Charlotte
Charlotte and her partner share care for his 11-year-old who is in year 6 for a few days each week and then every other weekend. She works part time and her days off correspond to when her step son is with them. Charlotte is a keyworker the NHS.
Charlotte talks to her stepson through a hatch to the kitchen. On the right is a blue and white painting of a person painted by Charlotte.
Charlotte seen through a window attending her vegetable patch in the sun.
“A difficulty I think for all of us is just seeing the people we love, and Facetime just doesn’t really do it for me. And we have actually spoken to people that we wouldn’t have spoken to. So that’s been positive, but again it’s not able to touch people, and I really, really miss my mum and dad and their relationship with him.
Because of our set-up I feel I’m always trying really hard to make sure that everything is, I probably over-try hard, to make sure that we see them on a regular basis so that they’ve got that grandparent relationship, and they get on like a house on fire, and he’s really missed them.
Then the same thing, it’s just a bit sad with friends when you meet his friends, in the park at the moment. We gave a birthday present to a friend and we had to put it on the floor and then she picked it up and then, you know, it just feels a little bit worrying about how you’re going to come out the other side. Because even when I watch films you see people hug and you’re like ‘ooh’ and you think, well if you’re a child and this has been a big part of your life it’s going to really have a weird impact on how you behave for a long time, I would imagine.”