What has lockdown highlighted to you about your life?

[Ilovetea09]

Morning. I'm on day 54 of self isolation now. We are stuck in groundhog day and The kids are finding homeschool difficult and they miss their friends.
But we have been so lucky with the weather and to have a garden and are trying to make the best of it. We camped out there the other night which was great fun. Something we would never normally do. My husband is still working but when he's home I've noticed we've spent a lot more time together as a family which has been nice. Just doing simple things like playing outside, playing with toys.
We have been getting more exercise than we usually would which is a positive. We are eating less and spending less.

It has shown me how much I love travelling and going to the seaside /or on holiday. I really need something to look forward to it seems! And going on days out and the weekend, we really miss that.

But it's also shown me just how introverted I am, and my husband. My husband has always been antisocial, he had a few work friends /aqaintencies, but he's let them slip away and now has none. He says he's perfectly happy with this as hes never enjoyed friends!
Im similar in that I don't have a large group of friends. I have one best friend who I've not seen since February as she's living at a hospital with her sick baby for at least 6 months. My only other friends are school mums who I chat to at the gate. I aren't sad we haven't got friends but it has highlighted it to me when I see on social media people hosting quiz nights with friends and having group video chats etc.
Lockdown has also shown me how we aren't close to other family members and I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. We all live locally to each other and we saw my parents and in laws every weekend before lockdown . But it was tedious and I don't have a good relationship with my narcissist father so the meetups were never fun anyway. I feel terrible saying this but to not see them has been quite freeing for me. My anxiety around my father has gone and I feel relaxed for the first time in years.
I don't know what our new normal will be going forward after lockdown but I do know that I want to change some things to live a happier and more fulfilling life than we were.
What has lockdown highlighted to you about your life?

That I can do just one weekly shop, when I would normally waste time doing several smaller shops. If we go without specific things it really doesn’t matter.

That I am not missing the social pressures of school parent get togethers and the guilt of not arranging enough play dates.

That my DH doesn’t need to commute, go on endless overseas trips and ‘networking’ dinners to do his job.

That I still cannot get on top of the cleaning and tidying whilst homeschooling.

That I still have the ability to study and succeed at something new, as I am doing a course online in a completely unrelated area to my career and really enjoying the challenge.

That I need to diet now!

That I’m really fucking lonely and I have no idea how to fix it.

See how quickly our supermarkets run dry even with a working supply chain
we have already seen that many times, with strikes or bad weather, it's hardly new.

How we worry too much about things that are irrelevant, or we can't do much about. Brexit, climate change, minorities being shot in America, third world poverty, YAWN.*

How polarising wealth is.

that is one of the biggest example of hypocrisy and polarised view you could find on here

You were being sarcastic, won't you?

That I'm a closet extrovert. Surprised by how much I miss random chats with people in the office, the local shop, pub, dropping into neighbours etc.

That I don't need to pay for gym membership.

That I would have been an appalling SAHM.

How much I dislike the sound of lawnmowers, pressure washers and strimmers.

That I actually don't need to rely on the supermarkets for everything I buy.

That I don't need to eat as much meat as I was previously and a largely vegetarian diet may be the way forward.

That alcohol isn't the solution to everything. I feel much better now I've cut right back.

That DH and I don't enjoy working all the hours god sends and we are looking at ways we can reduce the amount of work we do (we have our own business).

That even with all this extra time I still don't exercise as much as I should or at all.

It's made me realise that I really needed a break from commuting. I hadn't realised how exhausted I was becoming used to being until we were all forced to slow down. It's also made me realise how lucky we are to live where we do, we have lots of parks and green spaces, and the river is at the end of our road; and also that I need to make more space in my life for regular exercise and yoga. I've felt so much more grounded and healthy this past month with time to focus on myself a bit.

That I really don’t need to buy half the stuff I do.
That I put on weight by eating when I’m not hungry.
I have always counted my blessings but I’m most grateful right now for my house and family, my job and my physical and mental health.

Yes, @Sockwomble! It seems unending here

That my job was making me incredibly stressed and affecting my health.

That I don't want to carry on like before when this is all over.

Confirmation that my natural sleeping patterns arn’t compatible with work. I am going to bed at 12.30-1am and getting up at 8.30-9.0. And sleeping so much better than when i go to bed at 10.30-11 and get up at 6.45. I am not looking forward to going back to that routine.

That I need to work for my sanity. But also that i was overdoing it and needed a break. That i have nothing in common with my husband and dont enjoy spending time with him ( I knew that anyway)
That if you walk a couple of miles a day, you get fitter. Who knew?

It has shown me that we waste alot of money on crap and that we all needed a break away from anything

That I naturally need 10.5 - 11 hours sleep a night!

That I lead a relatively solitary life and there's no difference between normal and lockdown.

It's Groundhog Day every day of the bloody week.

The difference is how much I spend on impulse food and drink purchases on the way to and from work.

With no shops open and canteens closed at work too, I'm 'big shopping' once a week, packing lunches and finally living within my means.

Although I'm utterly fucked off with lockdown and want it to end, it has highlighted to me how incredibly lucky we are. We have a lovely spacious home, a lovely garden, DH is able to do his job from home, DC are happy to home school and (mostly) just get on with it, we have plenty of stuff here to amuse ourselves with, we have money to pay our bills and buy food, we live in a lovely town with a big park nearby, we have our health, we have hope that this will end and we'll be able to go back to our normal life.

But it's also underlined to me how much I value my freedom and our ability to travel. In spite of all the above, I feel like a caged animal.

That I'm even lazier than I thought I was.

That I am a total extrovert who struggles with monotony. That I'm still a rebel. And in this case quite definitely without a cause, but I fucking hate these half made up rules. Stay safe. Yeah whatever.

@BPSCSS

I really hate doing one big supermarket shop. I love it when it’s all done and put away but actually shopping for a whole week is quite stressful for me. I’d rather do 2 or 3 smaller, quicker shops over a week.

Well I am fortunate to have a detached house with a nice garden ,and a dog we have been walking to the river most days .DH working from home .And I am enjoying Baking again .(Even more now got some flour!)No awful traffic and pressure to "do " things .However I am looking forward to seeing my family again . Miss everyone and some are on shielded list as well.

*That I can't be arsed with mindless rules

That I cant be arsed with people who like mindless rules.

That I can't be arsed with overly positive people.

That I love my normal life and can't fucking wait to get it back*

This.

Plus I'm an anarchist when I always thought I was a rule follower.

And I fucking hate being at home.

Not so much about myself. WFH and switched my regular social encounters to video or walking while talking on the phone.

The bombshell has been DH, who it turns out is a genuine introvert. Who knew? Not I

Showed me that although I’m an introvert, my friends and family are really important to me and I should make the most of spending time with them. DP and I were planning to get married privately in July but had to cancel, and we’ve decided to throw a proper wedding next year instead so we can enjoy celebrating with everyone because how many chances to do that do you actually get in life?

Also I knew it already but lockdown has really highlighted my partner is AWESOME and I’ve picked a really good dude to marry

I'm a keen rule-follower (but very much not a curtain-twitcher or a commenter on whether others are following rules). I probably also come across as annoyingly positive too, but tbh that's because I'm having a very pleasant lockdown rather than because I have a policy of being positive!

People announcing they wish for lockdown to go on longer because they don't want to go back to work are very selfish though.