Is anyone else leading a nearly ' normal' life.

[Christmaspud20]

For me. Except the local theme park being closed again and things like soft play for the kids,
Nothing else is different for us.
Thankfully this time dh isn't furloughed or anything, so he's working 6 days.
We don't mooch round the shops in general. I rarely go to town as I find it stressful at the best of times.
I generally wait till I have a few things to go for and just do 1 morning and list the shops in order to get it done fast.
We don't go for meals or drinking. The last time was December for his works drinks
I shop 1 big one a week and maybe 2 small top ups, but often just 1 We just don't have the fridge space to just do the once.
I do use wilko etc for toiletries so still do that and it's walking distance
Kids are at school and pre school as normal.
My bubble is my DF who's a single parent to my dsis who is under 18, she comes round most days after college when dad's at work.
I Drive to school runs etc, so obviously traffic is near enough the same as that's the time everyone is so understandable.
I know I'm very lucky and dh could be furloughed at any point of there's not enough work for his place to keep them all on atm.
But for me the only different thing is the social interaction with others at groups etc. But I'm happy in a group chat online and be done with it.

Loads of others I know in my normal social circle is the same. Only my DM is saying how different it all is as she's furloughed.

Fairly normal for me.
I work from home anyway, and OH is a key worker so business as usual.
DS and I went out for an Indian meal on Friday, and all the shops are open as usual, DS continues to visit the gym, my mother goes to church, DD is on placement at university and that continues. All the shops are open. The only thing I miss is exercise classes. but I use youtube videos at home for that.

pretty normal for me. I work in NHS, DH is a teacher. Both still out at work every day, although my work is VV busy and Im working v long hours. Tween and teen dc still at school.
Never went out to pub/restaurant etc... would occassionally go to cinema (maybe 4 or 5 times a year) and theatre about once ortwice a year, sonotdone that this year obviously.
DC out of school music lessons still happening
my main leisure activity is running, with I am still doing - although I do miss the real life running events - I used to do about one a month.
otherwise love being at home, baking, gardening, reading, walks in nearbye countryside etc...
no friends
family all quite a way away, seen them twice this year, would normally maybe be slightly more
I am missing that student dc cant come home for a weekend currently, but they are fine so that is OK.
Otherwise business as usual here! I am very content with my life. When I hear about people who are out 3 or 4 times a week it makes me shudder LOL I would hate that, but also accept everyone chooses their own lifestyle!

First time was totally out of the normal. I was off work on ‘reserve’ (emergency services, at home on call ready to cover if anyone from the ‘on’ team got sick), partner was 300 miles away caring for terminally ill mum, couldn’t do most of my hobbies. I really struggled.

This time, meh. I’m working as usual, horse has an injury so not doing anything with her at the moment anyway, partner is here and working from home.

Gym is shut and I can’t see my friends but it’s okay. I’m fortunate.

What exactly do you want from this boast?

Why do you need to drive the school run, you've plenty of time, you're not rushing off to work or the shops - and the guidance specifically says walk/cycle to keep the roads quiet - why can't you do it, as you've said you're not doing anything else to help in the pandemic, reducing the air pollution will help too.

I have two disabled DC. Life is normal for us now that schools are open. I work in childcare and so I'm at work.

I'm trying not to let it get to me that semi lockdown is pretty much our life. We don't see a lot of people anyway.

Totally agree with sirfredfredgeorge. It's great you are not affected, but just reading the MN, you know there are many people who aren't so fortunate as you.

Not far from normal. Teens are at school part time on a rota system, and I'm wfh 2 days a week but in the other 3. So more time at home, but that is quite nice. The DDs struggled with the first lockdown seeing no- one except each other and us, so this is better.
Im an introvert and am happy at home. I like going out for walks and am finding it a bit stressful trying to distance when all the local walks are much busier than usual. Ive re- discovered knitting this year and am on my second project. We have a jigsaw on the go.
Church is online, but the 4 of us watch it together. In some ways it is nicer being at home where we can sing along than at church over the summer when we had to wear masks and not sing.
DDs clarinet lessons are via zoom but she seems happy with that and its nice not to have to battle the city traffic to take her.
I'll be sad not to do the usual Christmas stuff this year - work night out, carol services, meeting up with family - but those things wouldnt have been possible with tier 1 restrictions before the current lockdown.

