"You will look after me won't you? "

"You see my mum & dad have invited lots of friends around to have a housewarming party...after over a year of lockdowns...and I'm a lockdown kitten and I'm not used to so many people".

So yes, I stayed upstairs with Abel. Only we kept getting lots of visitors from uni friends, school friends etc who would come upstairs to say hello & chat - lol. It was very refreshing to see young people socialising again and to be in their company. I had a good laugh. (My daughter and her boyfriend, Dan, have missed out on a graduation and other celebrations, like when they moved into their first house together in 2020, as soon as regulations allowed.) I know there are still cases across the UK but some normality felt really great & also necessary for this age group... & us all! It also felt a little strange!

Earlier on, I had been to the gym for a spinning class which took place with the lights off & loud music in a club-like atmosphere! I really enjoyed it and worked so hard! The gym itself was having a family fun day with inflatables, face painting, balloon art & live music. Again, it seemed strange to see it so very busy... but important for children and their parents. I'm so glad I didn't have little ones during the pandemic; I'm not sure how well I would have coped without places to go to and friends to meet up with. That's what kept me sane as a young mum with no family around me in this part of the world. I'm also aware of how un-socialised some very young children are due to lockdown. I saw a video, doing its travels on social media, of a toddler who thought that every button, box etc she passed was for hand gel and would rub her hands together in the way she'd seen her parents do.