Dear LPG,

Every now and then I take a look at your back pages and I recently found an article which was written at the height of the pandemic when the general public really did not know whether they were coming or going both literally and figuratively.

At that time, we had already had one reprieve from lockdown, but the second lockdown was on the way, and nothing was clear to anyone except that we all needed to keep washing our hands. 

That is when I found a message that made me smile because of its amusing way of passing on a relatively serious message (►►►).  

KC took the opportunity to tell us that all the hand washing we were doing would work in our favour in more ways than one if we wear a step-counting smartwatch, because all that hand movement would get us to the 10,000 steps that the average person is supposed to clock up each day.  I remember his recommendation that at age 70, 6000 steps a day is a goal which is not to be dismissed and, ever since, I have strived for about 7500. 

I am a septuagenarian now but I am also a mum with a daughter who lives way down in deepest Kent as so many do these days.  The other day she told me that now the children are back at school and her husband is no longer working from home there were two main emotions running through her thoughts.  The first was liberation but the second was her home’s serious need for a spring clean despite the fact that autumn was well and truly on the way.

I think that she really needed a bit of moral support rather than help with the cleaning so as mum I took charge.  I decided to make a day of it and, as old as I feel sometimes, offer some motherly support.   I packed my overnight bag and took to the train and arrived just in time for a chat, a streamed film and a night in the spare room. 

Next day I got up earlier than I have for a long time, helped to organise getting them washed and dressed, breakfast, walking with them to and from school and back twice and then I helped to attack the kitchen with cleaning brushes and cloths in hand.  We did work quite hard but we found time for some television, a few sit-down breaks and more, and this cleaning session could only happen between 09:40 and 14:45, between the morning school drop-off and afternoon collection. Then it was back for the kids, with the chaos that the little ones bring with them, tea and off to an after-school club for one of the little ones, before she dropped me off at the station for my return to Lewisham.

While I sat on the train on the way home hidden behind my mask, I reflected that occasionally a one off day of real exertion does not really do too much harm although I was looking forward to following it with a day of serious rest.

Mums through the ages have all done it.   After a couple of years of relative peace and quiet, it is easy to forget the stresses and strains of that part of your life. And in spite of all the more modern versions of kitchen appliances that are available now, we worked pretty hard.  So hard in fact that when I finally got back home, turned on the telly, made myself a cuppa, slumped into my armchair and took the first look of the day at my smart step-counting watch, my jaw dropped.  It had registered 22,613 steps on the day.  There was a lot of hand washing and the washing and scrubbing of a lot more besides on the day, so I have decided that KC has a serious step counting point.  It’s not all about what your legs can contribute…

DT, Lewisham