To miss lockdown

[globula]

Just that really.

This is my personal view and experience and I cannot comment on the suffering the COVID situation brought to many people however for me it was great (of course the reason for lockdown wasn't great, JUST THE EXPERIENCE of it).

I have a 0hrs contract with NHS but working on a non COVID ward so was able to pick up full time hrs last year resulting in more income (normally only able to do 2 shifts per week due to lack of childcare) and didn't feel unsafe or uncomfortable if anything it was easier with less patients, no visitors and limited visits from other agencies). DH was off on furlough staying at home, doing diy, garden and helping to homeschool.
I loved having DCs here to homeschool- actually think they learned way more at home than they do at school on regular basis- and overall we had more time to spend as a family and enjoy each other's company as there was no external stress and pressure.

We don't have family around and don't go out very often anyway so I wasn't bothered by places being shut.
I loved the empty streets, buses, trains and supermarkets (maybe I just don't like ppl I don't know).

So overall for me it was brilliant. I realise that I sound extremely selfish and wouldn't say it to anyone in RL however my intention isn't to diminish anyone's hardship just needed to share how I feel.

You haven’t been on the coronavirus board, @Sparklingbrook?

Yanbu to miss it, it worked well for your family and for many others, but for a lot of people it was very stressful and unhappy time. Its all down to personal circumstances.
We don't go out a lot to restaurants theatres etc and do most shopping online so didn't miss that aspect too much. Still managed a holiday, in fact it was easier to go abroad last year than it is this year.
I had DH and DC for company so not lonely and we were both WFH so no drop in income.
However homeschooling whilst working was stressful and tbh was a bit envious of furloughed friends who had loads of free time ,particularly last summer when weather was fab.
Also as we dont go out much and had minimal commuting costs didn't save any money which I know lots of people did.

@SpicyJalfrezi

You haven’t been on the coronavirus board, *@Sparklingbrook*?

I nearly hid it many times. But sometimes it's good to keep up with some of the ridiculous stuff that's being stated as FACT.

Our lockdown was fine.
We worked from our very spacious home.
But I worried my elderly mum - did all the people who say they loved it not miss their parents? Extended family? Mates?

I also felt for two of my adult D.C. who missed out on university experiences.

But yes, being totally candid here (and I don’t mean @globula) I think there are some very odd people out there, some of whom were or are living strange half-lives without any real meaningful interactions or relationships.

When everything was open, there was a sense of missing out, which they resented.

When everything shut, there was barely concealed glee hidden amongst the mournful ‘it’ll get worse / this won’t be the last lockdown’ sort of comments.

There’s a huge difference between festering joy that everyone has been brought to the same level of misery and a fleeting ‘it was so lovely to have a chance to do the garden.’

My industry shut down overnight, I received no financial support from anyone or any source and I am single, living alone.

My savings are wiped out, I had to take a zero hours job that didn’t cover my mortgage (but paid for food whilst the savings took the above beating) and I saw a total of 5 people in 18 months (all friends married / family bubbles / CEV / didn’t live close.

I’m lucky, no one I know died, I just about kept the roof over my head and my industry has picked back up. But the stress of losing everything was very very real and anything out of the ‘norm’ still triggers huge waves of anxiety for me.

Awful time.

Also to those who loved not seeing their family and friends - why do you bother normally if they mean so little to you?
If you loved gardening/walking/baking - why don’t you do this normally? Are you really so busy?
If you hate busy shops - why do you go normally? There’s almost nothing can’t be bought online.

I was lucky to survive it with my mental health mostly intact, and live won't ever be the same again.

So, no. I don't miss it. But we're all different.

*life. Bloody phone.

Lockdown was enjoyable for some families because they were forced to:

Spend time doing stuff with their own kids

Go for walks outside as this was the only reason they could leave the house

Do the DIY jobs they had been putting off

Cook real food, as furlough meant no excuse for quick convenience food

Stay in regular phone contact with old and vulnerable family members

This list of enjoyable and useful stuff isn't exclusive to lockdown, OP, nor are the things you and your family did together. You don't need to be forced into doing educational stuff with your kids. Your husband doesn't need to be forced into DIY. You're using "external stress and pressure" as a way to opt out of these things in regular times

Make the time to do them again and opt back in.

Sorry to hear this @YellowandGreenToBeSeen, very best wishes and hope things start to improve for you.

I do think lockdown was so beneficial for women as a whole

No, you mean for you. This statement is absolutely loaded with privilege.

Your further comment about "family" is laughable. On the corona board of misery, you agreed that key workers should be forced to live apart from their families for an entire year. You said "it would be a hard year, but worth it for zero covid".

I do think lockdown was so beneficial for women as a whole

The data suggests otherwise. More women suffering from depression, domestic violence hugely increased, women taking the bigger hit on their careers to to facilitate homeschooling etc. There have been many studies that show lockdown has been far from beneficial to women as a whole.

