To think some people found lockdown really hard and it wasn't their fault

I'd like to strangle your mother in law

I'm so grateful that I lost my elderly relatives long before lock down as I can't imagine how awful it was for people to be able to visit their elderly or sick family in the home I worked in we occaselly smuggled family in to say good bye to dieing family uf the home was covid free we would open sides doors leave poi abd naje sure none off us had contact with the relatives, we took every posbely precaution but if their was no risk and the residents only had a few hours left we fealt it was the decent thing to do I'm not talking about people with covid but just very elderly residents who s family needed to say good bye

Good for you. Thank you.

Yup, at the start of lockdowns, he said in Parliament "no one would be left behind"

A few months later after weeks of denying his support schemes had more holes than Swiss cheese, he changed his tune to "we can't help everyone".

So even he admitted he'd screwed it up in a round about way, despite lying his way through those months claiming there was a support scheme for all (there really wasn't).

Stupid thing was that a lot of the exclusions were illogical and nonsensical and had actually been thought up by some one and specifically enacted to stop certain groups of people claiming, for no obvious reason. Just sheer incompetence.

There were some aspects if lockdown that I didn't mind such as the isolating and staying home. However, the home schooling for my primary aged children was an utter nightmare they wouldn't engage with the schools worksheets on or offline. We worked round it with games, crafts, baking and other activities but that was exhausting trying to keep them from just festering. Luckily I have a decent sized garden and we had good neighbours on all sides meaning the kids still had human interaction even if it was over gates and fences.
My college age child was failed massively the hands on vehicle maintenance course was mostly writing up job sheets which has left him at a major disadvantage now when trying to find work. (He's not just festered since leaving college he's been in the army but discharged medically.) His chose field when interviewed he is let down by lack of hands on experience.

I work in care dreadfully time so many things in care changed the worse thing for me was seing residents die without their family beside them.
We definitely lost residents before their time not off covid but because off it many died alone confused believing their family's had abandoned them.
Some homes stayed locked down for longer them needed more residents were left in their rooms rather them mixing with other residents.
I'm so grateful that I lost my elderly relatives long before lock down as I can't imagine how awful it was for people to be able to visit their elderly or sick family in the home I worked in we occaselly smuggled family in to say good bye to dieing family uf the home was covid free we would open sides doors leave poi abd naje sure none off us had contact with the relatives, we took every posbely precaution but if their was no risk and the residents only had a few hours left we fealt it was the decent thing to do I'm not talking about people with covid but just very elderly residents who s family needed to say good bye

MIL said 'be more organised'? What -for a once in a 100 years modern plague and intermittent lockdown with wider restrictions? How could you be organised for that? Ridiculous comment to make. Yes YANBU. It's fine for people who didn't do anything before COVID to say it was easy, but for people who didn't sit at home watching countdown all day it was a bit harder.

Of course, YANBU

Loneliness, mental health, young children, isolating for weeks, losing businesses, fearing for their jobs,losing dreams, people v ill and dying, horrible times in hospitals, people overwhelmed, sometimes bored, often scared, I could go on

We were OK, but that doesn't mean I don't empathise with those impacted. Your MIL is a prat. I don't want to read the thread though as there will just be "I didn't comply as I am so clever" idiots on here

I agree and I can’t stand these threads because of it.

Omg bore off honestly

I'm so sorry.

Thank you so much. I actually wrote to my MP to complain about Johnson et al and my MP raised my case in the House of Commons. I can't remember what Johnson said in reply now, but there was no sincerity to it.

Yeah there were a lot of different ways to fall through the cracks. Sole trader women who'd been on maternity leave the year before faired badly, if I remember right.
It was flagged to Sunak that around 3 million people fell through those cracks and basically got a shrug in response.

Thank you. I rally appreciate your comment. My husband passed away in May 2022, and I remember sitting at his funeral surrounded by people, feeling so bad for people that only a year or so previously, had not been able to give their loved one the send off they deserved. And ther was Boris and his mates having a cheese and wine party. I am very sorry for your loss.

Freelancer heavy industries were hit hard.
Ltd cos we're all seen as evil tax stealing thieves (waves on solidarity).
Sole traders often did not get the support the government claimed they could, especially if 2019 had been a quiet year compared to what they had had lined up for 2020.

I've just remembered new sole traders were humped as well, they didn't get anything I don't think? Huge issues with people falling through the cracks.

In DH industry there were several failed marriages during lockdown, an explosion of alcoholism and two suicides of people he know.

But I do also remember my friend messaging me and promising me that if it came it it, he'd ensure that we would never lose our house. That meant a lot.

Yes, perhaps it would have been more fun for you OP if you had organised your lives so that you had zero responsibilities during lockdown… 🤦🏽‍♀️

Thank you.

I've just read your post. Yes, I think I have an understanding of what you went through. I'm so sorry.

