Aislinn, from Belfast, shows us all that it is important to have some quality time without the kids.
Tell us a bit about yourself…
Hi my name is Aislinn and we have been in lockdown now just over six weeks. My partner Stephen and I were due to get married on the 21st of March 2020 and due to COVID-19 we have had to cancel.
We have three children 2 boys aged 12 and 8 and a daughter aged 3. We are from Belfast in Northern Ireland.
What did you do?
We had done so many activities with the children from baking to painting and redecorating rooms. I am currently still in work with the NHS and, due to the crisis, I have had to work a lot more hours so it felt like although we were confined together we just had no time for each other.
I had had enough, so one day I just said: “that’s it, we are doing a date night just ourselves with no children”. We got the children their dinner and around 8pm got them all upstairs. We asked our oldest to watch the younger ones.
I made us both a steak dinner. I laid the table as if we were at a restaurant, got our favourite drinks, and had background music. We left snacks at the bottom of the stairs for the children – in case they needed them.
We were in the room on our own for a good hour and it felt amazing to just get some uninterrupted adult time. We are going to try this at least once a week.
What are you planning next?
Our next challenge is going to be our first lockdown birthday for our son, so I’ve been searching for ideas in the Housebound With Kids group. The group has proved an excellent source at this time – and just seeing other people in the same boat and how they are dealing with the situation.
