To feel a bit of nostalgia for “lockdown version 1”

[Covidchameleon]

This is lighthearted and I’m not making light of the shitty situation we all find ourselves in.
However this lockdown seems to be missing some of the elements that made the first one bearable

Tiger King, great memes, queuing outside Sainsbury’s etc.

This feels instead like and endless slog - so Aibu to ask say the sequel is not as good as the original?

[Froggo]

Tbh I keep forgetting we’re in another lockdown. I think the only thing that’s changed for us is that DC’s performing arts classes are online now. Everything else is the same as a few weeks ago, even down to the amount of traffic on my commute.

The first lockdown was awful though with trying to juggle homeschooling around work and the kids still going to school 3 days a week for childcare when I wasn’t wfh. Ugh.

[thepeopleversuswork]

Back in April one of my furloughed friends sent a meme thing to a group chat we're on that said something like, "mamas, please don't worry about your children! Sure they won't have school and all their activities, but when they look back in the future they'll remember these lovely long days with Mum and Dad, and how they never had to hear "sorry kids I'm too busy", and how they got to play with you all day!" I didn't yell at her for it but I did cry to myself a bit.

And this. Sorry but the awful smugness that lockdown brought out in people. People in stable marriages with comfortable incomes and without financial worries. It drove such a wedge between me and many people. I'm still really struggling to forgive people who behaved like this.

I think lockdown demonstrated how divided we are as a society, between those who were able to hunker down safely with their families, and those who were forced out of their jobs, or forced into dangerous or exhausting jobs.

I don't blame some people for having a relatively comfortable lockdown but the lack of self-awareness people displayed about it, and the sanctimoniousness displayed towards those who weren't was really shocking to me.

[TheDowagerDuchess]

thepeopleversuswork I completely agree. Sorry to keep coming back but this strikes such a cord with me!

[pinkearedcow]

@tortoiseshell1985

The whole thing has been horrendous
People losing their jobs, unable access GP care civil liberties removed by draconian measures
There is nothing I will miss about any of this

I agree. I do support the restrictions and stick to them, but I hate it all, even though I'm one of the lucky ones whose income/health hasn't been affected. My heart goes out to those who aren't so fortunate.

[FourCandelabras]

Playgrounds and schools are open, so those alone make this one a LOT more bearable!

[JassyRadlett]

Objectively Lockdown 1 was far worse, kids at home, DS1 totally miserable at being off school, worries about DH’s job, everything shut, shopping at 1am to get a slot, endless slog of work-homeschool-work-housework-sleep-repeat.

And yet I feel an East German Ostalgie style feeling for the simplicity of Lockdown 1, the joy of hearing about the coffee stall and bakery that had reopened in the market, taking family bike rides to pick up bread from the bakery when it reopened, sharing tips with friends about which wholesaler was doing direct to public from their back gate, etc etc.

Wouldn’t go back, though. Not in a heartbeat.

[JassyRadlett]

@thepeopleversuswork You’ve just reminded me of a thread on here around May which was just women who were still working, kids at home, at the absolute ends of their ropes, and so many people not seeming to get it (including a lot of employers).

I think I’ve done that thing you do with childbirth where it doesn’t seem so bad after a while. But in the midst it was fucking awful and I didn’t have it nearly as bad as some.

And those who piled in with the ‘why did you even have kids if you don’t want to spend time with them, you’re just desperate to get rid of them back to school’ made it worse.

[psychomath]

And this is not quite as bad as the threads from the militant introverts who wanted everyone to know how happy they were not to be "forced to socialise" and the endless competitive crafting and vegetable growing.

Oh God yes, all those smug threads about how "extroverts are finally experiencing the same struggles we face all the time!" Er, no, unless you were previously required by law to attend daily house parties, being banned from face to face contact with anyone we knew for two months is really not the same thing as you lacking the balls to tell people that you're not that into socialising.

[thecatsthecats]

The first lockdown had a "sent home from school" feeling to it.

There was nothing to be sent home from this time because I've been wfh since March.

Last time, my staff were literally looking out the window on March 16th as if they expected the army to appear on the streets to send them home the moment lockdown was announced.

[MarshaBradyo]

I’m surprised at the votes

No childcare plus schooling was not fun

Although the weather was nice for a long time

[angorarabbit]

As someone who lives alone, I would never want to return to a lockdown 1 situation. I have lived by myself for many years and never had a problem with this. But 3 months of total solitude, no one to share a meal/ make a cup of tea/ talk to in the evenings? no.thanks!

[TheVanguardSix]

I went into cardiac arrest as lockdown started. So I spent my lockdown recovering from nearly dying. It's all a bit of a blur. But the weather was fabulous and as I recovered, I morphed into Alan Titschmarsh and transformed my garden. But to be honest, lockdown 1 plus the school summer holidays was waaaay too long. Too much Groundhog Day happening. I prefer this one. Less invasive behaviour from drunk neighbours. I got so fed up to the gills of my neighbours in surround sound.

[Clockstop]

Lockdown 1 was horrendous with 2 DC, homeschooling 5yo who refuses to watch screens and coping with a non-stop 12 month old whilst working full time.

This time nursery and school are open so it's just a bit dull at weekends.

