Have you discovered any upsides to the pandemic?

[Blonchette]

I guess I should preface and say I’m being light hearted so I’m not meaning things like better quality of family life etc. Although obviously I hope many have found that.

It’s just that as I was washing my hands earlier for the millionth time today it suddenly occurred to me to wonder if things like incidences of threadworms were down due to increased hygiene. I don’t know if they are or not but it would be a small plus point of the pandemic if they were.

Anything else?

There are quite a lot really, I'm going to be disappointed when visitor numbers increase at venues and on public transport! I like dropping off my dd at nursery and running - not having to deal with taking her shoes or coat off or taking her up to her classroom.

Taking the train is so much nicer with an empty seat next to me.

Not seen ILs since 2019, usually they'd visit from overseas at least once a year.

I'm an introvert so not having social engagements or taking the DC to birthday parties has been great.

We wfh anyway but I have now decided to permanently Home Ed, something DH wasn't on board with before the pandemic, and the benefit especially to my eldest dd, mentally and physically has been amazing.

Much fewer physical hospital appointments for dd2 and myself.

Not eating out, very physically uncomfortable for me (disability) so an occasional restaurant takeaway at home where I can elevate my leg or use my heat mat is great.

Glamping in pods instead of paying a fortune to stay in hotels where I would dread the breakfast and probably not get much to eat because of allergies but DH could never get his head around the idea of staying in a cottage because "it's just being at home somewhere else" in a pod he feels like he's away and likes to play around with the Bbq and new ideas so win win.

My mask covers my double chin

I like phone-based doctors’ appointments as long as these are handled sensibly - much better than hanging round the surgery for hours before work/nursery.

DD (3/nearly 4) is now fully bilingual in English and DH’s language because of the amount of time spent together. She’s also doing much more formal academic stuff with me than I imagine she’d be doing otherwise.

Not having a zillion DHs hogging the chairs at the antenatal clinics I attend is great.

More acknowledgment of retail/hospitality staff (though I think that’s quickly going out the window).

Just because you are an “introvert” (I think you mean sociophobe) @Loyaultemelie doesn’t mean you should mould your dcs to this path. I hope your dh is strong enough to counter your isolationist ideas because they really don’t sound good.

People not standing right up your arse when you are waiting in a queue. I could never fucking stand that.

People not stopping you to have long, boring conversations.

• Zoom parents evenings for the win
• Massive improvements in delivery services (where I live was a bit behind the times on that but got way better).
• I did stuff I almost certainly would not have done had I not been so utterly bored (learned a language)

To be honest, it's small consolation though. Life is boring compared to before.

Less people about so rarely had to breathe in anyone's cigarette smoke

I have come to realise that I do actually enjoy my own company and that of my family. Also that I love my house and the area that I live in. It seemed previously that I was always trying to escape from each of these things! I also love my job, I started my change of career 3 months before the first lockdown & it's a key worker role, so it's probably given me a good balance. I do get to see other people & get out of the house.

I love love love the sudden disappearance of space invaders.

Not aliens. But the people (let's face it it's usually men) who stand so ruddy close behind you in the supermarket that you can feel their breath on the back of your neck. It's awful, and hard to deal with without stepping out of a queue

It seems that we now have a natural/default rhythm to have spaced out queues and I hope this will be some sort of socialised/evolutionary thing where we tell out great grandchildren "you know in the olden days people used to stand close together in queues" 😂

YY also to Zoom parents evening. As a teacher, and parent, it's so much less stressful.

And GP phone/Zoom sessions. So much easier than getting someone to cover my lessons so I can schlep down to the surgery!

I like being a total slob and not having to worry about visitors arriving and find the house needs vacuuming and the sink is full of dirty dishes.

Not every day but before covid you could bet the day I thought sod the vacuuming would be the day when a coachload of visitors decided to pop in.

Spent a year at home (mat leave followed by furlough) with my baby, was incredibly hard but really rewarding. We couldn't do baby classes and he didn't have a chance to bond with close family members but I got to build such a fab relationship and routine with him that I might not of been able to do had it not happened.

I started a nursing degree in sept 2020, experiencing uni from home was challenging but again, more time with my DS.

There were so many more downsides, so so many. A miscarriage alone without DH being with me due to restrictions, DS initially struggling to bond with close family members and the ongoing fear of catching covid. Which ironically I seem to have caught on freedom day.

My friend has lost all contact with her family due to them having different views on the pandemic. I work in mental health, the situation is really dire.

No big work events or staff parties 😃

Yes quite a few things.

The most random being that I stopped wearing my 'magic knickers' last March when I was put on furlough because nobody was going to see me anyway. It gave me the confidence to get rid of them and wear normal knickers. They were my 'safety net' with my body image worries so I'm proud of myself.

I was made redundant after lockdown 1 from a job I loved. However they rarely gave me more than 25hrs a week and I was on min wage.

I got a new job straight away and have now been promoted twice. I work full time so have more than twice the cash every month, I love my job and my colleagues and I’m doing an apprenticeship. I doubt I’d have jumped so being pushed was life changing.

@Comedycook

I much prefer how my kids go to school in their pe kit on days they have pe. Means much less stuff gets lost!

Oh yes, this.

I really hope they keep it. So much time wasted for little kids getting changed and so much uniform lost usually.

Yes, I'm the lowest weight I've been for years and a healthy BMI. Higher risk of being ill with Covid provided a good incentive to lose weight and keep it off.

@NannyAndJohn

I think a lot of people don't realise just how beneficial the pandemic has been for women in general.

This has got to be a wind up!

Zoom parents evening. Table service in pubs, no more bar scrum, hope that stays. The downside is we drink more because the staff are so attentive.

Dh and i have had lots of lovely days out we'd never have considered before

Agree with the virtual parents' evenings - let's hope they keep those.

Also IT being so much better so that I'll never need to fly to Glasgow again!

Spending more time with DS after school. I've realised how hard he found it with me coming in at 6:30pm every evening.

I loved how life slowed down. Pre covid I felt like I was at breaking point rushing everywhere. Lockdown has given me the confidence to say "no More!" and I am using my time how I want to, not to please others.

I think it has helped me identify lots of things I hated before and how I don't want them to be a part of my life any more. I really want to live a more simple life and enjoy my free time how I want to enjoy it. It's been very liberating in that respect but I understand for nurses/dr and those who's job security has been compromised, it must have been hell and I am fortunate.

It’s been difficult being pregnant in a pandemic and I feel for anyone who had to have scans/be alone in labour. That said I thought the postnatal ward was significantly better with only one named birth partner per patient- with my first child there were women who had large numbers of visitors at their bedside all day, making it hard to rest or have privacy. This time round it was much quieter. Generally I think wards should be for patients to recover, and visitors can come and see you when you’re home.

@MotherWol

It’s been difficult being pregnant in a pandemic and I feel for anyone who had to have scans/be alone in labour. That said I thought the postnatal ward was significantly better with only one named birth partner per patient- with my first child there were women who had large numbers of visitors at their bedside all day, making it hard to rest or have privacy. This time round it was much quieter. Generally I think wards should be for patients to recover, and visitors can come and see you when you’re home.

I had my third last August and there were no visitors on the postnatal ward at all.

It was a lot better to be honest, my other two the wards were full of visitors and it was hell. And I actually had a lot more help from staff as they weren’t constantly having to fend off requests from visitors or go round telling people to be quiet.

I was only there for a few hours though. C section at 9:30pm and I was chucked out at 11am the next morning!