Whilst I wouldn't class myself as a social butterfly, Lockdown II has put a bit of a spanner in the works.
I live on my own so happy in my own company but I do miss meeting up with more sociable friends.
Spontaneity has gone - oooh the weather's nice - let's go to 'such & such' a place! More like, we have to book so we'll have to go even if it's bloody raining.
Museums, galleries, theatres, cinemas are all shut which I enjoy
My local pool only reopened mid-October after severely Covid-delayed renovations & now it's shut again. Complications booking sessions mean I haven't swum for almost a year.
My usual restaurants are shut and I also enjoy cooking for people - too cold to sit outside now.

Seeing my Dad is difficult. We still meet up him, in a carer's capacity with a consultant's letter stating this, to check I've not lost my marbles.
As for seeing my Mum?
Well she's in a care home.
The last couple of years, it's been very sunny summers here in the SE. We've enjoyed frequent visits, me pushing Mum around in the gardens, looking at flowers, animals. There's a stables near by so we can visit & see the horses.
It would've been a magical time this summer. I did visit her quite a lot over the summer/early autumn this year as we could socially distance outside & we're Skypeing regularly but it's a massive opportunity missed.
I've tried a window visit which upset her & I don't want to see her inside. So we'll Skype for now.
I'm fortunate in the fact that she's physically well & I hope at some point to be able to meet her for lunch. And give her a big hug.

I find it extraordinary that there are so many people who don’t see other people. It’s nowhere near normal for me! I thought my social life was pretty tame but I’d see friends for dinner maybe once a month or so, see my brothers and their children at least a couple of times a month. We’d probably have one or two play dates a week.

Theatre quite frequently, cinema loads especially in the winter. Museums quite often again usually with friends.

National trust places, wetland centre, things like that are still open but we can’t meet friends there and you can’t do it spontaneously.

My life is pretty much the same. No young DC so that makes it easier. I took a couple of European city breaks over the summer so I’ve had some time away. I wfh normally so that didn’t change, in fact my current contract is set to last longer now because of covid. So I’ve been fortunate there too.

The things that people list that they miss are things I don’t do often enough to miss. So say the theatre, at £100 a ticket that is something I do maybe once a year. Maybe people mean local theatre, which I guess is cheaper, but I don’t go to those. I don’t do “days out” with no DC I prefer to save my money for trips/mini breaks abroad. Restaurants tend to just be birthdays/special occasions. Being single, eating out alone doesn’t appeal. My friends are scattered around and in truth we only got to meet up once every few months anyway because of people’s conflicting schedules etc. So it’s not that I never do those things but not often enough that I feel any great loss.

I get a lot of joy from being at home. I truly love my house. A lot of people have embraced minimalism (definitely not me!) and I think that works for people with a busy lifestyle, always out and about etc. But once you’re stuck indoors for a prolonged period, I think having a “bare” house can easily be depressing. I enjoy a lot of at home hobbies. I spend whole days “pottering”, a few chores, a bit of gardening, some reading, a craft project. I don’t get bored. I also don’t feel my life is “sad”. If I enjoy it, how can it be sad?

Actually shops closed is the one thing that makes zero difference to me - I did 90% of my shopping online already.

Nothing like normal just tedious
All work and not a lot else how can it be normal
Will try to make sure if we eventually come out of this I will not waste life in the future

I find it extraordinary that there are so many people who don’t see other people.

I am an introvert. I love my own company.
Socialising is something I don't enjoy very much.

Yes, nearly normal, yes. The last lockdown, not so much especially as I had just returned from being overseas.

But this lockdown, there's not much difference. I still go to work part-time (school, non-teaching). I go out for walks as usual. Go shopping as usual, the supermarkets, garden centres are all open. Still see family - not indoors obviously, and not in the garden (why would I be in the garden in this weather??) but we are allowed to meet up for a walk.

