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Back So Lucky Save as PDF
Chapters (28)
  1. SO LUCKY
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. Acknowledgements
  20. Keep Reading …
  21. Introduction
  22. PIECE ONE
  23. Parenting – WHAT is that smell?
  24. PIECE TWO
  25. Don’t miss the ‘So Lucky’ podcast series
  26. About the Author
  27. Also by Dawn O’Porter
  28. About the Publisher

That was until lockdown happened. I don’t think I’ll feel guilty about going to work ever again. Also, I want childcare every weekend until they’re eighteen. And I want a night nurse – not for the kids, but for me. Because you know what, fuck it.

Things I know now that I didn’t know before lockdown:

  1. Toddlers are not to be left alone with worms.
  2. Hiding in cupboards is key.
  3. Lego is HARD.

PIECE TWO

My People

24 March

Isolation Update – ‘There has been a terrible problem’

I am stunned to be sharing this information with you all, but I think I enjoyed today. What is most peculiar is that I didn’t start drinking until 4 p.m. That means there were nine hours of daytime that I genuinely didn’t hate. This could be because of three things:

  1. I was still drunk from yesterday.
  2. I have totally given up on myself.
  3. My friends are the best.

The kids slept until 7 a.m., which felt like a holiday. Chris and I take it in turns to get up and do breakfast. This morning he said, ‘Whose turn is it?’ I said, ‘Yours,’ and he went into the kitchen muttering about waffles. It took me a moment to remember that he had made the kids waffles for breakfast yesterday, and it was actually my morning. I sent him back to bed with a coffee, and popped some bread in the toaster. I’d slept well, so was more than happy to get up. Aren’t I being lovely and affable so far?

In that short moment where I lay in bed, thinking I had the morning off, the dull ache of relentlessness consumed me. Here we go again, another day of exactly the same thing. More drawing, more playdough, more throwing their squidgy fake-poo toy at the wall and howling with laughter as it falls to the ground. More time on my hands and knees scraping food off the floor. More time in front of a mirror scraping food out of my hair. As I took those thoughts in, I could have cried. But I didn’t cry. I reminded myself that this might be my only chance to spend this much time with my kids, without work pulling me away. To enjoy it. To take it on. Embrace it. And so, I did. I went into the kitchen with a smile on my face, and I managed to maintain it for most of the day.