Lockdown has been a bumpy ride towards rediscovering the joy of our marriage

I looked forward to spending more time with my wife - but it took a while before romance found its way back in

It felt like we were embarking on a new adventure. It was late March and Boris Johnson had announced that Britain would, in response to the threat of Covid-19, be going into lockdown. Life as we knew it was about to grind to a halt. I would be working from home as the British Library was closing its doors. My wife Bridget, a speech and language therapist specialising in autism, would also no longer be able to work in schools and have to work from home. Our children - Laila, eight, and Ezra, three - would not be attending school or playgroup.

Lockdown was potentially terrifying - no one knew then what the impact of the pandemic was going to be - but my initial response was that it could perhaps be good for our family. There would be a pause in the daily struggle of trying to wake the children, get them dressed and fed in time to run to the bus stop so they were not late for school. Working from home and the shops being closed meant we might save some money. The biggest upside without doubt, however, was that the lockdown would give me the chance to spend more time with my wife.