[Elsielouise13]

@thepeopleversuswork

Back in April one of my furloughed friends sent a meme thing to a group chat we're on that said something like, "mamas, please don't worry about your children! Sure they won't have school and all their activities, but when they look back in the future they'll remember these lovely long days with Mum and Dad, and how they never had to hear "sorry kids I'm too busy", and how they got to play with you all day!" I didn't yell at her for it but I did cry to myself a bit.

And this. Sorry but the awful smugness that lockdown brought out in people. People in stable marriages with comfortable incomes and without financial worries. It drove such a wedge between me and many people. I'm still really struggling to forgive people who behaved like this.

I think lockdown demonstrated how divided we are as a society, between those who were able to hunker down safely with their families, and those who were forced out of their jobs, or forced into dangerous or exhausting jobs.

I don't blame some people for having a relatively comfortable lockdown but the lack of self-awareness people displayed about it, and the sanctimoniousness displayed towards those who weren't was really shocking to me.

What they said. In buckets. Giant enormous buckets. Stressful, exhausting working weeks. No time to spend at home, not seen family in over a year, no holiday... yeah... great fun.

[TheVanguardSix]

Playgrounds and schools are open, so those alone make this one a LOT more bearable!

Absolutely. I hated the 'shut up shop' feel of lockdown 1.
Actually, I hated lockdown 1, great weather and all. All of the pissheads leaving their rubbish all over the parks gave me the rage, people who had never enjoyed a green space in their lives were shouting at dog walkers who'd been on our local green for years. Sweaty joggers shouting at my kids for walking 'way too close' to them on paths too narrow to 'social distance' on... it all became unbearable. It was a social fucking nightmare and most people out in public behaved like paranoid dickheads on the one hand, drunken idiots on the other. And the whole Tour de France speedway that my area became courtesy of first-time idiotic cyclists did my head in. The playgrounds were walled off with metal sheeting. Awful. Depressing.

[shinynewapple2020]

I do understand where you are coming from OP.

Although it was a totally surreal time, queuing up outside Tesco and panicking if you missed something and had to double back on the one way system . And yes it was obviously more difficult for some people than others , for people in flats or trying to homeschool while working full time .

But there was some camaraderie in the fact that it was such a strange situation that no one had experienced before , people trying to look on the bright side , memes poking fun at the situation . And the weather was lovely .

We also had no idea how long things would go on for . I remember a thread with someone having to move their holiday and people were saying of course everything will be back to normal by September.

Things seem darker now. Very disparate groups of people who seem unable, or unwilling, to understand the other's position .

Yes the appearance of a vaccination on the horizon give hope for next winter at least . And trying to stay positive doing what we can eg we have patio heater ready for outdoor entertaining, there's no panic about shops running out of stock , we can drive to walk in different areas .

But with the dark nights and cold weather drawing in it's going to be a very difficult few months ahead .

[ohnothisagain]

Back in April one of my furloughed friends sent a meme thing to a group chat we're on that said something like, "mamas, please don't worry about your children! Sure they won't have school and all their activities, but when they look back in the future they'll remember these lovely long days with Mum and Dad, and how they never had to hear "sorry kids I'm too busy", and how they got to play with you all day!" I didn't yell at her for it but I did cry to myself a bit.
This, with bells on. I had a friend sending something similar around, saying she doesn’t understand why people don’t enjoy this time more, and that she has so much mire time now to spend with the kids although she’s still working fulltime.
Massive hint: she has a fulltime nanny who worked through lockdown. She’s also not a friend anymore.

[roarfeckingroarr]

I loved the first one because I could wfh in the sun and nap whenever I wanted during pregnancy and I'm rather enjoying lockdown 2 with my newborn and DP wfh. The timing had been great for us.

[toothfairycat]

This time feels like a version of normal life. DS is at school, I’m at work, DH WFH but he used to a couple of days anyway.
Boring weekends but we had lazy weekends when the weather was rubbish anyway.
Life doesn’t feel curtailed as much this time.

[Clockstop]

Oh yes the first time users of our dog walking route who scowled at everyone were absolute prize dicks! They've all slunk away now, thankfully.

[Royalbloo]

I dunno - I quite like Covid Mark 2...it's cold, the weather is shit, we can all eat mash, work are sold that we can all wfh, no one is having loads of fun, it's not sunny, the days are short, I can whack up the heating and drink hot chocolate. And we have another go at getting sober/losing weight etc. I'm up for this one - the last one was terrifying.

This time I know I have a job and the DD is at nursery. I prefer this one...

[Waxonwaxoff0]

YABVU. Lockdown with school closed was hell and I was furloughed which was horrible. At least this time I'm working and school is open.

[Biscuitsneeded]

I miss the birdsong of Lockdown 1.

[nanbread]

This lockdown doesn't feel much different to normal life for me tbh, with the exception of working from home and DC not doing swimming lessons (which they don't miss).

I didn't go to the gym or shopping or to visit family or eat out much anyway, and rarely socialised in groups, - it would be cold and dark this time of year regardless.

[Passthecake30]

The lockdown was hard, wfh FT with 2 preteens at home. However, looking through my photos, it looked like it was quite fun? Long lunchtime walks, jo wicks, taking a dip in the paddling pool at lunchtime... no wonder I didn’t get any work done
This lockdown doesn’t really feel like a lockdown, apart from kids activities and my are Pilates class not happening. The long walks are back on at the weekend, which remind me of the spring...