Anyone enjoying lockdown at all?

[Paperdaisychain]

Hopefully a lighthearted thread to relieve the doom and gloom but I just wondered if anyone is enjoying the current lockdown? After the initial shock it’s been nice is some ways. Admittedly we are not badly affected my husband is able to work from home as am I (which I normally do). We are ok for money, have a car, and are able to get our shopping delivered for the time being.

It’s nice to be able to eat lunch together, we have also been going for a daily walk together. We live locally to the country so that’s been good. I’ve been teaching him yoga which he’s actually enjoying! I’ve been having “Tea and Cake” meets with my friends using zoom which I’ve really enjoyed and have even played some online games with some which has been great fun.

As a couple we have been playing board games in the evening, doing jigsaws and watching films (I recommend The Truth, streaming on Curzon at the moment).

I’ve been reading more and I’ve rediscovered long soaks in the bath, something I haven’t done since I was a teenager! I’ve also been getting through my house hold to do list which isn’t as fun but more bearable with the help of audiobooks and podcasts and it’s satisfying to see my clean, tidy cupboards!

We are also spending time helping out older relatives and neighbours. Even just being available for a chat or to get some shopping for them is lovely to be able to do.

I know that nobody is immune to the effects of this pandemic and we are very lucky, also we don’t have children which makes some of this possible and maybe easier but this thread is just a way of trying to focus on the nice things.

So go on tell me what you are enjoying about life at the moment?

We are OK with it but a) we both work from home anyway so we are both used to that and b) we have a big house and garden, plenty of food and are healthy.

We've been doing a lot more in garden than we usually would, and been doing our toddler classes online where possible. I wouldn't say I was enjoying it particularly but it's pretty much life as usual for us, just slightly less social stuff but we are introverts anyway!

@mindproject I agree the lack of traffic is lovely and the quiet is so peaceful.

No. I am living in an overcrowded property with a baby and no garden a partner who is a key worker and I’m completely isolated.

I am liking not having to get up and rush in the morning. It's been nice seeing the dcs playing together very imaginatively. I like that there is no traffic noise. Otherwise I'm finding it hard to do any work and worried about getting sick.

Obviously with the caveat that this is the most god awful time, and I am praying for the patients that are ill, and those on the front line. I have been enjoying many things about this:

We have dusted down the BBQ and it actually felt lovely to have one with our coats on, we didn't have much to BBQ but it was fun all the same

I love hearing the birdsong which now is amplified by the silence, we have started feeding the blue tits as they are beginning their nesting season.

We made lots of things, and are finishing jobs I never ever had the time to complete before

The roads are totally empty, driving to the supermarket is a dream

I am seriously enjoying my daily walks, the dogs are fitter and happier. Children are also enjoying the walks, they seem to be appreciating everything around for much longer

I know now the true value of my friends and family, never again will I pass up the chance to spend time with them

I have finally learnt to let go in terms of the housework, I can't have a tidy house and thats okay

I have met some lovely elderly neighbours that I have enjoyed talking to very much. We are getting shopping for them, and what a pleasure it has been to see their faces light up.

Children are learning that the fridge is not magically filled by a fairy, we are all being so careful about what we eat, and making things last

I am spending more time with my children, and although I am having bouts of needing space, and feeling a little scratchy on the whole I am really enjoying this time with them.

I feel like we are all being forced to live in the now, because we can't see tomorrow. I have been trying to master that for several years after reading the power of now.

Everything feels more precious than it did before.

There are many many hardships to this period of time, too many even to list here, we are suffering them in various different but similar ways, but there are some chinks of light, and maybe at the end some of us will be truly changed for the better after this.

There are positive elements.

Sitting outside in the garden in the sun, not a care in the world, just relaxing with no set time to do anything, just relax... (only works if you don’t have kids!)

I have social anxiety and am an introvert. I haven't had to make a lot of changes. It's been quite nice. I didn't like going to the shops whilst the panic buying was happening but everywhere seems calmer now. I love it that people have been keeping their distance from me. I hate it when others invade my space. I think we should all maintain the social distancing when this is over!

@2lovelylittlegirls

Same. The people who are in large houses with there gardens & the rich are not going to be struggling with isolation. It is the people like us with no space are in for a shit time all I keep doing is crying.

@2lovelylittlegirls and @Amymayapple : So sorry.😥

I am absolutely loving it, DH is here, we have acres and acres for the children to play in and we never see another person.

