It feels like an age since I have been able to write a Word of the Week post. The summer holidays are always hard in our house juggling full-time work, child care, the needs of someone with autism, and enjoying time together. I wanted my world of the week return to be adventure, highlighting all the adventures we have been on during the summer holidays. It turns out life had a different plan as last week saw the passing of our Queen. Another massive moment of history we are living through. So I thought it would be appropriate for this word of the week to be Queen. Hopefully, I can fill you in on all of our adventures next week.
Last Thursday feels like a lifetime ago now. But I was aware the Queen had become gravely ill as soon as the news was announced. I was watching the announcement from our new Prime Minster about how she will help us with the energy crisis. I must have kept it on the briefing without thinking, or perhaps it was just the programming for the day. You could see the sudden shift in the members of parliament when they got told the news. From that moment on the BBC was covering the story of the Queen.
I knew what news would come next so when we came home from the school run I put Disney Plus on. It was Disney Plus day which was the release day of live-action Pinocchio. Little E had asked about the Pinocchio story when we were on the ride in Disneyland Paris. She couldn’t remember watching the original. So we watched the film together. It is rare for Ethan to watch films with us. He has taken to spending time in his room lately. Just as the film finished the news that the Queen had passed broke.
Since then the TV has been full of news about the Queen and our new King. Even Ethan has picked up on the difference. Asking when the black will go. There is a black bar on the bottom of the screen when we watch Good Morning Britain. He asks when it will end and go back to normal. I’m assuming that will be on Tuesday. Both children are aware of what has happened to our Queen. Ethan’s understanding is more limited. But in a way I’m hoping the knowledge he is gaining helps him with any future understanding. We didn’t make him aware of my dad’s passing for various reasons.
We haven’t felt the urge to join The Queue to see the Queen laying in state. With Ethan, it’s not a possibility even if we wanted to. Although it was impressive to see that they had made an accessibility queue available. If I didn’t have a young family and still worked daily in London it might be something I considered doing. But for now, we will watch this moment of history on our TV.
