Childcare, coronavirus and copy: my son on Zoom

‘Normally’, my son attends wonderful childcare, which is brilliant for his development, my work, and our mutual sanity.

Right now, we’re hanging out together all the time. So he’s a fairly frequent feature on Zoom, firing out every kids-on-calls cliché plus his own, unique ideas.

• He enthusiastically demanded to know what a client’s favourite dinosaur was (apparently ‘triceratops’ was not the answer he was hoping for).
• Last week, he redecorated the coffee table in the next room while I was on the phone ‘because I wanted to make a pretty picture for you’. (Note to self: only buy furniture in black.)
• Mid-call, he offered up some PlayDoh that looks like ‘a sausage, for your lunch!’ (Thanks to my ever-lovely client and amazing accountant Debbie Whitaker for receiving that one in good grace!)

I’m sure someone will argue that this isn’t a ‘professional image’. But, quite frankly, if you’re not keen on knowing about the existence of my child, we’re probably not that compatible ‘cos he’s sort of a big deal. And life’s tough enough for him right now. So I won’t shove him behind a closed door and expect silence.

Once this mess has subsided, maybe we’ll all be a little more accepting of kids and chaos. And I will rejoice in the return of childcare because, love him desperately as I do, I do enjoy a little peace (and owning ‘un-edited’ furniture).

As you may have guessed, I work from home. Yep, that has its own challenges (see aforementioned status as ‘parent’). But, it means I can carry on working around Covid-19 restrictions and crack on delivering copy for clients.

In case you’re worried about my concentration-span and childcare limits, fear not: my key worker husband takes the reigns on his days off and I shut the door, turn on my laptop, and type away at client copy in peace. With coffee. And biscuits. So many biscuits.