The 'Positive Mental Health' Corona virus thread Part III

[DaffodilThatch]

Think would be good to keep this thread going! Will link to the previous threads in a bit.

Don’t worry tobee, it’s just so nice to have a safe space.

My dd is 24 and as I said earlier has asd. She's been doing a few volunteering things and some internship etc. and I was wondering what she could do.

Which led me to wondering if people could offer virtual tutoring in things especially now the school's are closing. Any skills people have? For eg dd is a French/German graduate. But then there are knitters and yoga people etc. It might be some people would charge a fee and some might just do it on a voluntary basis to gain experience.

What do you people think?

And there's virtual coffee mornings, pub drinks all kinds of stuff.

Necessity is the mother of invention etc.

My yoga class is going virtual from Friday.

My sister in law attended a virtual toddler group this morning!

We’re having work cyber coffee breaks. DD amd a few DDogs gatecrashed ours this morning 😂
If anything, this is pulling our team together. A fair few of us work remotely, covering different geographical areas and we may only meet up all together a few times a year. We’ve had two video conferences in the past 2 days and it’s been lovely to “see” my team ❤️

DPony is carrying on, oblivious and eating everything she can get her hooves on

What a day.
I am grateful that the weather is on the up - this would be crap in mid winter!
And grateful selfishly for my kids - great for a comforting cuddle and if I didn’t have them I would properly crumble !

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime

And I am knitting it downwards from a polo neck, not from the bottom the way the pattern goes, so I'm doing it backwards as well as in a language I don't speak.
Madness.

I very much look forward to seeing your eight fingered sock when it's finished

We use Milk & More and I've added an extra pint to each delivery (as I'll be working from home and self-isolating) as well as bread and eggs once a week.

Kirstie Allsop on Twitter is trying to organise virtual Chelsea Flower Show etc. I think we should have a virtual Eurovision!

I decided to take DD out of pre-school and self-isolate on Monday. We’re only on day 3 (ask me again in a week ) but actually finding some positives. I downloaded lots of bits from Twinkl and have tried to structure our day similar to theirs. She seems happier and less frustrated - which is making me feel less stressed and I enjoy seeing her learn. I’m trying to see this as an opportunity to re-evaluate how I live my day to day life. Saving broccoli stalks I would usually lob, will make them into soup. Realising how much loo roll I’ve been wasting. Been in the garden for the first time in 6 months (to be fair that’s mostly because it’s a mud bath in Winter) and making a conscious effort to pro-actively look after my mental health. Instead of waiting until I’m depressed, I’m trying to pre-empt it with eating healthier (not going out for coffee & cake helps), using my SAD light, doing Pilates and cosmic kids yoga with DD and seeing it as a chance to help my chronic back pain, making obstacle courses to race DD round to try and keep active. It’s small stuff, but feels positive.

I am grateful that the weather is on the up - this would be crap in mid winter!

I feel the total opposite as we are in a flat with no garden or balcony and it is a furnace in summer.

Am having a wobble this evening, the prospect of up to 6 months trying to entertain the kids and do sufficient work to keep my job is causing massive anxiety. The kids are only 6 and 3 so not terribly independent and fight like cat and dog if left alone too long. The only thing keeping me sane right now is that DH doesn’t start his new job for 2 weeks and DS’ nursery have just emailed to say they will remain open for as long as staffing allows.

Can we all stop with the wild speculation about how long this will last for. NO ONE KNOWS. Saying this could go on for six months is massively anxiety inducing and, frankly, a complete guess.

Heads up team. We have this.

I do need this thread today. I had a total meltdown last night after watching the news, and sobbed in DH 's arms over the sheer uncertainty of it all, not seeing my mum, something happening to mum and/or DH. It was awful and I couldn't sleep either. And trying to work from home today with our Sky internet dropping off every second was again sending me into meltdown. I just feel so miserable me so I need an uplift.

Just popping in to say hello, and thank you for all the positive news! I've been trying to catch up with the thread today. Feeling a lot less anxious about the virus, much more about food/ supermarket chaos. Hoping they will get a hold on it now and everyone will calm down.

Must try some more calming techniques, but the only time I really get to myself is in the evening when the kids are asleep (i.e. now!) and I'm generally too tired to do anything other than TV/ mumsnet/ bit of reading. I might try the yoga with kids video, although I am the least flexible person in the world and I'm not sure my 3 year old would be a willing participant!

In other news, my 7 month old DD has started clapping. My older one did it at 9 months, so I'm thinking she's some kind of super genius. Could be that the poor wee thing is desperate for some attention, big sis can be very demanding!

I'm helping test a virtual knitting group system tomorrow using a conference calling app. Not quite sure how it'll all work but the idea is to try to connect with people who are socially isolated and come up with other ways of running groups without having a face to face meeting.

That sounds like a great idea, @PineappleDanish.

We bought a humungous sack of spuds today and it turns out that DH has never had potato farls So I’m planning to make some of those in the next few days!

That's lovely @SummerHouse 😊

Thank you @SureTry

It helped me today.

My daughter, whom I rarely see because she lives an hour's drive away and has three children under six, rang me to find out if I was ok and offer to help if I did get ill. I turned her down, obviously, but it was lovely of her! I promised to ring her regularly to reassure her I was still ok through the weeks to come, and she said she would do the same. So that's a definite plus. We'll probably talk to each other more whilst this is going on than we did all last year -- I am very aware that she is howlingly busy, and I don't want to be interfering in her life, but a little more will be pleasant.

Lovely thread. Me and DH are self isolating now he is WFH. We have a walk round the garden and paddock once or twice a day, listening to the skylarks and trying to spot them. It's amazing how we can hear the teeny little things when they're so high up you can't usually see them.

@SureTry Have you tried making flapjacks? Nutritional but comforting.

Love this thread. I’m stressing out about the next time I have to go to the supermarket. I’m afraid the shelves will be bare and I won’t be able to feed my family. Other than that I’m doing ok.

Oh, what are potato farls? We’ve got a huge bag of spuds too.

I came across a lovely poem. I can't copy and paste as it's on an image, but this is it here: www.instagram.com/p/B9zCs-xl3x2/

"When this is over, may we never again take for granted
A handshake with a stranger, full shelves at the store--"