Lockdown dressing up brings a bit of novelty to children’s day

It turns out that if you give a seven-year-old girl the chance to choose anything she wants to wear in the mornings, there is not a hope that what she will choose will be anything appropriate.

A run of two party dresses and two summer outfits was only interrupted by my insisting she wear trousers for a bike ride instead of her best frock. Mean Mummy, obviously.

But of course while we are not going anywhere there is no reason why she can’t dress to impress – even if there is no-one to really see it.

It brings in a bit of novelty to her day and replaces the routine of school uniform five days a week followed by my insistence of sensible clothes at the weekend. Again, mean Mummy!

And I know many of my friends’ children are taking full advantage of their dressing up boxes and mixing fairy wings with pirate costumes – because, why not?

While my daughter is enjoying the novelty of a different kind of wardrobe I am clinging on to normality in my choice of clothes.

Working in my PJs does in many ways sound appealing, but I think I’d be mortified if I suddenly had to do a video call and I was still in my dressing gown!

During the week I had a call at short notice and I panicked because I remembered I had not bothered to straighten my hair in the morning.

I need a sense of normality in this slightly abnormal world, and with so much outside of my control being able to get up and dressed as normal is one very small thing I can do to keep me sane each day.

Though I’m not promising in a couple of weeks’ time I won’t take a leaf out of my mini-me’s book.

So if my colleagues find me appearing on their screens in my best frock, then you know why!