‘When this is all over’

[dolliemixture]

Remember when everyone used to say this back in Spring when there was the initial lockdown?

I think I had this naive optimism that we’d lockdown for a while the slowly return to normal and would look ahead to Christmas thinking it would all definitely be a distant memory. There was a post on Facebook doing the rounds about ‘this time next year’ when we’d all look back at the lockdown and they’d be a baby boom and a load of sentimental rubbish.

Obviously now I realising my thoughts made no logical sense and I’m being realistic when thinking ahead to Christmas, to next spring, summer and so on.

You've all got to get it out of your heads that the situation is changing any time soon and come up with ways of making the current reality bearable for you. Maybe that's moving to a cheaper area to get more space or a garden, redecorating, taking up new hobbies, starting a new business you can do from home, getting an exercise bike, taking up meditation, doing an online course etc. The people I know who are doing the best mentally are the people who decided early on that this is the new normal. Everyone I know who's constantly getting their hopes up about this treatment or that vaccine is living on tenterhooks, repeatedly getting their hopes dashed and doing really badly mentally.

I remember shaking my head in disbelief when Boris said something about it all being over by Christmas. It was on instance where I'd be quite happy to be proven wrong but I've never thought, even way back in March, that this would all just go away. I have always assumed that we will have at least a couple of years of regional outbreaks leading to localised lockdowns, national restrictions and shielding advice being brought in and then relaxed intermittently and possibly another national lockdown in Autumn/winter due to the NHS being unable to cope with covid on top of the usual winter pressures. I think we'll carry on like that until we get a vaccine.

This too shall pass.

I never thought it would be over by Christmas. Right at the beginning the scientists were saying it would be 18mths to 2yrs. I think by next Summer we should see things starting to return to normality but I think full normality/freedom won't resume until sometime in 2022. I'm very pragmatic about it all. But I have a secure job. Obviously it's going to be very different for those that don't or have already lost theirs. I'm not really fussed about the social stuff. I have a lot of (indoor) hobbies and things I've been meaning to get finished in the house so that keeps me busy. Personally speaking, I've been through far worse things in my life so I can deal with it.

@QueenStromba

You've all got to get it out of your heads that the situation is changing any time soon and come up with ways of making the current reality bearable for you. Maybe that's moving to a cheaper area to get more space or a garden, redecorating, taking up new hobbies, starting a new business you can do from home, getting an exercise bike, taking up meditation, doing an online course etc. The people I know who are doing the best mentally are the people who decided early on that this is the new normal. Everyone I know who's constantly getting their hopes up about this treatment or that vaccine is living on tenterhooks, repeatedly getting their hopes dashed and doing really badly mentally.

Wow!! And maybe we can dance with some fairies in the woodlands as well!

I agree with @Banana0pancakes - it's good to keep remembering that globally and historically we're pretty unique in having lived through a long period without war, epidemics and major natural disasters. For most people in the world, and at most times in history that would have been pretty unthinkable.

@QueenStromba

You've all got to get it out of your heads that the situation is changing any time soon and come up with ways of making the current reality bearable for you. Maybe that's moving to a cheaper area to get more space or a garden, redecorating, taking up new hobbies, starting a new business you can do from home, getting an exercise bike, taking up meditation, doing an online course etc. The people I know who are doing the best mentally are the people who decided early on that this is the new normal. Everyone I know who's constantly getting their hopes up about this treatment or that vaccine is living on tenterhooks, repeatedly getting their hopes dashed and doing really badly mentally.

In what way are people's hopes repeatedly getting dashed about vaccines and treatments? The science seems to be making good progress. I don't think any one would realistically have expected a vaccine or very effective treatment to be here already.

I agree we have to accept things are going to be like this for a while. But I hate the term 'new normal' as it implies it's permanent, and I remain optimistic that the scientific geniuses that are thankfully among us will ensure it isn't. I am hopeful things will start to improve by the first half of next year.

It was always going to last until at least spring 2021.
I do wonder why people thought a pandemic would be out the way in 6 months .

I think the scientists have always been honest it would be here this year and next. I didn’t expect a baby boom as others did as couldn’t see why anyone would want to TTC during this time.

What i was hoping for is that people would comply, travel wouldn’t be allowed and cases would really fall over summer so we headed into winter as best we could. However travel was allowed and many people ignored the rules and guidelines and just did what they wanted.

@kittensarecute

I need this to be over soon otherwise I'll be seriously considering suicide. I can't live this way anymore.

Oh darling please talk to someone

I used to say this to try and be optimistic to others, but I think it as around April I twigged how slow this damn thing would be. I still think it will slowly become less of an issue and we will adapt. This winter will be the hardest but we (the population as a whole) will get there.

