Me, Judge Judy and the knitting – holiday with a twist in the time of coronavirus
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What do you do when you have to use up your holiday entitlement, but nowhere is open and the office is next door to your bedroom?
Well, the answer to the second question is easy – shut the door and walk away.
Or it is in theory, but the reality for me, and probably many carers like me who are lucky enough to be able to fit working around their caring role, is that work is an escape, a way of maintaining an identity which is about you and not the person you care for. It’s a micro social life, a source of self-worth and growth and a means of showing that your life does not completely revolve around the needs and wishes of your loved one.
So, what did I get up to with all that free time?
In typical pandemic fashion, I spent a lot of time on the couch with a boxset on Netflix or Judge Judy reruns. I am old enough to remember when we only had three channels, and that would have tested the most motivated to survive lockdown. But the advent of multi-channel streaming services means that there is always another series to get into.
But it is just not like me to sit around vegetating. Usually, I would have been planning trips and chores aplenty in advance of having a week off when hubby is working.
Then there is the finishing of decorating our kitchen which I started two years ago and which on the face of it looks done, but I know that the woodwork needs a coat of paint before I can tick that box.
However, I think the rubbish year that we have all lived through is finally getting to me and I couldn’t motivate myself to take on anything much. I decided to give myself permission to have a ‘man-style’ holiday. I told myself that I did not have to achieve anything other than being relaxed and as care-free as possible. No running from pillar to post catching up with friends and family for lunches and cuppas, no nights out or in with other folk.
Instead, I was going to enjoy sitting on the couch in front of the telly knitting and bookend that with a walk in the morning and evening as usual. What a joy!
I got out some fine 4-ply wool which I don’t normally knit with as when you only do an hour or so in the evening, it doesn’t grow very fast and so is not encouraging. And that was me. Plonked on the sofa clicking away while enjoying a gentle American comedy. I managed to complete the back, two fronts and a sleeve of my lacy cardy and two seasons of my show, and little else. A little guilt at what my Mum would say was hours of time wasted, but predominantly quite chuffed at managing to properly switch off for a week. I didn’t switch my work computer on once and although I knew that meant a load of unread emails on the Monday, I managed to convince myself that I didn’t care.
Any negatives from my couch-potato break? Not really apart from a stiff hip from sitting on the soft cushion for hours at a time! Middle age does not come alone...
Karen is Mum to an autistic teenager and campaigns for the rights of unpaid carers to be supported in their caring role and involved in the decisions that affect their lives and the lives of the people they care for. You can find her on twitter @Karen4Carers.
