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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

I miss lockdown

125 replies

DeniseDenis · 15/11/2022 20:59

Locktime lurker.
I know this is controversial, but I'm quite seriously, long-term ill at quite a young age and so I've basically always been in and out of lockdown.
I spend weeks and months on my own too ill to see people.
I don't blame anyone, there is no one to blame.
But plans are always cancelled. It's rubbish. I'm isolated simply because I'm too ill to go out.
When covid hit and everyone was forced indoors (and I'm not saying I'm glad people were ill or businesses failed and jobs were lost) I felt less alone. It's awful to admit but I was glad it wasn't just me for once whose life had ground to a halt.
I loved chatting to people via online quizzes and finally felt 'seen' at work.
And it's awful as I know loads of people struggled with it but I didn't because I was used to being in lockdown and already lived constantly with a huge degree of health uncertainty.
But now it already feels like these strides which were made to be more inclusive have been forgotten.
I get why, it was an unpleasant blip people want to forget about.
It's really lonely. I doubt I'm the only one who thinks this period is already being erased from people's minds and feels sad about it.

OP posts:

ViktoriaPlzen · 02/03/2023 19:52

The OP posted back in November….

gamerchick · 02/03/2023 19:53

Things didn't really change for me, me and husband went to work as normal. Loved the empty roads though.

Lockdown feels like a million years ago now. It's weird.

EmmaEmerald · 02/03/2023 20:03

Cupofteaaa5 · 02/03/2023 19:50

I don't miss it. I found it to be a very scary and uncertain time. Knowing I had to stay in my house to keep people from dying was terrifying. Knowing I couldn't hug my mum was terrifying. Being told to stay home, but then also having to go into work (I work in a special school) with kids who didn't understand social distancing was terrifying.

I dont think I'll ever be the same. I already suffered with anxiety before lockdowns, but I now have a severe anxiety disorder. I honestly feel like the lockdowns constituted trauma for me. Those who felt calmer and happier - how? Thousands of people were dying every day? There was a constant threat of serious illness? I don't understand it.

I wasn't going to post but this prompted me

i'm sorry you were so scared. Do you know now that it was nonsense about the risk and "needing" to stay home or not hug your mum? Does that help or hinder?

lmnabc · 02/03/2023 20:09

I loved lockdown because I'm a natural hermit. Three months of not going to work or anywhere. Dream come true.

NextToTheRadio · 02/03/2023 20:20

I felt indifferent to lockdown. Could work from home and no young kids to have a massive impact on. I was sheilding. However, after my parent died of Covid, I literally went out to see friends. We were careful, very careful but I wasn't living like that again (still followed covid rules, but no shielding rules).

notthisagainforest · 02/03/2023 20:25

I loved lockdown and really do miss it. First time I've ever properly had a rest

Emmamoo89 · 02/03/2023 20:30

Yabu

Mumuser124 · 02/03/2023 20:33

I know for many it was awful but I loved locked down. Life was all about family (I had a baby at the beginning of lockdown), relaxing, walks and life slowed down to such a lovely pace. I think I have huge FOMO and it can cause me to have anxiety and to not enjoy the moment, I didn’t have any during lock down.

Berlinlover · 02/03/2023 20:34

Lockdown was completely unnecessary and I will be angry about it for the rest of my life.

Alannahxx · 02/03/2023 20:40

Lockdown was fun for the 1st couple of months, the weather was amazing, we bought a big pool for the garden, we all hung out together more than ever, it was great for a little while!

It was totally unnecessary though..I agree with the above post. We saved old people at the expense of the young and that makes no sense.

anon37484291918 · 02/03/2023 20:44

I enjoyed the slow pace of life at the time and discovering new things to do in the garden with the kids but also enjoyed when things opened up again.

Snowpaw · 02/03/2023 20:51

I found it stressful. I already worked from home, so it wasn't any big novelty value to do so and I didn't "gain" any time from not having a commute etc. My DP had to shut his business down. We had an 18 month old and the toddler groups that were my lifeline were shut, and I had no garden. I hated the whole "have I remembered a mask" shit, and trying to remember what I needed to buy whilst my glasses steamed up due to the mask in the supermarket and I felt too hot all the time. I really missed my Mum-friends and the lack of respite from childcare.

I did go on some good walks and I enjoyed that. I used to take my toddler out multiple times a day for a walk because I couldn't take being in the house anymore. And I look back on the places we found fondly now (a patch of scrubland behind a church where we picked dandelions, a random path behind a housing estate where we made up silly games, and a little field we found with a horse in that we visited). It made me dig down and find resources as a mother that I am proud of now. I know that I can make free fun / entertainment for my child out of very little. It was a learning experience.