Single mum on a tight budget, even before lockdown I hardly went shopping, out to eat, met up with big groups of people so it’s not had a huge impact on my life tbh, I just feel for the younger generation growing up thinking this is normal

even before lockdown I hardly went shopping, out to eat, met up with g groups of people

I lost my job in January and wrote my car off the next day. Apart from the pharmacy (once a month) and the corner shop (twice a week until July) I have only left my house three times all year.

My family think that I need to "see a doctor" and have gone out of their way to avoid me at the hardest time in my life.

It reminds me of people saying in September 1939 that WW2 would be over by Christmas.

Sadly we are in this for the long haul.

I think it's a coping strategy. When the children were sent home from school, I told myself it's just 2 weeks and the Easter holiday - because I couldn't bear thinking about it being more than a month.

Really don't know how we'll get through the winter

I did think when this started that come the 'big fat quiz of the year' time this would just be a question where we all went 'jeez was that this year, it feels like forever ago' and it would just have been a month or so and then forgotton about by most

@Arabiannightss

Single mum on a tight budget, even before lockdown I hardly went shopping, out to eat, met up with big groups of people so it’s not had a huge impact on my life tbh, I just feel for the younger generation growing up thinking this is normal

we go out (shopping, resteraunts, the park etc...) but honestly our local lockdown doesnt effect us because we only ever go out as a 4 person family/houshold unit and we are never out past 8pm anyway (so the 10pm curfew doesnt matter)

I get sick of young people being blamed... everything keeps saying 'people in their 20-30s are causing infection spikes' and its utter rubbish - most of us have children, jobs or both

the outbreaks in my town where in the care home during the peak and at three working mans clubs in the last month where the average age of the clients is 65-75 (retired men who spend all day drinking with their friends because they dont have to work or look after children)

on top of that my DS school has had 2 outbreaks and 2 whole year groups are in 14 day isolation but we are being told we 'have to send our kids in' - if you have multiple children in different years you are suppose to still send the others to school (the school have made this very clear that its not an excuse to keep all your kids off dispite the fact that whole household are suppose to isolate - my DH work claimed the same when we where waiting for a test result and we had to prove the govement say you 'must stay home')

but no the spike is definate just caused by all us youthful lot crazily partying everyday right?

I was meant to go to Japan in nov because of course in jan when I booked it , corona was only something weird happening in china and would never make it to us.. now I dont ven know whether I'll be able to go down the road in 2 weeks!

I got ready in January. When China started locking down and disinfecting the streets, it was clear this whole thing was going south.

I just couldn't see that we were going to do better than China had, with all their authoritarian powers, and it was clear that the only thing which would stop it sweeping Europe - early border closures - wasn't happening. Of course, in hindsight, it was probably already here by then.

WW2 took 6 years, doubt this will take that long. Just dig in people, it'll be fine eventually. 🤷‍♀️

I have written off the next year and a half - it's easier than constantly being disappointed and any vaccine will take a while to get out.

I'd thought that next spring May / June we would be getting somewhere near where I'll be back visiting older relatives overnight.

I'm starting to doubt this. We have a wedding to attend in July but I can see the guest list being cut back even then. I hope I'm just being a pessimist. Onwards and upwards.

SandysMam sending you my best wishes.x

@PicsInRed

I got ready in January. When China started locking down and disinfecting the streets, it was clear this whole thing was going south.

I just couldn't see that we were going to do better than China had, with all their authoritarian powers, and it was clear that the only thing which would stop it sweeping Europe - early border closures - wasn't happening. Of course, in hindsight, it was probably already here by then.

WW2 took 6 years, doubt this will take that long. Just dig in people, it'll be fine eventually. 🤷‍♀️

I still wasn't giving it a second thought in January. I had heard about it, but assumed it would all blow over like the first SARS and bird flu. It wasn't until around 10th March when I said to some one that surely it wasn't as serious as the media were making out and they replied 'No, it's worse', that the reality hit me. That was the moment life as I had always known it ended. I'm kind of glad I had that extra 2 months or so of obliviousness, although of course it meant that I wasn't taking any precautions.

Yes, things we should have been doing in March / April were 'being postponed to the Autumn' in the first instance.

@megletthesecond - maybe because none of us have experience of a global pandemic ? It is unprecedented. Most people need some sort of reference point to hook what they can visualise on to.

I do think @QueenStromba is right about people changing their mindsets to thinking about how they can 'make the best of' the situation, or to looking for the silver linings, or for finding a way of coping, but I think the idea of people being able to seel their homes and move to a different area is a bit far fetched for the overwhelming majority of people.

How are you all expecting the economy to survive years more of this?
Won't be much money for redecorating, moving house or any other jolly little tips if this carries on much longer

@KatherineJaneway

I look back and wonder how I didn't see this coming after it started to take over Italy.

Yes I didn't even click at that point that obviously it was going to spread everywhere.