Wearing a face mask, taking hand gel everywhere and maths at the kitchen table have all become part of everyday life during the pandemic.

Over the next few weeks we'll hear about the highs and lows of the virtual classroom from our secret homeschooler.

We now know our children will be going back to school on March 8.

The announcement by Boris Johnson on Monday was not a major surprise - the date had been suggested before and I felt they would always try and stick to it.

I'm not sure about everyone else, but when the news came through, I had mixed emotions.

Obviously I'm happy that life is going to start to get back to some kind of normal. But, I still have reservations - the virus hasn't gone away.

Not everyone has been vaccinated yet either, although the testing that is in place is far superior than it was previously.

Whilst out on a walk, I decided to talk to the children about going back to school.

They said they were excited, wanted to see their friends and couldn't wait.

I must admit I was pleasantly surprised by their response as I had been expecting something quite different.

The return to school last September for one of my children in particular wasn't well received - but, only time will tell.

I hope they still feel keen in just over a week's time when I'm trying to drag them out of bed at 7.30am instead of allowing them to naturally wake up about an hour later.

The pressure is really going to be on to get back into that 'proper routine' - not the one we've muddled through on in recent months.

Bed times will have to be a bit earlier - that's a challenge I'm not looking forward to.

I'm also dreading having to get them up, dressed, fed and out of the house by 8.30am - it feels like we haven't done that in a very long time.

While they are both very keen to see their friends again, I'm already wondering how they're going to adapt to 'normal lessons' once more.

They certainly don't want me as their teacher, that's for sure, but as my youngest pointed out today 'I won't be able to fast forward (teacher) on the computer when they're boring me'!

No, you certainly won't.

It's going to be an interesting time and, slightly frustratingly, they will only be back a short while before the Easter break.

I just hope the decision to get them back in a classroom hasn't been made too soon.

Read more: All the latest news from Kent