one, however, was not.
They were operating rides with social distancing, meaning they were leaving seats and, on some rides, even whole rows empty between parties. Which means the queues were nearly twice as long and slow as usual. The wait times were so long for the rides that we didn’t get to go on very many.
Waiting over an hour in a queue with two young children? Out of the question. Legoland clearly needs to lower the maximum number of visitors per day by a lot.
Also, our lunch of three small (no doubt frozen) pizzas (no drinks or sides) cost £42. Yikes.
In terms of value for money, Legoland in a pandemic was definitively NOT worth it. The kids still said they had fun, though, so that is something.
Then there was the matter of “saving” Halloween. The grocery stores have been using ad slogans like “Stick and Treat” and “The Spooktacular Night In” to urge people to still buy Halloween stuff even though they’re not able to do the usual Halloween stuff.
We could still do a lot of the standard Halloween activities: pumpkin carving…
bat biscuit decorating…
And to our great delight, our mouse hole had quite a few additions by Halloween!
I also banded together with six other mums in E’s class to organize a private trick-or-treat trail for our kids. We had a schedule and a route so we could all hit each other’s houses, which worked out really well.
In addition, a lot of people put out bowls of sweets in front of their houses, so the kids could “grab and go” along the way.
We also stopped at a house of one of R’s nursery classmates, whose parents had set up a pretty stellar sweet chute.
So all in all, the kids had a great Halloween that really wasn’t any less fun than any other year. Success!
And as we were trick-or-treating, the government announced a monthlong lockdown to begin Thursday, and, supposedly, end December 2. The day my mom is supposed to arrive to spend Christmas with us.
But it’s not as strict a lockdown as the one back in the spring. The biggest difference: SCHOOLS ARE STAYING OPEN!!!!!!!!!
I feel so terrible for the small businesses that have to close once again, particularly the services that don’t have a way to operate online, and particularly for the shops that rely on the Christmas shopping season to turn a profit. It’s such a massive failure by the government. A second lockdown was preventable. And they failed to prevent it.
Now everyone has been trying to get things done before midnight tonight, when Cinderella’s glass slipper turns into a regular slipper that doesn’t leave the house for a month. Trips to the shops or just a last-hurrah meal out with friends, people are doing what they want to do before they can’t do it.
On Monday, I spent a fair amount of time running errands and standing in queues. I tried three different post offices before I gave in and joined the long queue stretching down the block at the third one. And I don’t think the post offices are even going to close, since they’re pretty essential.
Yesterday I cycled over the Prince Albert Bridge to the King’s Road in Chelsea, to exchange something and do a bit of early Christmas shopping before the shops close.
I love going to the King’s Road. It just feels like something is always happening there.
Whether it’s the Chelsea Flower Show, or the Christmas light switch-on, or free outdoor yoga, or watching the Wimbledon finals… we’ve enjoyed a lot of events on the King’s Road. It’s always hopping, but not in the overcrowded, overwhelming way of Central London.
And sometimes Jeremy Piven wants directions to the yoga studio. And sometimes you can’t get to your bicycle because it’s been talent scouted while you were shopping and a TV crew is filming it for the “reality” show Made in Chelsea, which is what happened yesterday. You know, normal stuff like that.
And today, on the eve of lockdown, I enjoyed one last round of tennis followed by coffee with friends, before tomorrow when those simple pleasures are not allowed.
In addition to being the first day of Lockdown2.0, tomorrow is Guy Fawkes Day. Remember, remember the fifth of November… There will be no Bonfire Night fireworks this year. Cadbury Bonfire Logs and some sparklers in the garden will have to suffice.
I just hope we will be waving our sparklers in celebration of a victory in the U.S. presidential election, too.
