To miss the first lockdown?

Be very, very, very careful what you wish for.

😡

Did you enjoy Saint Boris and his merry men deliberately frightening the pants off the public?
Did you enjoy the public dobbing each other in, spying on each other?
Did you enjoy the government toying with our minds, and constantly moving the goalposts to make lockdown drag on and on and on, while we watched our businesses and children’s mental health crumble around us, and “new normal” implied that restrictions of one kind or another might be permanent?
”Three weeks.”
”Three more weeks.”
”We can turn this virus around in twelve weeks.”
”Normalish by Christmas.”
”it would be inhumane to cancel Christmas - oh, I’ve just done it.”
”it’s not lockdown, it’s tier 4.”
”significant normality by Easter.”
”irreversible roadmap to freedom on June.”
”did I say June? I meant July.”

2020 is the reason I will never trust any government again, for the rest of my life.
2020 is the reason millions of people now have mental health

No, I worked in community nursing at the time and it was busy, relentless and no joy at the weekends because I had to stay home.
i couldn’t visit my mum who was having cancer treatment and my children missed months and months of education whilst I juggled work and Google classroom.
no way would I ever comply again

I enjoyed the extra time I had at home during lockdown but was also lucky that no one I knew was seriously ill or worked in the NHS or was made redundant and I didn't have kids at home whilst trying to work. I also live in the country so could take the dogs for long walks and get out of the house. I would hate to go into lockdown now with a 2 and 4 year old, think I would be tearing my hair out pretty quickly!

We lost multiple teens to suicide, the fall out was life changing - it was one of the lowest periods of my entire life navigating such a thing with my teen dd - which is nothing compared to the immense suffering of their parents, so I am aware your post made me feel instant rage and instant tears. It is so unthinkable to me to wish any part of that living nightmare back. Maybe I need even more therapy, because my reaction to your post is visceral.

That said I understand why for you it was a blessing - I would urge you to consider a big life change so that you can have your slow life. This is your soul calling for connection, peace and quiet. You can have this minus the carnage of a lockdown. It does exist, a life that is not frantic and exhausting. You just need to find it.

I know what you mean even if others don't. I loved being furloughed, the quiet streets, no traffic, being home with my family with no pressure to do anything at all, no busyness.
It's made me change things, I work less hours, get out in quiet nature spots more, and I know I can retire early on less money, as I enjoy simple things.

Forced to WFH with a 3yo, what a bliss, what a joy.

No thanks.

Live alone. It was hell. The isolation was awful. Was not able to see partner too. YBVU

I was pregnant, with HG, working from home with a 2 year old and 10 month old.. absolutely do not miss it!! That said.. there were some parts of our lockdown life that worked well for us as a family that we've kept up - less clubs, less rushing about, more chill out time, walking everywhere, cooking better food etc. - we've intentionally slowed things down since then (as much as you can do with 3 kids)

I was just thinking this.

People enjoying lockdown did so due to others going through an awful time with it. Their enjoyment came at a cost that they mostly did not see in the comfort of their homes.

At the time I enjoyed it. It was bliss being home with nothing to do but walk bake and read. It was only afterwards that we realised the true impact of it. My MIL being diagnosed with cancer too late due to cancelled appointments through covid. Not spending my nan’s last few months with her for fear of passing on something that may kill her…. She died anyway

No idea why everyone is saying you are deluded. You point out in your first line that you know it was awful for others. It wasn't awful for you and that is not a crime. I believe many people were given a taste of what life could be like if we slowed down. It was the big push for WFH which has gone on to be valued by many.
I have mixed feelings and mixed experiences but yes there are parts I miss about the first lock down. One of my children often talks about how much they enjoyed it.

The first thing I did was hurriedly write a will, and get it signed at work. I work clinically in a hospital. Due to a combination of medical conditions, my predicted likelihood of death if I caught Covid in the first waves was the same as for an 85 year old. So about 10%. So yes, that was a lovely peaceful relaxing time. Are you insane?

I understand, and that’s great to hear you are maintaining slower mornings and more intentional connection. Modern life can be so hectic and frantic, it is absolutely OK to not want to be frantically busy every moment of every day. We are so selective now about the flow of our weekends, how much our children do, and make sure we all have time to relax in our own home.

I also actually feel a bit ashamed that even though I’ve always been outdoorsy, it took lockdown to prompt us to fully discover so many local walks and nature spots on our doorstep that we’d never had time to before. I never want to go back to being that time poor.

I absolutely loved lockdown. Suddenly things that had been completely inaccessible to me became miraculously accessible. The ableds needed it to, so it did.

I could socialise, watch theatre productions, have new foods delivered, attend classes and even work from home. It was amazing. It also meant I had company because my family were at home instead of at school and work.

Now, of course, all of the lovely accessible things have gone again.

Well you can lock yourself down if you want to. I would never, ever adhere to another lockdown should one be implemented.

My sister and I often say that we loved the first lock down. For us it was absolutely idyllic. I have a badly compromised immune system and so I was already stocked up with lots of food in case of emergency etc and I knew it was going to be bad from mid January so I was buying extra toilet rolls, medications etc. By the end of Feb I’d bought a printer, school work books, extra board games and the bits to start new hobbies. By accident I’d bought a kiln and potters wheel in January while drunk browsing eBay so we had a total blast. We set the hot tub up and spent all summer bbqing, playing with the kids in the garden and just having a blast. Every week we had a “bob off” where we would get a mini canvas each and a paint palette and spend an hour following along to a bob ross episode. It was fabulous. My DH was furloughed so it was just like an mega extended holiday.

i have to say YABU, mainly because the slower pace of life you experienced was created out of other peoples’ much more difficult and sometimes traumatic experiences. The two things can’t be separated.

Each to their own but personally, I thought that it was total, unmitigated shite. DD was born and my parents couldn’t visit to see her; when they did, we had to do it outside. All baby groups were cancelled. Couldn’t see my friends, except via video call. I feel completely robbed of my maternity leave. With hindsight, I should’ve just fucked the rules, and let my parents visit.

And those that are super aggressive and sarcastic in response to her who hated lockdown don’t show much empathy when essentially that’s what they’re advocating for

I really enjoyed it too. My children were toddlers at the time and we wouldn't otherwise have both got to spend months with them doing crafts and going for walks in the wood etc

For us it wasn't a traumatic or worrying time.

I loved it too op. Our lives have been changed by wfh.

To be fair to OP she's entitled to her opinion. Lots of people didn't like it. Lots of people did. That's allowed.

Oh I loved it too, although I worked through the lockdowns I found the first one especially blissful. Walking to work was so weird because of the quietness and no cars. That summer was the best, weather wise too.

Exactly this.