The positives of The covid pandemic.

[badgergirly]

Thinking back to covid times/lockdown/the pandemic and what a horrendous time it was for many, losing loved ones, children losing their education and and generally a horrible time for the world, I'm curious to ask if anyone can take anything positive from it all?

Has life changed in anyway for you that's become a positive going forward?

My DH now works from home 50% of the time and can take out DC to school and pick up, something he would never been able to do prior to covid as he would have been in the office.

He was also able to take DC to nursery in lockdown/covid times.

We also had another baby last year, something I'm positive wouldn't have happened if covid hadn't have been present.

Another one for wfh most days, I finally have some work life balance. I no longer need to pay for expensive childcare.

The pandemic creates a lot of wfh opportunities too.

MrsDanversGlidesAgain - I lived without a garden in a small 2 bedroom flat only had 1 hour a day that my teenage DSs and I could leave the flat every day, and I have a very active DS that goes outside to have a run around pretty much on the hour every hour under normal circumstances.

Both my DSs' education was seriously disrupted and their grades affected. I was fortunate to spend time with my father and go to his funeral (not from covid, but pneumonia so went through the awfulness of a ventilator) as it was in between the two lockdowns. But I missed other loved ones' funerals. Not having another adult to talk to on a daily basis was torture.

I hope to hell we never, ever have to go though something like that again as I found it horrific and I react angrily to family and friends who didn't have to live through anything more than some events being cancelled and not being able to cross state borders, but ONLY when they downplay how difficult it was for me. I do nothing more than roll my eyes when they talk about stuff they had to do/did in lockdown because it sounds barely different to normal life.

But Covid forced me to reassess my life and make different choices, choices that have had a huge financial and emotional benefit to me. THAT is why I have had positives come out of it. I HAVE now had a massive financial benefit and I can point directly to Covid as one of the major reasons for it. What is the point of pretending otherwise?

I'm sorry that other people's negatives were so horrific. But people saying it had positives isn't attack on them (or you). It's real life.

If this isn't a positive thread for you (any of you) then I hope you find the strength to hide it to stop it causing you pain.

The summer lockdown proved a real rest period for us. Our then 7 year old was super unhappy that spring, and all being at home, living a calmer lifestyle really helped him.

Pre-lockdown, we rarely saw DH, what with a long commute and international travel. After a long period of WFH and continued flexi-working, my children now have a relationship with him and I get more of a life, as he can help out with the kids/house.

because DH is able to be home more, I am back at university studying. This wasn't my possible before as we had no back-up.

None for us.

I don't like WFH, I only do it so I can be at home some of the time with teen DS. It's boring.

Didn't save any money as I get UC and I'm only allowed to have a certain amount of savings or it gets reduced. So I bought loads of crap that I didn't need.

DS was in Year 7 at the time and it disrupted his first year at secondary. We live in a flat, it was stifling.

Sorry 😂 was shit all around for us.

Overall it was shit, and I think I have blocked out fair amounts of the worst of it!

But some positives did come out of it. DH now works remotely 3-4 days a week and it has made such a difference to our family life. And, whilst we did find the lockdowns massively stressful, DH and I and our family unit became a lot closer and stronger because of it.

Vast, vast amounts were utterly shit though (we still haven't recovered financially) so it is nice to try and think of some positives.

If this isn't a positive thread for you (any of you) then I hope you find the strength to hide it to stop it causing you pain

Don't patronise me.

Your very first post was saying something improved virtually every aspect of your life 😂

WFH. I go into the office once a month maybe to get together with my team, it’s life changing and can open many opportunities. I’m not planning to leave my company but I know I can walk into a job if I ever needed to!
Thats all really for me, lockdown was really hard working full time whilst looking after a 2 and 4 year old - no furlough for me and husband cannot WFH.

MrsDanversGlidesAgain
Don't patronise me.

Fine. Then get off your high horse and accept the fact that everyone has had different experience. No one is forcing you to stay on a thread that is upsetting you.

We lost a family member to covid.

Noticing the positives, especially on a societal level, to come out of an awful period, is part of the way we face the future.

I think it's ok for people to make the best of a bad situation, and healthy to keep trying to notice positive things.

I can also understand being so distraught with grief that you're unable to see or accept anything positive.

However, it doesn't mean that other people willed it to happen or had any control of it.

I completely agree.