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Lockdown Is Brutal For Single Parents. But We Have No Choice But To Get Used To It

Courtesy of the author
Courtesy of the author

I’m a single mum, part-time employee of a marketing agency and freelance copywriter. And right now, thanks to coronavirus, I am working from home, with no childcare and no co-parent to fall back on. My employer furloughed me a couple of weeks into lockdown via the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, on 80% of my wages. But I haven’t freelanced for long enough to be eligible for any state help there.

Some days, I feel like I’m juggling things well and living the stay-at-home-mum-boss dream. But most of the time, I’m barely keeping it together, with a nagging voice that says I can be a good parent or a good writer, but I can’t be both anymore.

All of us are struggling in some way, flitting between being optimistic and acknowledging that these circumstances could drive anyone crazy. But lockdown is especially brutal for lone parents like me, and we have no choice but to get used to it – the draconian but necessarymeasures are likely to be in place for the best part of 2020, after all. However, two weeks in, I’m already exhausted and tearful.

Instead of bouncing out of bed, I wake up exhausted and in need of a little cry or pep talk before fighting another day

Before coronavirus, in what feels like a parallel universe, my son attended nursery three full days a week from Tuesday to Thursday. In the hours he spent there, I worked. Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays were our special days together, filled with activities like playgroups, playdates, swimming lessons, cafe lunches and soft play.

My new routine makes my old life seem so easy. For around twelve hours every day, I do my best to entertain with indoor activities, escaping our four walls by driving or walking to the supermarket or the woods for food or open space when we need it. He doesn’t usually nap during the day, so once my son’s in bed, usually at 7pm but sometimes as late as 10pm, I sit down to work for at least three hours before finally crashing.

The strain of trying to...

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