Christine McGuinness has revealed her three autistic children have gone back to school for ‘normality’.
The model, 32, shared a candid update about family life to her Instagram story on Wednesday.
Speaking about twins Leo and Penelope, six, and Felicity, four, she wrote: ‘Mum’s famous quote “I’m fine”.
Candid: Christine McGuinness, 32, has revealed her three autistic children have gone back to school for ‘normality’
‘It’s a mixture of emotions the children visiting school is some normality but it’s also so different.
‘I feel happy, sad, anxious, excited! But ultimately… I’m a very proud mummy! My little trio have been total superstars [red hearts].’
She uploaded the heartfelt message alongside the track Three Little Birds by Bob Marley & The Wailers.
It comes after Christine posted a snap of one of her daughters trying out a bouncy castle in the garden for the first time.
Heartfelt: The model, 32, shared a candid update about family life to her Instagram story on Wednesday
She branded it as a ‘bittersweet moment’ as the children had immense ‘fear and anxiety’ about leaving the house.
She wrote: ‘Ok so I wanted to caption this image something fun like “P.E done”… But the truth is, this is a bittersweet moment.
‘Bitter because we have had this mini castle for months and our children have regressed so much personally, emotionally they’re filled with fear and anxiety about going outside, even in our own garden, they haven’t actually played on it yet.
The star added that she was determined not to be defeated and would focus on the positives, saying: #Autism #AutismAwareness. Sweet because finally one of them tried, this was the only moment, it lasted 1-2 minutes.
‘But I’ll take the positives. one step at a time, well done baby!’
Trying: The model, 32, posted a snap of one of her daughters trying out a bouncy castle in the garden for the first time, branding it a ‘bittersweet moment’ as the children – twins Leo and Penelope, six, and Felicity, four, had immense ‘fear and anxiety’ about leaving the house
This comes after Christine admitted she feels her autistic children have ‘gone back two years’ in terms of their development during the UK’s lockdown.
The star appeared on Loose Women alongside husband Paddy, and detailed what its been like to take care of their children amid the coronavirus crisis.
Speaking candidly about her struggle, Christine explained: ‘All of the things they’ve struggled with that we’ve spent years and years trying to help them with, now it feels like we’ve gone back two years.’
Christine said it was ‘common for autistic children to have development delays’, and said that while their three children usually struggle with ‘speech, communication, eye contact, food, [and] their sensory awareness’, it has gotten worse in lockdown.
Struggle: Christine admitted on Friday that she felt her autistic children’s development has ‘gone back two years’ because of the coronavirus crisis
‘Their speech isn’t as good as it was, their eye contact isn’t as good as it was,’ she explained.
‘Trying to get them to engage in anything at all, even playtime, even doing something fun, they’re not engaging the way they were. It’s upsetting and it’s really quite difficult.
‘There’s lots of positives – we’re sending time as a family which we’ve never done before, so that’s lovely, but just the way it’s affecting their development, and mentally, they’re really quite anxious, that’s where it’s really upsetting to us.’
Christine also said: ‘They struggle with change and I think we’re all getting a little taste of their experience when things change in their normal lives.
‘This is huge, this is massive, it’s probably the biggest change any of us will experience, but for somebody on the spectrum, it’s going to be really difficult and it is affecting all three of my children. Therefore, it’s affecting us as a family.
‘It’s heartbreaking to see what it’s doing to them, but as a mum, a parent, a carer all I can do is be there for them, love them, support them as any mum would.’
When asked how she explained what was going on to her children, and if she was shielding them from the news of the global pandemic, Christine said she wasn’t telling her eldest what has been going on.
She said: ‘We’ve told them everything is being cleaned and that people are getting poorly outside… My eldest daughter, Penelope, suffers from anxiety as well and she hasn’t asked about it.
‘I’m shielding her more because of her anxiety. If she knew what was going on, she wouldn’t sleep at night… I don’t want them to worry any more than they are because they’re so young.’
The disruption to their usual routine has meant a regression in terms of the trio’s autism and their self-care, eye contact and speech.
The online influencer has found the most effective way to care for the three youngsters has not been to focus on homeschooling, but on fun activities instead.
Candid: Christine said it was ‘common for autistic children to have development delays’, and said that while their three children usually struggle it has gotten worse in lockdown