Positives about life in Lockdown ** Title edited by MNHQ**

[Parmavioletmum]

The media and everyone seems to be focused on the terrible and understandably worst case stories about corona so I thought why not start a positive thread so we can all feel a little more upbeat as I dont know about you but I've felt nothing but anxious, scared and vulnerable being in a high risk group.

So what positives have you all found? What are you grateful for? Anyone been through having corona and have now recovered?

I'll start. I'm incredibly grateful for my health and my families health right now and am enjoying spending more time with my partner and the kids than normal.

Not commuting, and realising that a vast part of my job can actually be done without going anywhere.

Getting to enjoy being with my baby without having to socialise and let others meet him. It would also be nice if I could take him out but having no choice makes it easier. Things feel very cosy with just me, my husband, the baby, the dog and sometimes my in laws (not in the UK, no strict lockdown here so we are allowed to visit them.)

On that note, having no choices to make. No FOMO, no "is everyone else having fun except me?" NO. They are not! Or at least not in the ways that make me feel insecure.

Everyone I love is healthy, thank God. And I am grateful for this in a way I never have been.

A friend made a chat group for women in our area so we can meet up when all this is done, there are around 10 of us, so 10 new friends without even trying!

Life just feels simpler and less burdenful (is that a word?) without
all the endless choice of what to do this weekend or where to go to eat out or which beach to drive to.

I'm in bed watching netflix and just gearing up for 5 days of complete laziness. It is different for me as I will be back at work on Wednesday, but apart from the odd walk and the odd trip to centra I will be doing absolooooooooooootely nothing

I don't feel like I ought to be doing something worthy or impressive.

No groups of noisy drunk people going past in the early hours. Bliss.

• I've started dancing again, I've fitted in 10 classes a week for the past three weeks. Not lost any weight but I'm feeling 'firmer'
• I've had a wonderful week in the back garden and it's looking good
• My house is tidy!
• Saved loads of money through no clubs / no petrol / no shopping when I feel like it / no after school care
• Time to read and listen to music I am a teacher and it's wonderful to have the Easter holidays this year as holidays. Going to do as much in the house and garden as I can before start of term.

Also potty trained my daughter! The most stubborn strong willed little so and so I've ever known

I'm grateful for the slower pace of life, the last few weeks have made me realise how close to burnout I was!

I'm also grateful for quality time with my OH

I work from home usually so many things people have mentioned don't apply so much to me but.....

-It's great to see DH getting so many done around the house that he just hadn't been able to do because of work and regular trips to golf

-I'm making a lot more of an effort with the housework so the house is getting cleaner and tidier.

• I'm learning Spanish and doing lots of baking with the kids.

• In terms of gratitude , I feel extremely grateful to have 3 healthy DCs, one healthy DH and 3 parents and parents-in-law who are all in their mid 70s and in good health.

My mental and physical health is 1000000000x better, I’m saving money, I’m enjoying having free time to actually do things. I want this to last forever

I've requested a title change! Sorry guys didn't realise quite how poorly it read!!

I'm loving these. Seems most people are definitely appreciating the slower pace of life and being able to spend time doing things with people they love or things they love!

I have loads of cookbooks and have been revisiting. D S made a Lego batmobile that he got for Christmas 2 years ago but just looked to complicated to make. Environmentally it's been great for wildlife, pollution etc. More companies may allow people to work from home.

The sort of quiet we only really get on Xmas day ... all the time.

@frogsandsheep I'm really sorry for your loss, and for you dealing with so many other peoples

Loads of stuff (whilst obviously wishing we were not in this situation and acutely aware of and horrified for all the people ill and dying and those who are in awful domestic situations).

Me and my husband are getting on so well. We are just smashing it, playing to our strengths, giving each other breaks and just generally really doing lockdown well.

My two kids have really bonded, playing together and getting to know each other properly.

The garden and the weather and the local nature reserve which is gorgeous for our exercise.

Doing DrawWithRob every day and a bit of painting with the kids, feeling creative (in reality not at all creative).

We have potted up loads of seeds and they have all grown! No idea what to do next but it’s given me lots of joy.

Drinking lots, watching Netflix every night and eating crisps and not even worrying about it. Spend a lot of head energy second guessing what I eat and drink normally. Will probably pay for this later.

Kids have got into yoga.

My friends have all rallied round and are just fabulous.

About to have a BBQ in the sun.

People we booked a holiday with have all refunded with no quibbles.

Loads more but with stop now.

I'm also hoping that when we come out of this we will see some real positive change - maybe less emphasise on fakeness/celebrities/influencers/material things and more focus on real life relationships

So grateful to have my partner home and spending all of our time together. Also grateful that my partner gets to experience our baby boys milestones

I'm so grateful to be able to spend loads of time with the kids and to be forced to be more creative to keep them (and me) sane. I'm so grateful that my family are all ok for the time being and no one is in lock down alone. I'm grateful for our health, my home, the lovely weather, our garden, to have hobbies and things planned to keep me busy for the next few weeks, a click and collect slot for the 24th and getting a delivery slot for Shipton Mill today

My DH is at home with us and getting a break from a very difficult, demanding and emotionally draining job. We are all healthy for now. We live in a lovely house in a beautiful, quiet part of the world and have a lot of outdoor space. And the sun is shining!

Well, the reduction in pollution worldwide is fantastic! I know fishing will still be considered an essential industry but I'm hoping with restaurants shut at least, fish stocks will be given a chance to recover.

@Frogsandsheep. I'm so sorry you're having to see it first hand.

I hope nobody feels this thread is ignoring the loss and severity of this situation. Just thought a bit of focusing on positives may be nice. I know for me personally reading all of these replies based been lovely just to see the beauty in such a horrific situation.

Of course a massive appreciation to all those frontline workers too. The NHS workers, the supermarket workers, the bin men, the post man, delivery drivers.. the list is endless! But thank you to all those that are out there helping us keep as safe as possible in the face of such danger.

In our garden I hear bird song and bees buzzing. No traffic noise.

I put on some dancy music every morning and do half an hour's exercise, so I'm probably getting fitter than I've ever been.

My kitchen is now so sparkling clean, I'm actually motivated to keep it tidy. Could it work for the rest of the house? I may find out.

I am loving having DH home. I am retired now but DH still works (he is younger than me) and quite often long hours.

We have done so much already. We have decorated the spare room, starting decorating our room, also stripped the paper on landing, down stairs and in hallway and started sanding the woodwork. We have also sorted out cupboards, wardrobes and boxes from when we moved over 2 years ago.

Also done quite a bit of gardening. It's been lovely having nice weather too.

Although DH isn't working and is self employed so getting no money at present (he will get the money from the government for the self employed) I started getting my state pension this month so we have money coming in. We are lucky that we have no mortgage and our outgoings are low so we can manage pretty well. In fact I am hoping that DH cuts his hours or even stops work once this is over.