Issue 25

 

Training to drink:

I do like an occasional tipple down the pub. Ok, so that might be an understatement but the key word in that sentence is “pub”. I am very much a social drinker and having a family with young boys I don’t get to do it very often, but when I do, I love it. 

Over the past 12 months, time spent in the pub has been severely restricted and whilst others have carried on drinking indoors with their families, for some reason I just don’t enjoy drinking at home. I occasionally will have a bottle of beer if we have a barbecue but most of the time, I’d much rather have a cup of tea and keep a clear head and avoid the headache in the morning. 

That being the case, I had drinks on two nights since November. Both have been on zoom calls where I have caught up with friends and on both occasions, I did not have more than a few bottles of beer. Do I feel healthier for it? Not really if I am honest. Have I lost weight? A bit but not much. Therefore, I have been craving the return to the pubs opening like the kids waiting for Santa to come. 

On Monday 29th March, the restrictions were eased slightly. My Mum and Dad were desperate to come around and spend some time with us in the garden. It was an emotional and brilliant few hours and also a little bizarre as we all felt guilty at having them in the garden even though we were allowed of course. 

I am not sure who was more excited at the prospect of having a beer, me or my Dad (who has missed the pub far more than me). Still it was great to sit in the sun and socialise with my parents and watch the kid’s excitement at seeing their grandparents properly. 

I had three bottles that day and I can honestly say I felt the effects of them. In fact, I was definitely merry and verging on tipsy! I wouldn’t say I am a heavy weight when it comes to consuming alcohol but I can usually handle it well. 

So, it made me think, as much as I am looking forward to that first cold, draught, I would hate to be drunk within the first hour! So as pathetic as it sounds, I am slowly going to start drinking again to increase my tolerance levels. Some may call it extreme, other may call it excessive, I will simply call it muscle memory, cheers!

Football is back and it’s live!

There has been a lot written about wellbeing and how it is vital for us all to get out, socialise, interact and do hobbies. This includes adults as well the kids. Lately, this message has been tarnished with another wellbeing message and that is one to do with the fear of suddenly meeting with others and almost learning to socialise again and be in large groups. This has partly to do with fear of infection and a lot to do with the fact we have got very used to being insular and in our own little bubble. 

I have to admit, I have been conflicted: Part of me can’t wait to meet up with others regularly, but I’ve also cherished my little family network and not having to honour engagements or “make the effort.”

These past couple of weeks highlighted both sides of the coin for me with the return of grassroots football for the kids and for me personally being allowed to play 5-aside. 

The boy’s football was fantastic, both of them played excellently and won their matches and there was much elation at being back, but at the same time, with the return of the football came the logistics of it all. Both Joe and Jamie train on Saturday morning in two different venues and playing for different teams, on the Sunday, one had a match in West Wickham at 10am and the other played in St Mary’s Cray at 12pm. Only having one car, it was a mad rush to run them around (not to mention I run Joe’s team) and get them back. By the time you factor in dinners and homework and the precious weekends we had got used to, suddenly went by in a blink of an eye.

Tuesday nights I play 5 aside football and I hadn’t done it for well over 6 months. When we were finally allowed to play it was difficult to describe the level of joy everyone felt. The smiles on my friend’s faces, the banter and the teasing was great to be part of. I have to admit, I thought we would all be a lot less fitter than we were, but it seems everyone has been ticking over doing some form of exercise or other. I woke up on Wednesday expecting to struggle to walk or at least walk like John Wayne as I had often done in the past when I hadn’t played football for a while, but alas apart from some soreness I felt pretty good. 

That was two weeks ago, the Tuesday just gone came around and unlike the excitement I felt the week before, the thought of playing again so soon felt like too much and something I wanted to do without. It was a bizarre feeling as it had been a full week since I had played and had such a good time, but suddenly the thought of, “making the effort” was daunting. I was not ready to mix with others so soon, it was as if I had psyched myself to play the first time and was not prepared to do it again so quickly. I went and had just as good a time as the week before but as soon as I finished, the irrational thoughts crept in of, “maybe you can miss next week, and the week after is your Mum’s 70^th so you won’t have to go then.” Weird but I can’t imagine I am the only one with those thoughts. 

Easter felt almost normal!

Riding high on the back of one of my favourite days of the year (April Fools) where I managed to prank half a dozen people on elaborate tricks that are probably best not mentioning on here, I was more than looking forward to the long Easter weekend.

Alongside the return of football for the kids we had a lot planned. Friday started with a visit to my Mum and Dads for an Easter egg hunt. My parents are lucky enough to have a massive garden and coupled with the fact the lady next door splits her time between here and the UK we are fortunate enough that she is more than happy for the kids to play in her garden too. It means the kids love going to my parents and things like Easter egg hunts are awesome. 

We even had a visit from the Easter bunny who was not impressed when I kept suggesting they run races with Toby up and down the garden on a hot day!

My parents bought lots of small eggs and made the classic mistake of not counting how many they had hid. A week later they were still finding eggs some the kids had missed. Which of course prompted them to remind me of a story when they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary with a party in the garden and me, being a cheeky 15 year old who had a few mates to sleep over in a tent in the garden, had secreted loads of beer bottles around the garden to consume later in the night. Of course, we didn’t find them all and my Dad was still finding cunningly concealed beer up to 12 months later!

On Sunday night Em and I finally gave in and had our own sleepover with the boys. This involved bringing all the mattresses downstairs and putting them on the living room floor, where games and snacks were enjoyed far past midnight. The kids loved it and want to do it again soon (they suggested the next night), whilst Em and I, with aching necks and backs are slightly less enthused!

Easter Monday saw us visit one of Em’s sisters. The weather had turned considerably colder but we did not let that deter us as we played football in their garden and braved the cold as they rigged up a TV to watch the Palace game. 

All in all, it felt vaguely normal. There was an irrational feeling of guilt as if we shouldn’t be enjoying ourselves with others even though we were allowed and there were times when the cold really made us want to go indoors but it also just felt plain good to see loved ones and laugh.