Sure, it decimated many people’s earning power, destroyed people’s mental health and caused untold as yet unknown damage to people’s health as society is happy to let people die of anything but COVID. But as long as people enjoyed lockdown, that’s the main thing.

Good for you …

On the corona board of misery, you agreed that key workers should be forced to live apart from their families for an entire year. You said "it would be a hard year, but worth it for zero covid".

I’m starting to wonder why we all continue to engage with this particular poster.

She is more ridiculous with every passing comment.

I can never decide if she’s just on the wind up.

I can never decide if she’s just on the wind up

Personally I don’t think there’s any doubt, no one is this ridiculous.

TheKeatingFive you're right. I shouldn't get sucked in!

@TheKeatingFive

On the corona board of misery, you agreed that key workers should be forced to live apart from their families for an entire year. You said "it would be a hard year, but worth it for zero covid".

I’m starting to wonder why we all continue to engage with this particular poster.

She is more ridiculous with every passing comment.

I can never decide if she’s just on the wind up.

I missed that statement. Where were they all going to live? Her house?

Cheers @CloudPop. It’s all on the up! Thank goodness for the vaccine!

@SpicyJalfrezi

But yes, being totally candid here (and I don’t mean @globula) I think there are some very odd people out there, some of whom were or are living strange half-lives without any real meaningful interactions or relationships.

When everything was open, there was a sense of missing out, which they resented.

When everything shut, there was barely concealed glee hidden amongst the mournful ‘it’ll get worse / this won’t be the last lockdown’ sort of comments.

There’s a huge difference between festering joy that everyone has been brought to the same level of misery and a fleeting ‘it was so lovely to have a chance to do the garden.’

Agree with this. Some people - thankfully few - have very obviously felt that the best thing about lockdowns was seeing other people get their just comeuppance for swanning about with friends and pubs and hobbies the rest of the time.

@CinnamonJellyBeans

Lockdown was enjoyable for some families because they were forced to:

Spend time doing stuff with their own kids

Go for walks outside as this was the only reason they could leave the house

Do the DIY jobs they had been putting off

Cook real food, as furlough meant no excuse for quick convenience food

Stay in regular phone contact with old and vulnerable family members

This list of enjoyable and useful stuff isn't exclusive to lockdown, OP, nor are the things you and your family did together. You don't need to be forced into doing educational stuff with your kids. Your husband doesn't need to be forced into DIY. You're using "external stress and pressure" as a way to opt out of these things in regular times

Make the time to do them again and opt back in.

We do these things regularly regardless, we weren't forced to do any of that because of lockdown. I wasn't furloughed DH was (normally he works long hours from home or is away for work few nights a week) I work in the NHS. Anyway I thought I explained my reasoning in the previous posts, some people choose to misunderstand.

And to others pointing out not seeing family- all of ours live abroad so normally see them once a year, though we Skype almost every day and they were actually here visiting in February just before Covid so it didn't feel like we were missing out on this either, it's getting harder now as it has been a while.

Ordinarily with schools and after school activities as well as kids socialising there isn't AS MUCH time to do things we did more during lockdown that's all.

Changing your lifestyle 180 degrees when you have school aged children isn't as easy as some would like to believe but that's a different discussion entirely...

Someone made a point about elderly fondly reminiscing war times-it's a bit like this, it was good for me on personal level but I don't wish the situation to come back for the sake of others and society as a whole.

I find these sorts of comments incredibly triggering tbh and I am trying really hard not to respond harshly because for me lockdown was a total and utter nightmare.

I am a single mother and was expected to home school on top of an insanely stressful and demanding job (from home) when my employer refused to cut me any slack whatsoever. My mental health suffered hugely, as did that of my DD, to the point that she needed to see a counsellor for months afterwards.

At the time I regarded these sorts of threads as in the worst possible taste and they made me incredibly angry.

With the benefit of time and my life having slowly got better I can now see that some people particularly introverts and people with anxiety found lockdown easier in some ways and I can sort of accept this.

But I still seethe when people go on about the quality time they spent with their families. The time I spent with my family during lockdown was probably the worst in my life.

If I sound bitter its because I am.

I'd have enjoyed lockdown more if we didn't have children. Homeschooling was the worst thing I've ever done. It wasn't even the fact I had to homeschool them...it was the fact that I felt such huge pressure to try to keep them happy and keep their mental health on an even keel. I couldn't be just their parent, I had to be their friend and teacher too. I felt like I'd crack up.

As a dsabled non driver Lockdown had very little impact on me other than having difficulty getting a home delivery slot from tesco. An email to the ceo executive team soon sorted that.

It meant no bloody salespeople, charity collectors, Jehovas Witness, politicals etc at my door that I had to get up and answer.