I still do my art, do the cleaning, watch TV....what's different? I suppose I wear a mask at work and in the shops, but I've got used to those and it doesn't seem that big an imposition to be honest.

But you can’t meet family outdoors in groups of more than two can you? So I can’t see both my parents and DS (6) and I can’t see anyone together.

No. Not even close to normal and I'm starting to find it really difficult especially as we've been living under additional restrictions since early August.

• working at a university is even more bloody stressful than usual so both me and DH are exhausted
• I miss my friends and family. Zoom get togethers just aren't the same. We usually get together at least one a week with friends so I'm missing that.
• I miss the pub, restaurants and the theatre
• I miss live music

The only thing that is close to normal is the fact DS is in school but I live in perpetual fear of them closing again. Working ft while home schooling pretty much broke me earlier in the year. I'm not sure I can do it again.

@CarlottaValdez

But you can’t meet family outdoors in groups of more than two can you? So I can’t see both my parents and DS (6) and I can’t see anyone together.

No you can't. But a lot of us don't have any family to see anyway, so this life isn't so very strange for us.

No you can't. But a lot of us don't have any family to see anyway, so this life isn't so very strange for us.

I do understand that but was responding to the poster saying you can still meet family outside which seemed stretching the definition slightly. Meeting family would generally imply at least a handful of people.

School is open, I WFH, DH retired so other than lack of sports clubs for the children and not seeing my parents it's pretty normal for us.

My life hasn’t changed massively. I’m stuck at home with toddler DC. We still see my elderly parents because I have to provide care for them and they give me my only break from round the clock childcare. We can’t see DH’s evil witch of a mother and I’m thrilled. I don’t have any friends. I miss wandering round the shops and having a cuppa but that’s all. I was hoping to change my life this year and go back to work, so my life is different from how it could have been right now, but not different from how it was previously.

@ImnotCarolineHirons

Personally I'm finding life dull as fluck. No theatre, cinema, exhibitions, meals out, weekends away, gigs, nights out. These are the things that add.texture to my year, things to look back on. Otherwise every dull bloody week ls the same as the next.

Yep this is me. I would usually have at least one "social" or work event a week minimum, be it a theatre show, a launch event in my trade, meal out with friends, networking drinks, an art exhibition, book launch, music night in the pub ... god life is tedious with such an empty calendar and nothing to look forward to! December I would often have 2/3 things to attend per day and I've got ... one meal arranged so far. Lord it's boring. I'm so bored I've started reading this mums forum called Mumsnet

Yes this. I work in the cultural sector so do various work and network related stuff frequently. Plus see lots of culture as its good to know what's going on. I feel like all the things I've added in to make life interesting have gone.

And me....miss so much theatre, galleries, socialising, spontaneity. It's all so dull and Eastern European

Normal-ish in the day to day stuff.

WFH is now the new normal - managers/HR have said that they expect a variety of patterns of work to suit individual circumstances once lockdown eases, in which cases I expect I'll do a day or two in the office each week and the rest at home. I miss the office chat and interaction, but don't miss the commute. I don't socialise much during the week, it is work and family.

DD is at school, though dance and drama classes are by Zoom, which is difficult with space.

We are 'bubbling' with my Mum, for mutual support, and see her most days for practical and emotional reasons (my Dad died a couple of months ago).

I still walk the dog and chat to the other regulars I meet.

But it is the usual 'irregular' things that make life interesting that are missing - visiting friends some weekends, day trips, deciding to go out for lunch or to a gallery or museum when we feel like it...

Overall, though, we are very lucky.

Pretty similar, both at work and son at school, food shopping when hes at school as normal. Takeaway this weekend. Just miss seeing my mum in real life.

Yep everything is pretty normal here. We have livestock so we don't go away much and we are rural. No shops within walking distance, and the ones a short drive away are all still open and still being used by us - feed store, food shops etc. We are still walking the dog, going down to check animals twice a day etc. Both still at work/uni and children still at school.

We have enjoyed the better weather this weekend because the constant mud has been awful, the goats are hating it and we are having to spend hours trying to board over waterlogged ground to fend off hoof rot and other issues. Rain is back again today so we will be back expecting to be cold and wet for the rest of the day.