The financial aid from my DP's shut-down business helped us renovate and sell that house and we now live in somewhere with a nice garden, which I would quite happily do lockdown in, but I wouldn't want to given the choice!

Youthinkyoureuniqueyourejustastatistic · 02/03/2023 21:01

I completely understand and am sorry you feel this way.
I miss all the inclusive online activities too.
I feel so bad as well that because there was a rush to be mask less it’s made everyday simple activities like going for an appointment, coffee or to a garden centre more risky for those who are actually more vulnerable.
My auntie died the other week from covid - she was high risk, fully vaccinated and her caregiver knew they had it and still visited.

One example - I worked for a parish council and online meetings meant more people could attend (attendance went from 75 to almost 100%). Then the govt. removed the right to be online so all had to go back to in person.
Being hybrid/online meant that people with additional needs/disabilities/child care commitments could take part in democracy that now is less accessible to them. Which means there is less diversity of community input into decisions that affect the whole community.

I feel less like I want the old normal back and I wish we’d made better improvements for health in buildings and more improvements for people like you who absolutely deserve to be able to take part in community.

Socrateswasrightaboutvoting · 02/03/2023 21:02

Me too.

StillWantingADog · 02/03/2023 21:06

I think lockdown was an awful awful thing to many people, myself included, and so no I don’t miss it at all and sincerely hope the same doesn’t happen again

however I am sorry to hear your situation and do understand it. Lack of FOMO during lockdown was definitely a thing.

Plenanna · 02/03/2023 21:07

During lockdown everyone was at home and there were online social events, plus loads of stuff being made available for free like recordings of theatre shows or online courses. I miss that, it was so accommodating for me. Now everyone has gone back out and all of that stuff has stopped.

YayayaCookaYaya · 02/03/2023 21:09

YABU.

Getting up at the crack of dawn to travel into work whilst everyone else bummed around in the sunshine in the park whilst also getting paid? Nah.

Struggling to buy myself lunch during my work break because people had 20 bags of toilet rolls and had time to burn to stockpile shop? Nah.

Having to do stupid quizzes online with family and friends? Nah

Not being able to see my terminally ill family member? Nah

Not being able to travel to another country? Nah

Nope, nope, nope. You're batshit crazy to miss it. If you don't want to socialise then don't do it but everything else with lockdown was extremely unhealthy for the economy and for society!

Motheranddaughter · 02/03/2023 21:10

I hated lockdown and believe it was totally unnecessary

vodkaredbullgirl · 02/03/2023 21:16

Glad it is 2023 and not 2022, when this was posted and no 1 has replied till now.

Tinybrother · 02/03/2023 21:42

Mumuser124 · 02/03/2023 20:33

I had a baby at the start of lockdown, and a toddler. I felt incredibly isolated and exhausted. My husband couldn’t work from home. I don’t get FOMO. I’m glad it didn’t feel like that for you.

Tinybrother · 02/03/2023 21:48

i completely get the “I like the lifestyle I had in lockdown” (though for me it wasn’t like that at all)

but anyone who needs other people not to be able do go out and do things in order to feel at peace really does need to examine that closely because that is not a healthy mindset

MovedByFanciesThatAreCurled · 02/03/2023 21:54

Mitchumforthewin · 02/03/2023 16:39

Absolutely not. Anyone who misses keeping people locked in their homes for months on end just so they feel better about themselves is misguided.

Have a heart.

TedMullins · 02/03/2023 22:08

I get it. It was lovely to feel so much social pressure lifted. I’m glad that wfh has become so much more widespread now following lockdown. I lived alone in a tiny flat so I was supposedly someone who should’ve been lonely and vulnerable but I wasn’t at all. I think I have a lesser need to physically be around and touch people than others as I found zooms and WhatsApp’s sufficient for social interaction and I also have a dog who I went out with every day so I talked to other dog walkers.

If people were working in hospitals/emergency services, had loved ones die or become isolated in care homes, lost their jobs or were adversely financially affected then I can understand why that period was traumatic. But people who could wfh and didn’t lose anything except the ability to go to shops and see people for a few months need to get a grip tbh. If the worst thing that’s ever happened in your life is that you couldn’t go out for a while you’ve had a very charmed life!

butterfliedtwo · 02/03/2023 22:20

I was suicidal during lockdown and I've not really recovered fully. So no, I don't miss it at all. I'm sorry you are ill, I really am. But even the thought of it makes me feel panicky.

Same. I have a chronic illness, but lockdown nearly killed me. I am fighting my way back. It was awful on many levels. I could not do it again.

Meltinthemiddle · 02/03/2023 22:25

I miss it too!

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