We’re in 33rd day of Lockdown Level 5 in South Africa! We have gone through all the emotions and I think I’m finally on the accepting and planning how we’re going to go ahead in life. As a mom to a 3 year old girl, going through the lockdown with her has been a unique experience. I thought I’d write this post to reflect on this time, for myself and also for Mpilo (said daughter) to possibly go through in the future and remember this crazy time that we’re going through.

Lockdown location
My daughter went to her granny’s house before the lockdown was officially announced and I joined her a week later. We made this decision because it made sense at the time to give her nanny some time off and also for us to be with family so they can help with looking after her. My moms house is also bigger than ours and she has a bigger garden, so it was the perfect lockdown location.

Strengthening bonds
Her current age was such an opportune time to be in lockdown with Mpilo, she’s old enough to interact well with others and she’s gaining some independence. What I’ve thoroughly enjoyed has been the bonds she has with my mom and her cousins getting stronger during this time. She does see my family quite a number of times during normal times, however we haven’t all lived like this together since she was born. My gran and I shared a very close relationship and it warms my heart to see the same happening for my daughter and my mom.

Learning new things
Believe it or not, I learnt a new thing that I didn’t know about my daughter. The funniest was that she knows and sings the jingles of all SABC soapies ( Muvhango, Skeem Sam, etc.) word for word, she even knows some of the character, her favourite being Nkunzi from Uzalo, lol! I didn’t know this because I don’t watch the soapies, she watches with her nanny when I’m at work.

So much playing!
As expected, there has been tons of playtime that we’ve had during the lockdown. Prior to this lockdown I was mostly spending a few hours on weekday evenings and the weekends with my daughter and there wasn’t much down time. During the lockdown we could just play without abandon and she’s taking full advantage of that! We made up songs, played with the ball and made play dough. This is one thing I want to take into our lives going forward, carving some time just for playing and switch off all the screens.