But I am so so acutely aware of how shit this must be for the majority, and I so wish I could share what we have or invite all the local children round to play. There’s literally nothing I can do to help anyone else though and I feel rubbish about it.

But I can’t help enjoying it. And the children are just loving us both being here.

I’m also enjoying not buying things. Mending clothes. Making food last longer.

my husband was just made redundant.

No I'm not enjoying it.

No. I’m too worried about the World, what’s going to happen when it rips through Africa, my family who are in the “at risk” categories who are having to still work, my disabled son who’d be lost without me, whether people will starve to death before the actual virus kills them (that nursing home in Spain).

So no OP, nice as it sounds, a soak in the bath and a family lunch won’t reassure me.

Look, there’s nothing wrong with people trying to see the positives is there?

Yes, different people will have different positives but there’s really no need to be quite so scathing towards anyone who cracks a smile.

I agree, competitive misery isn't helping anyone.

Enjoying it would be a stretch but I'm making the most of it. I have a tenancy to take on more than I can manage so am finding the lack of commute to work and the desk space and freedom I have wfh means I'm getting loads of study done and might even be halfway caught up by the time we all go back to normality.

@TheLadyAnneNeville of course all those things are awful but for the most part most of us can do nothing about that, those things are out of our control, so why worry about it so much?

I don’t think people are being scathing. As someone upthread commented, this whole experience might be very different for those who have a spacious property, largish garden, no IMMEDIATE financial worries, no one in the at risk categories to those who live in a small terraced property with say, a yard, noisy neighbours, financial problems etc.

Stands to reason. This will emphasise the huge gap between the haves and the have nots.

I’m hating the uncertainty of it all, I’m self employed and have lost all my work for who knows how long. DH still has a job and is able to WFH so it could be worse but I’m finding it hard. I am an out and about person, walk a lot, see friends etc it’s very different. Other members of my family like being home so they are finding it slightly easier. I’ve got elderly parents who won’t stay in and live hours away so I worry about them.

Where we live is normally noisy and polluted. I love going outside to fresh clean air, no crazy cars and vans racing around and our community pulling together. I’m hoping one positive thing from all of this is that we will give the earth a break and maybe slow down environmental damage.

I can see that spending time together would be good. both me and DH working full time from home with two primary school age children is actually a horribly stressful way to spend time together

I have an underlying health condition which might be a problem if I catch the virus. All I can do is be careful and try and enjoy what I can in life. Any of us could be dead tomorrow for a variety of reasons no one is protected from that reality.

I do know I’m lucky.

No, really worried I am going to die.
Although taking one day at a time is actually quite nice.

I am deliberately trying to enjoy the positives as a strategy for coping. After the first few days of reading the news and threads on here incessantly I felt ill and anxious. I have lost someone very close and I thought about how it's so important to make the most of every day. Even if I were to die of corona in two weeks time, I wouldn't want this time with my family to be miserable and horrible. I'd like to live it really well if I can- and I know that makes me lucky.

That doesn't mean everyone else has to be happy. Or that everyone else has to find the good. But I can't see the point in pissing on those that are able to find something nice in the daily life we are all having to live right now.

@Paperdaisychain because I sat with my mum as she died from hospital acquired pneumonia just before Christmas. I am a nurse. I know or have some knowledge of how dreadful this is going to be. At the moment I am not in a “glass half full” state of mind. Hopefully, I will be again when all of this is over.

I wasn’t comforted by your post, it just kind of annoyed me. Apologies for that. I wish you well and hope you can hold on to the feeling that it’s better to look on the bright side of things because we can’t change reality, should this REALLY affect you and yours.

And if MY child dies, it’ll be the end of my world. That, whether people can understand it or not, prevents me from looking on the bright side just right now.

I do wish you well OP and yes, it’s good that you are enjoying aspects of life, long forgotten or untouched. No hard feelings, I hope.

Not really. I was already suffering from anxiety and depression and now it’s worse.
Lockdown means insulin will soon be hard to get so that’s a constant worry.
My children hate each other.
I’m so lonely.
Dh has taken all my money from me because I don’t need any so I can’t even buy anything online or pay for a new book on my kindle.

It’s all shit really.

I am 'enjoying' it at the moment. My anxiety is a lot more settled as there is no pressure to go out. However I am aware that it will probably be a lot harder to leave the house the longer I stay at home.

I've also got both my DC at home. DS1 usually lives away Mon-Fri and I miss him a lot.