{"id":26390,"date":"2020-05-04T10:50:36","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T10:50:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.potentialplusuk.org\/?p=26390"},"modified":"2020-05-04T10:50:36","modified_gmt":"2020-05-04T10:50:36","slug":"the-hlp-diaries-betty-books-and-the-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/potentialplusuk.org\/index.php\/2020\/05\/04\/the-hlp-diaries-betty-books-and-the-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"The HLP Diaries…Betty Books and the Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Slightly Mad Mummy: Entry 5<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When not charting the adventures of Flexi-cat, Slightly Mad Mummy’s alter ego, Betty Books is solving Covid-19!
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

The streets were deserted, the schools were bereft
\n<\/em>Because of the virus all pupils had left
\n<\/em>Although happy at home in her shed by the bed
\nAt first Betty was grumpy, it had to be said
\n<\/em>She knew it pedantic but she could not let go
\n<\/em>Of the early faux pas by the W.H.O.
\n<\/em>\u201cA pandemic\u201d she\u2019d shout, very loud and ignoble
\n<\/em>\u201cEpidemic is wrong, \u2018cause it\u2019s clearly gone global!\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This grump caused delays to her Covid reposte
\n<\/em>But she pulled herself round so the war wasn\u2019t lost
\n<\/em>(Her volte face was helped by the eventual admission
\n<\/em>That \u201cpandemic\u201d was the only correct definition)
\n<\/em>And though busy already, hard at work on her theses
\n<\/em>On phantom limb syndrome and trailblazing prostheses
\n<\/em>She added to her work a search for a vaccine
\n<\/em>That would unlock the lockdown of Covid-19<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

But why did she bother to do this, you ask?
\n<\/em>When learning at home was her favourite task?
\n<\/em>She was right in her element, calls made to and from Cern
\n<\/em>But she found out some info she couldn\u2019t unlearn
\n<\/em>She had set up a hide in the front living room
\n<\/em>And had watched human nature (when not busy on Zoom)
\n<\/em>She watched their behaviour, saw what people did
\n<\/em>As reactions to lockdown because of Covid
\n<\/em>For \u2018tho Betty hadn\u2019t probed human psych much before
\n<\/em>She self-requisitioned, you know, just like the war
\n<\/em>What she saw was amazing, convinced her to try
\n<\/em>To invent a vaccine so no more had to die
\n<\/em>But besides that she did it for parents, as well
\n<\/em>For she saw that for many this lockdown was hell!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Every parent started out with such joy, with such hope
\n<\/em>But the terror kicked in and they struggled to cope
\n<\/em>They were all loved to bits, the start had good intentions
\n<\/em>But kids are the most exhausting of inventions
\n<\/em>(Some were happy at home and their kids were inspired
\n<\/em>But happy or no, all the parents were tired)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

She saw many a parent that was stressed and distraught
\n<\/em>By the effort it took for their kids to be taught
\n<\/em>There were battles a-raging, more were lost than were won
\n<\/em>Education at home was not always such fun
\n<\/em>The truth was that although all the kids were quite happy
\n<\/em>Parents were done in, and were getting quite snappy
\n<\/em>Of course they enjoyed their whole fabulous brood
\n<\/em>(to suggest otherwise would be wrong and quite rude)
\n<\/em>But after so much time some they started to ponder:
\n<\/em>\u201cPerhaps absence at school makes the heart grow much fonder\u2026?\u201d
\n<\/em>By the end of a month parents wanted to know:
\n<\/em>\u201cAre my children allowed to be put on furlough\u2026?\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

And so all through the town teachers\u2019 values they rose
\n<\/em>To the sound of \u201ccan this all end now, do you \u2018spose\u2026?\u201d
\n<\/em>Parents rationed the questions, you know, just to stay sane
\n<\/em>But they just never stopped and they asked them again
\n<\/em>All the queries, the talking, the noise and the snacks
\n<\/em>\u201cThe schools MUST reopen: get them off our backs!\u201d
\n<\/em>\u201cThis incessance is inhuman, they\u2019ve just gotta go
\n<\/em>It\u2019s supposed to be lockdown, not Guantanomo!\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Parents ended up, (Betty feared that they would)
\n<\/em>Exercising to get as far from the kids as they could
\n<\/em>It didn\u2019t flout any rules, it was government-backed
\n<\/em>And they all made sure quite sure that they couldn\u2019t be tracked
\n<\/em>So they all got much fitter, beat personal bests
\n<\/em>Just so they could give their poor ears little rests<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

It became quite apparent, from what Betty had seen
\n<\/em>That she had to be quick and invent a vaccine
\n<\/em>(The wine after lunch, a particular worry
\n<\/em>They needed some help and she needed to hurry!)
\n<\/em>She knew what Newton did when at home due to plague
\n<\/em>So she cracked on with her work (though her notes were quite vague)
\n<\/em>She got out her beakers, her test tubes and stuff
\n<\/em>But the cure was elusive, this virus was tough
\n<\/em>So back to the whiteboard and books Betty went
\n<\/em>And out popped an idea so superb; heaven sent
\n<\/em>The cure needed power, a tough vaccination
\n<\/em>And what more power could there be than parents\u2019 desperation?
\n<\/em>Collectively fraught, needing kids back at school
\n<\/em>Yes, it seems, desperation\u2019s a powerful tool<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

So she harnessed the might of the parental wishes
\n<\/em>Making stuff grow in pots, and test tubes, petri dishes
\n<\/em>The tears of fatigue, of headaches and more
\n<\/em>Were used in the mix, became part of the cure
\n<\/em>It was clear it was potent, a valiant foe
\n<\/em>Against Covid-19 and the stay-at-home woe<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>So she sent doses out, rubbed in antibac gel
\n<\/em>(From her own \u201918 vintage that had worked out quite well)
\n<\/em>It was sent round the world, taken by one and all
\n<\/em>\u2018Til the crown of covid was beginning to fall
\n<\/em>Until all were quite safe, back at school and more sane
\n<\/em>Hoping that no pandemic would come back again<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Who\u2019d have thought that those tears that were desperately shed
\n<\/em>Would turn into the cure; become useful instead
\n<\/em>The tears kept on coming, of relief, liberation
\n<\/em>This really was a life-saving vaccination!
\n<\/em>Just as stress was about to go full supersonic
\n<\/em>Betty saved one and all with her curative tonic!
\n<\/em>Whether phobic or not of the new Covid jab
\n<\/em>The consensus was in and they all thought it fab
\n<\/em>Just as parents worldwide thought they\u2019d go mad, for sure
\n<\/em>Betty saved them from that coz she found them a cure!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

In this series we invite members to share their thoughts and lived experience with us \u2013 perhaps through an article, advice, sharing their careers, a piece of fiction or a poem. The HLP Diaries are fictional tales of parenting children with high learning potential. If you are a Potential Plus UK member and have an anecdote you would like to share then we’d love to hear from you: email focus@potentialplusuk.org<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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