Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

Anyone else loving lockdown life?

225 replies

Purpleorangegerberas · 19/04/2020 14:38

Just that really.
I could happily live like this long term.
I have 2 DC aged 10 and 14 and I love our little cocoon.
Life is so full of hustle and bustle and daily demands and to me this is heaven!
I feel strange for feeling this way, anyone else?

OP posts:
nowaitaminute · 19/04/2020 19:55

Yes!! I am loving it!! It's just the four of us.. we are very lucky to have lots of land including a woodland so the dc are outside playing every day. We are also very lucky to have lots of savings and we are both home (not working) on full pay which is fantastic!! The dc are healthy and happy, we are homeschooling and I cried today at the thought of life going back to "Normal". I don't miss the rat race, early alarms, extra curricular clubs etc etc. I could happily stay in this bubble!

ImPeckish · 19/04/2020 19:55

@vichill that's such a good point. It's odd what some people find hunt out to go on the attack and be offended about (though, maybe, not unusual for MN) - like any positivity whatsoever somehow invalidates suffering (which of course it doesn't).

We definitely need more positive threads like this at the moment :)

RoseMartha · 19/04/2020 19:59

No, not at all. It is more stressful than normal. As one of my dc is SN. And i am carer for elderly parents who live on their own. And now having to wfh. And have abusive ex. Homeschooling a SN child and wfh is nightmare as child needs one to one.

The only thing which is better is having no morning school run.

SciFiScream · 19/04/2020 20:05

It's possible to acknowledge that there is all sorts of heartache and misfortune in the world and still find a little piece of joy in your own life.

I hope all these posters who are making such negative comments to the OP live their life normally in a way that reflects the pain of others because it does it exist outside of the pandemic.

I hope they never feel joy at all. Ever. (Actually don't, I never would but that's the logical extension of their posts)

I'm finding a little bit of happiness in each day and a little bit of sadness too. My family and I are very fortunate but have had our share or pain and worry.

We're both Wfh (though I did anyway), managing financially (at the moment, my DH is worried about his job). I'm doing what I can to help others (this is job related and a passion) and my children are old enough to understand but starting to struggle a little. We are blessed to have a garden. I'm not missing the running around at all but I know my children miss the activities and their friends.

Our community (always lovely) has really pulled together in this.

Life is a little slower, new ways of doing things are emerging. I hope we can keep all the good stuff in the future. I hope that the need to invest in people and services is a message that all Governments heed.

No man is an island after all.

SelfIsolatingBeforeItWasCool · 19/04/2020 20:10

I have the odd wobble (I need a dentist appointment which obviously isn't going to happen, that got me down a bit earlier) but generally, yes, now I've got used to the change of pace I am. DH is wfh so we're spending so much more time together - not just him being in the house while working, but the 3 hours he'd usually be spending commuting. When he finishes for the day we go for a walk for an hour or so and it's lovely - usually we go for a walk together maybe once a week. We're not having to get up at the crack of dawn, either.

We're saving money (no fares, top up shops, bars, etc) and we're spending more time doing things we love - we both play guitar and I've just bought a new one, so I'm playing for hours a day whereas before I managed ten minutes here and there if I was lucky. We're sleeping better, oddly, too.

We know that we are very lucky that DH still has a job, and also that we don't have any relatives to be concerned about. It's really strange that something which usually causes us so much sadness (I'm an only of two onlies, both dead, and DH is long since NC with his family) is now a source of relief. It would be unimaginable if we had older relatives to worry about, I feel so much for those of you who do Flowers

MegUffin · 19/04/2020 20:17

It's a horrendous situation with people dying and unwell but in terms of actual lockdown, I love it.

More family time ( DH usually at work from 5
Until 8pm) and that's hard working myself part time and with two children.

DH actually mentioned earlier he's going to be returning to work soon and I was close to tears.

I'm an introvert anyway and am not a fan of other people so being here as a family suits me perfectly.

Campervan69 · 19/04/2020 20:19

Yes it is joyous I think this amazing weather is helping but we have a lovely happy routine. Helps having a big house and big garden though and I also live somewhere we have access to amazing walks in the countryside.

LockdownLondon · 19/04/2020 20:21

All very well all this living in a bubble but a lot of people are going to have that bubble well and truly burst when reality hits and they don’t have a job to go back to.

patronum · 19/04/2020 20:28

Nope, I still have to work most evenings until quite late. Pre-lockdown my DC aged 4 and 7 would be at school in the week so I had daytime all to myself to do as I pleased. Obviously that’s gone now so I’m still in the same position with working but have the children all day every day.

I can see how others in different situations are enjoying the new lifestyle though. I think lots of people who were previously very busy with demanding jobs are enjoying the best family time they’ve had in ages.

lynsey91 · 19/04/2020 20:31

I miss being able to see my elderly parents and my sister and, of course, the reason for the lockdown is horrendous but yes I am enjoying it.

DH usually works quite long hours and, some weeks, 6 or 7 days a week. I am retired but DH is younger than me.

