People saying ‘we’ve had a year of this’ - what did you do last summer?

[Bubbinsmakesthree]

I keep seeing people saying things like “my child hasn’t played with anyone else in a year” or “I’ve not seen any friends in a year”. I know some people have been shielding or live in areas that have had tougher restrictions for longer...but if not, what were you doing last summer?

I think I’ve been fairly cautious but we still managed holidays/trips away in the UK, lots of (socially distanced) meet ups with friends and family and my children saw lots of their friends. We’ve been to museums, meals out, swimming etc. Other than children not social distancing with each other I don’t we broke any rules. It certainly wasn’t a normal summer but in comparison with the current (really miserable) lockdown things were pretty decent.

Lots of people I know were regularly in bars, making cinema trips, foreign holidays and taking the children soft play (i drew the line well before it got to soft play myself!)

Are people forgetting what actually happened or did some people remain in voluntary lockdown all year?

Yeah another north westerner who was locked down for majority of the time. Even when we could go out to eat we couldn't mix...

We were evacuated from Tenerife in March and visited our caravan for 4 days where we had a blast.

It was a bit grim after that till the weather picked up. Even in mid April when we had a drive to a country park for Dh’s birthday it was only 7 degrees and we only saw 6 other people out.
Then we had Indian picnics outside a city a short drive away. We’d have an early evening walk then set up the picnic table in the car park under the trees. Was fabulous.
We drove to the national forests and parks, even the Lake District one day.
Then in June visited our caravan one day a week, when it opened in July we’d stay 4-5 days.
Weather was good . It all felt pretty normal.
October was back to Tenerife for two weeks which was lovely.
Then back to caravan for 4 days till lockdown. Really made the most of it , with the cinema and a couple of meals out.
Saw the family as per usual.
Just made the most of it as we knew the winter would be tough.

We try to get out as much as possible but it’s difficult this time of year as it’s wet and cold.
We missed out on trips to see friends and cousin in dorset and wales as they were shielding and not much open so no point.
We just had to make the most of it.

I know lots of people who were forced to take pre booked annual leave so it was pretty much pot luck whether leave coincided with eased restrictions.

I am super jealous of those who could go to the cinema - our nearest wasn't allowed to re-open. When we had dreadful weather that would have been a welcome distraction.

@snowdaisy

We're in London and we were quite active in the summer because the guidelines allowed it and we're not clinically vulnerable. We stayed entirely within the rules, but we were able to go on holiday to Cornwall, eat at restaurants, have a short break at Legoland, take my toddler to soft play and toddler classes, visit lots of the London museums and galleries, had day trips to the seaside and theme parks. My toddler went to nursery from June so she has been playing with children there. We met up with family a few times when it was allowed, but to be honest we haven't done much household mixing. We don't actually mix with other children or families when we go out, but DD is 2 and is happy to play with me and DH for now.

The past couple of months has been more difficult as the lockdown has been more restrictive/the weather has made it hard to do outdoor activities. But I feel we've been able to get through it as it's only felt like a relatively short period of restrictions - if we'd denied ourselves the chance to do other things when they were allowed we'd be feeling much more miserable and stressed.

I quite agree and your summer sounded wonderful

We didn't even manage neighbourhood BBQs as would be normal for our street - there were 3 gatherings, on a Sunday evening in finer weather, for a beer on the green where we literally sat spaced out on the grass for about an hour.

Also yes I live in an area which has had restrictions in place since late August I think. So when I think about the actual chance to mix there's not much!

@SueEllenMishke

I am super jealous of those who could go to the cinema - our nearest wasn't allowed to re-open. When we had dreadful weather that would have been a welcome distraction.

The one near our caravan had just got reopened. All lovely new bar and seating. Loads of screens hardly any people as there were hardly any films. This was a massive part of the problem. We got there twice in November and two other times previous.

Cinemas haven't been allowed to re-open at all in my area.
I'm worried they won't ever be open again which will be a blow to the area.

My toddler doesn't understand social distancing and I was pregnant last summer so we hardly went anywhere and saw very few people. Both working from home the whole time.
Being pregnant at the moment isn't great, medical care is limited, whether partners are allowed at scans changes constantly, partner not allowed in the hospital until staff decided I could go to delivery.
We've been lucky in many ways but we've hardly seen any friends or family since the start of March. Very few people have meet our baby. I dread to think what our toddler is going to be like when we can eventually take him out, he'll either be painfully shy or completely feral and uncontrollable because he's not been many places for 10 months.
Many people were very sensible in the summer and could see what a reckless farce everyone going to the pub etc was so they really have been living like this for nearly a year.

