Jan 1, 2021
A new year, so I try to be optimistic and write down a few resolutions on a scrap of paper.
1. Try to be nice to my sisters. (This will be a challenge)
2. Stay out of trouble. (This will be a bigger challenge)
3. Enhance my hurling skills. ( Not much enhancement needed here)
4. Try to convert Dad to support Manchester United and not Southampton. (Rome wasn’t built in a day!)
5. Work harder at school (Mam, this is for you)
Thinking of resolutions is exhausting. I stick the scrappy note under my mattress. The news is full of Covid; I don’t know what we’ll all talk about after it goes. On a positive note, it looks like none of us are going back to school. I pretend to be a bit upset about it but I’m actually DELIGHTED! No more early mornings, food and drink on tap and break time all the time.
[MENTAL NOTE: must ring the lads and catch up on the news that’s not there. I’m already bored with my Christmas presents]
Jan 11, 2021
So much for staying in bed! Start of home schooling. Most annoying sister is very excited. Laptop set up, books ready and I even shoved everything under the bed that might be seen. I feel a sense of dread of what’s ahead. I have a feeling I’m going to be under a lot of pressure. School starts at exactly eleven o’clock. It’s weird seeing all of my school friends on the screen.
The hour goes quick enough and I head up to the kitchen. I’m starving and tired. I hope the kettle is boiled so I can make a well-deserved cup of tea and a toasted sandwich.
Everyday after that is much the same, and I feel like I’m in a military camp with Mam as a Sergeant Major!! It’s like Groundhog Day or that I’m caught in a time warp.
My favourite time of the day is when the school work is done and I can go outside and be free. I kick the ball around the yard and hit it so hard into the goal I fear the nets will rip. I don’t mind what the weather is like once I can get outside and release the stress of a due date for an essay!
Jan20, 2021
Good news! I have made a lucrative business deal with my older sister to help her with her school activity challenge so that she stays up at the top of the leader board. The deal is that she does the walk and I cycle at least five kilometres with her phone in my pocket. She pays me €5 for this. I’m delighted to be making money and at the same time doing something I enjoy. Win-win and it also means I’m sticking to my resolution – being nice to my sisters.
Jan1, 2021
Thanks be to God it’s the last day of January. It’s been a very long dreary month. The news is still full of Covid cases and sadly Dad is still a Southampton fan despite their seven loses in a row. Surviving this lockdown is proving harder than expected. Luckily tomorrow is the first day of February and the first day of spring. My Nana even says there is a stretch in the evenings and I feel strangely excited …
Written by Tom Duggan, 5th Class SN Moin Ruadh, Co. Kilkenny