Being together every day has been great. Even after 40 years we get on really well. We have been decorating our bedroom and spare room. Something we have been intending to do for 2 years but DH never had the time.

We have also done lots of gardening, watched some of the free downloads of theatre shows, listed to the free audio books, done puzzles and quizzes and are doing a free online course to improve our French.

I have been doing knitting for the first time in years and am going to teach myself to crochet. I am also going to start learning to use my sewing machine after it has sat in the box it came in for over a year.

We will have a long list of things we want to get done - decorating the landing, stairs and hallway, painting the garden fence and shed and garage, putting in a pond and both have tons of unread books (I have at least 60 and DH probably has around 30).

DH is earning nothing as he is self employed but I have my state pension. We are saving money as not going out so can just about manage.

Even when things go back to normal (well as near to normal as possible) we have decided DH is going to work far less if not give up totally

orangeicecream · 19/04/2020 20:34

Loving it and feel that this is pretty much what my retirement might be like.... Shame retirement is about 25 years away!

Strugglingtodomybest · 19/04/2020 20:36

All very well all this living in a bubble but a lot of people are going to have that bubble well and truly burst when reality hits and they don’t have a job to go back to.

Thanks for pointing that out, I'd not thought if that Hmm

Very kind of you.

jasjas1973 · 19/04/2020 20:36

I'm enjoying life but then i always have, quiet roads, plenty in the shops, i've no money worries.
I can't change that people are dying unnecessarily and that most of the country think the Govt is doing a great job, so xxxx 'em, let them get upset about it all.

Desiringonlychild · 19/04/2020 20:41

I like the time with DH and we are growing closer as a couple. We have time to be romantic. I can wake up later and put on makeup leisurely (I do it for myself). I can enjoy DH's cooking. We have access to a communal garden and they haven't banned us from walking to Highgate woods.

But on the other hand, my goal of getting enough pay to afford childcare for 1 child seems very faraway and my belated wedding is also postponed. Also worried about negative equity but as long as we can pay the mortgage, I suppose it doesn't matter. I also miss my mother in law and my family.

SelfIsolatingBeforeItWasCool · 19/04/2020 20:48

@LockdownLondon maybe so. All the more reason for those who are able to enjoy the scant positives of this weird situation while they can, particularly as they have no control whatsoever over what may happen in the future.

etopp · 19/04/2020 20:53

I am hiding this thread as it makes me feel ill.

I had a thread about the awfulness of lockdown and my lack of desire to continue with it zapped earlier because it was upsetting people (for which I am sorry). I feel the same about this one.

MikeBawldwinsBras · 19/04/2020 21:03

Oh it's so sad about people dying and NHS workers doing like hard stuff and people losing their jobs and stuff but ..it's glorious for me, yoga and board games with the kids and having time to put make up on every day. Love it!

DonnaDarko · 19/04/2020 21:07

I'm happy for you all but I am hating it lol

SelfIsolatingBeforeItWasCool · 19/04/2020 21:07

@MikeBawldwinsBras DH is working incredibly hard as a key worker, dealing with the fallout from the pandemic for 10 hours a day. We're not even slightly well off and we've no idea what the future may hold. Do excuse us, and others on this thread, for clinging onto some positives in this incredibly weird, otherwise shit time.

Campervan69 · 19/04/2020 21:08

There's always one misery to ruin a nice thread. If you don't want to read it scroll on by.

ImPeckish · 19/04/2020 21:14

It really is so lovely to hear how others are managing to enjoy their time, despite some huge hardships - what a tough and inspiring bunch :)

Petals23 · 19/04/2020 21:17

No, I'm very lonely, even though I'm usually an introvert and have lived alone for years. Haven't seen anyone I know in over 5 weeks now. Had just come off anxiety medication afew weeks before this started and was doing well... now it's flared right back up again

Robin233 · 19/04/2020 21:18

This is most positive thread I've read of late.
No one is down playing the seriousness of it all.
People are really just making the best of it.
I think it will maybe help some people who are struggling see a better way through.

I'm hoping afterwards people will be kinder to each other.
That all of us going through this, will unite people some how. That it brings a new perspective to towards life.

Campervan69 · 19/04/2020 21:19

My lovely mother in law died just before lockdown unexpectedly. We've had to deal with the compromised funeral of no mourners except her sons and husband, and my devastated father in law who is 85 and sees no point in going on. We can't even hug him anymore. If we chose to focus on positives on one thread we get slagged off. It's ridiculous.

Noooblerooble · 19/04/2020 21:37

I am struggling severely at times but it helps me so much to read these kind of threads. I feel more able to keep going knowing that many people are ok. It would be 10x worse if everyone was drowning in misery. How are we going to put life back unless together unless there people who are feeling buoyant and happy and have been largely unaffected by this crisis?

Despite what I'm going through I am still having times where I am appreciating simple pleasures far more than before. Time in my garden is proving particularly enriching and there's times it's been blissful pottering outside.