‘Joe Wicks has been helping me get some work done during our coronavirus lockdown’

If you had told me a week ago that fitness coach Joe Wicks was going to help me get my work done I would never have believed you – yet that is exactly what has happened!
Joe Wicks, aka The Body Coach, teaches the UK's school children physical education live via YouTube  (Photo by The Body Coach via Getty Images) SUS-200326-151227003Joe Wicks, aka The Body Coach, teaches the UK's school children physical education live via YouTube  (Photo by The Body Coach via Getty Images) SUS-200326-151227003
Joe Wicks, aka The Body Coach, teaches the UK's school children physical education live via YouTube (Photo by The Body Coach via Getty Images) SUS-200326-151227003

Our family – just like every other one up and down the county – has been adjusting to attempting to work, homeschool, live, play and generally not drive each other insane under one roof during the coronavirus social distancing measures. And it has certainly been a challenge.

My whatsapp has been merrily pinging away with conversations and photos from friends who are, for one reason and another, not working. And so they can accomplish what I can only describe as the holy grail of being able to perfectly homeschool their children, have a tidy house and have some ‘fun’ – whatever that is.

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Meanwhile I have been allowing my own little darlings too much screen time as I desperately try to complete something which resembles a full day’s work!

It all started off so well with their his and hers homeschooling packs laid out in a neat pile.

Agreements were made for each of my children to pick one thing to complete before having some free time to do what they wanted for an hour, before tackling another task.

We all knew what we were doing.

And the first morning was fine as they picked the tasks they enjoy the most – maths and art – before playing in the garden for a bit and enjoying a bit of screen time and playing with their friends online.

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But by the afternoon my work was stacking up, my work phone was ringing constantly as we try to juggle the fantastical work of a ‘virtual office’, and it all descended into chaos and all they really wanted to do was be on their tablets.

While I was on the phone to a member of the public my seven-year-old daughter ‘needed’ my help in her search for food. Apparently the offerings in the fruit bowl were just not cutting it.

While I was on a team call with colleagues the pair of them decided to ‘help’ by winding each other up in front of me in an argument over who would sit in a particular spot in the living room.

And in the afternoon my ten-year-old son asked to do some junk modelling which saw my makeshift office space on my dining table cramped even more as egg boxes and PVA glue took over. This was followed by desperate pleas for help as cardboard failed to stick together and was generally causing a drama.

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All of this would have been fine and easy to cope with were it not for the fact I was trying to do a job at the same time. And it was only day one!

The only saving grace has been that I can also hear and see all of my colleagues’ children – and dogs – in the background and I know so many other parents in the same boat as we navigate this brave new world.

Which brings me back to Joe Wicks.

For 30 minutes each day this week we have a very happy household as the children, like so many around the country, set themselves up in front of the TV and join in with his workouts in a virtual PE lesson.

And so for 30 minutes Mummy actually gets time to think and get some work done without feeling like the world’s worst parent who can’t do everything (or in fact anything I wanted to do).

Long may it last!

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