We made the most of it, but still shit.
So many parents and children suffer.
Elderly and people in hospitals and care homes.
Not allowing visits has been criminal.
Three friends and a relative all turned 60 last year.
As they all live in wales and the south west and we’re shielding they never got to celebrate and I never got to see them.

One of them passed away two weeks ago..so that’s it..haven’t seen him since august 2019.
I’ve been invited to the funeral but can’t face the thought of a 6 hour drive this time of year...and a socially distanced funeral...what use is that to people who are grieving.

I stayed with family last summer, were we supposed to be socially distancing inside the house? There were 6 of us in the house.

@watchingabike

Sadly, it's all these 'little' rule breakings that means the rest of us still can't do anything. Including earn money.

Glad you had a great summer though

No it isn't.

Well we're a family of 6.

During the summer I visited my mum twice (staying for 3 nights at a time) and went to a pub for a meal four times, ate inside twice and outside twice. In the autumn I met a friend outside for lunch at a pub too.

And I went swimming inside when it was allowed.

We were lucky in England that we were able to meet in groups of six for exercise too.

How on earth did someone manage to get over to Ireland for a month in the summer? I assume you snuck in via the north? I thought borders were closed to the UK more or less the whole time.

Rules of 6 applied during in summer even in gardens for most areas

I’m close to Liverpool but tech Lancashire and we’ve had one of the harshest and longest lockdowns all year but it was allowed

Many people jus made their own rules up

So many even now think kids can’t go out but they can for exercise - even meeting a diff friend everyday

Shielding apart, many gave themselves a harsher lockdown than was required the moaned at others who did what was allowed

I can't recall the timings now, but rule of 6 had a household element too at one point. So 6 people but only from 3 households.

It lasted all of 3 weeks where we are.
By the end of July we couldn't mix in houses or private gardens.

I went on a mini break in England with my DM and DSDad - we had to social distance and wear masks in some indoor places (shops/arcades etc)

I went abroad with DP in September (a re-arranged May holiday) and wore masks in the airport, on the plane, in all indoor places aswell as to be seated in restaurants and so on

I dont think either of these things constitute 'normality' if people are trying to imply last summer was normal

Sorry that was in response to people being able to mix in gardens all summer.

We had 3 week and it poured down for most of that time 🤷🏼‍♀️

Lost a lot of money on cancelled holidays
Went through redundancy consultation thankfully retained job
Oh had 2days mini break in wales
Yeah last summer was mint

I loved the fact that the kids were able to play some sport over the summer. Saw a small number of people outside a few times which was lovely. Ate out regularly while we could. As others have said, far from normal but a welcome respite. We were very careful at all times and came out of it unscathed. Caught it from the kids when they were back at school. Fully recovered. Just a different perspective and yes I know lots of people have had a very difficult time.

Holiday in the UK in July, pub every weekend, gym nearly everyday, bbqs. Can't wait to do it all again at the first opportunity. I've been thinking I might break into the pub soon😜

In England the guidelines were maximum of 6 people (including children) could meet up or if more than 6 it was from no more than two households. Social distancing measures still applied both indoors or outdoors so either 2m or 1m plus additional measures such as face-mask, not sitting opposite someone etc. This was for the summer in the areas where restrictions were lifted in July and changed to “Rule of 6” in the autumn.

It has been a year for me. A long, hard year. I'm shielding. If I catch Covid, I will likely leave my little daughter with no mother. This isn't a guess. My consultant has been very clear about this. So even when I've been "allowed" to go out, the fear is real because of other people not following social distancing because they don't believe in it or they genuinely forget but either way it could kill me. I have left my house about eight times in total all year. A few walks, a garden visit to my mother's where I took my own folding chair and drink and stayed apart. I can't even do that anymore as my car has gone. I haven't been to a shop since March. No school for my daughter because if she brings it home, I'll die. Relying on deliveries that I have to thoroughly bleach down before I can put them away. Quarantining my food in a separate cupboard before I can touch it. Nobody allowed in my house. Seeing my Dad who works in health care through a window. Watched two family funerals over Zoom. Yeah, brilliant year. Also, did I mention I'm self employed in the entertainment industry so that's been really great. But the general consensus seems to be that people like me are ok if we die because of "uNdeRlyIng ConDitIonS". I am utterly sick of other people flaunting their lovely day trips and holidays and how it's not been so bad because if we had ALL thought about what we SHOULD do instead of what we CAN do, the country would be in a much better position and I might get to leave my house in 2021 at some point.