There is wisdom in the cliché that it takes a village to raise a child.

 

It’s a polite way of saying if a parent doesn’t have help from friends and/or family, their brain will trickle out of their ear-holes thanks to exhaustion and the unshakeable sense that they’re doing a crappy job of everything. Everything. Crucially, it acknowledges the reality that children benefit from being nurtured by a generous range of people.

 

During this lockdown, I’ve been attempting to educate, stimulate, feed, console and referee two small children at the same time as trying to prevent the house from looking like that trash compactor in Star Wars. All this, in addition to the trifling matter of earning a living as a freelancer – I should add that I have a fantastic husband, who shares the load equally, and I can’t begin to imagine how tough this must be for single parents ­– has left me dreaming about how family life could be more manageable once this is all over.

 

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