Freelancer heavy industries were hit hard.
Ltd cos we're all seen as evil tax stealing thieves (waves on solidarity).
Sole traders often did not get the support the government claimed they could, especially if 2019 had been a quiet year compared to what they had had lined up for 2020.
PAYE freelancers who had future jobs cancelled due to lockdown (April is usually a busy time for new starters) couldn't receive furlow because they hadn't started yet, so their only hope was that a company they had already left might be able to help them out.

Oh God that's so awful. I am so sorry.

I hated the lockdown. Absolutely hated it and if I think about I become panicky. I was expected to work from home and educate my children at the same time, which was absolutely impossible. So they had very little education and I couldn't do both at the same time and was worried I would lose my job if I didn't keep up with the work. My husband was classed as vulnerable because of his illness so we were supposed to "shield"...I.e. not one of could leave the house for weeks. We had to rely on people going to collect his medication and bring us shopping (trying to get a supermarket delivery slot was nigh on impossible). I felt like I had to go cap in hand to people to ask for favours and I hated it. The stress of it all was off the charts. My husband was in and out of hospital having kidney dialysis and on one occasion the nurses wouldn't allow him to have even a sip of water for four hours because it would mean he would have to remove his mask. He was the only person on the ward. Two friends died in 2020, one of whom was elderly and went to her grave believing that her family had abandoned her because she wasn't allowed visitors in her care home. I couldn't go to her funeral as they would only allow ten people. Another close friend died and they were then allowing twenty people. I had to sit alone at one of the saddest times of my life and all I could think of was that there should have been hundreds there. He was only 44.

I read a lot of stories about people trapped in abusive homes, unable to escape. Whenever I hear people say that they miss lockdown, I want to scream. It was hell for a lot of people. All the small businesses that went under...all the livelihoods destroyed. A friend of my Mum STILL hasn't left her house because she is too scared to.

Yeah, that's really bad. It's when you need people.

There should have been better provision for funerals.

I have only read a few posts but I can see it was really shit for a quite few people in different ways.

The plus side was that when we were not isolating we could travel over to their dad's house (terrace with a yard)

I'm disabled and lockdown made it more difficult for me to walk. (Deconditioning) I couldn't walk for exercise much barely five minutes.

I used to hate the threads from people who didn't want to isolate in their detached houses with large gardens... especially when I was trying to keep an autistic kid (actually not then a teen) inside and active for 14 days. (Elderly neighbours on the stairwell)

Stuck in a flat two bed with no outdoor space if we were isolating. (14 days without going outside) Two autistic teens, one of whom really struggled.

I'm so sorry.

I was widowed during lockdown - early 2021.

It would have been bad at any time...but registering DH's death via phone? Selecting a coffin from an online catalogue? Travelling in the funeral car on my own? Hellish.

I was extremely lucky that I was on maternity leave during the first lockdown. Baby was 8 months old when it began so I didn’t have to worry about working (at least for the first few months). I did find the uncertainty incredibly hard though so was super anxious. Homeschooling a 6 year old and trying to explain to a 4 year old why he couldn’t go to nursery or see anyone was really intense. Juggling 3 kids was really hard work especially once the baby started crawling / climbing and getting into everything but my OH was working from home so at least I wasn’t alone in the house and we took our daily walk together during his lunch break, which helped a lot. I finally had time to play for long stretches of time with the kids, finish projects around the house and we got a lot of sun in the garden and I even managed to run everyday as I could easily tag team with OH at 8.45am so he logged in on good time. That was amazing. Never been able to exercise early doors since though as would have to go too early to make it viable (or appealing!). Fittest I’ve ever been then probably! The winter lockdown was completely HORRIFIC though by comparison. I was back to work (having to work from home for the first time ever), now had 2 kids to home school plus a toddler and OH had to go back to the office full time so I was essentially doing it all alone from 8am to 6pm. I was intensely depressed at that time and would never want to go back to it.

Had my son 5 days before lockdown started and we spent 10 days in NICU so left the hospital to a very different world.
I was lucky I could stay in hospital with him but I was also terrified of going home.*
DH couldn’t even visit towards the end of the 10 days. I was running out of clothes, didn’t expect a NICU stay.
I got very little support from the NICU staff.
I am grateful it was only 10 days but the trauma of that time still lives with me.

when we left hospital the world felt very different to when I entered hospital, 13 days before (I was in being induced before he was born)
I left hospital with a fragile baby, and no support from family who lived a minimum of 2 hours away. Also no support from services.

maternity leave was mostly in lockdown and very different than I expected. I was very anxious and that still lives with me as well.

lockdown impacted everyone differently and I am grateful no one close to me was seriously unwell with Covid. I am also grateful that we got a bit longer with DH at home, because I think I would have broken.

I also think that people who had older children had it much harder than a newborn. So OP I feel for you it sounds hard.

I believe it was the right thing at the time, but the legacy it has left particularly for children who missed vital and foundational aspects of education and socialisation will be felt for a generation and beyond!

*edited to add. I was terrified of going home because I worried they wouldn’t let me back again, I was also so scared of loosing him so much I couldn’t leave.