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?

Acknowledging that some areas of the country have had it much much worse, the national restrictions in England gave us 5 months (June through October) in which some degree of household mixing was permitted.
Yes, but it was socially distanced mixing, so if you don't have a big enough home to allow that and don't live close for an outdoor get together to be practical, or the people you wanted go mix with lived somewhere with greater restrictions you couldn't mix.

I also had some nice times in the summer - and I wish I'd had more, and perhaps would have done if I'd realised quite how dire the winter would be - but I don't think it's fair to say it was normal. There were in fact lots and lots of warnings about making sure that it didn't feel normal, that you scrubbed the bathroom if you went in someone else's house, that you didn't share food, that you stayed 2m apart. It still felt unclear whether you were supposed to be doing some things or not; for instance, I got the train to London to see friends but a few different people told me that wasn't a good enough reason to use public transport, and I'm not sure if it was. At no point has it been legal for me to be inside with both my parents and my brother and his family. Theatres and cinemas around me were just contemplating reopening when it became impossible again. I haven't seen a colleague face to face since March. Some of it was voluntary - I contemplated a holiday abroad and thought it was too risky, for instance - but while we had a bit where we got closer to normal but I wouldn't say we've had 'normal' since last March.

Met up with grandparents once, outdoors. 3 kids under 7, they can't socially distance. Met up with friends from school once.

We did do some good stuff (camping, cottage holiday) but I really wish we could have seen family and friends a bit more.

Soft play in Scotland hasn't been open at all sicne last March neither has the cinemas near me. Trampoline park and bowling were for a matter of weeks but their was laps of restrictions and we didnt want to spend summer inside. We ate out a few times. You were only suppose to be six of you outside and socially distancing.

We did actually have a good summer though. Lots of hot tub parties with the kids at the weekend and bbqs. Bbqs with my sister and nieces and kids all went to the massive park in our street. We went to the beach and had a big bbq when it was three households allowed to meet up on a really sunny day. We had bbqs at the beach and went walking almost every day along the beach as the weather was so good. We had a day and overnight stay in Edinburgh with the kids.

If the weather is as good from April this year il be happy. Despite not going away and the restrictions, as family we still had fun from April until end of September due to unusually hot weather.

Ifb

In the North West so not been allowed to mix indoors for nearly a year less 3 weeks in July and Leicester have had it even worse.

I was in another country where the lockdown was even more brutal than this. I actually have not seen anyone outside my family in a year.

@RichardMarxisinnocent

Acknowledging that some areas of the country have had it much much worse, the national restrictions in England gave us 5 months (June through October) in which some degree of household mixing was permitted. Yes, but it was socially distanced mixing, so if you don't have a big enough home to allow that and don't live close for an outdoor get together to be practical, or the people you wanted go mix with lived somewhere with greater restrictions you couldn't mix.

Normally when we visit my parents we jump on the train that whizzes us up north in no time and stay at their house. This year we had to pack up the car for a long drive and find a campsite near enough all so we could meet outside for a socially distanced walk. So far from normal but I am so glad we got to do it a couple of times.

Kept ourselves to ourselves most of last summer.
In London so knew the rate of infection was still substantial.

Met friends in v small groups a handful of times, always social distance and outside. Wasn't a lot of fun really. Nothing like what we'd usually be doing. No holidays, interesting day trips, parties, entertaining at home etc.

We were in local lockdown most of August. So we had a few weeks of being able to do things, then everything shut. No eating out to help out here! We had a brief gap after that, then no indoor visitors from about September. (Scotland) I would give my right arm to sit and have a cup of tea with a friend in my own home. Or better still, a glass of wine!

Depends on where you live. Parts of Scotland had some restrictions lifted from June and then back into lockdown measures from September!

Not read the full thread but being from Leicester our experience of the summer was very different to that of the OP.

It's been incredibly hard, and it makes it even worse to feel forgotten and that no one in authority is trying to tackle what's happening here.

But it has been a year of it...nothing has been normal. There was a short break from it in summer, but it still wasn’t the same, not for everyone I know anyway. There was still that fear hanging over us, the masks and distrust. It felt a bit more normal..for about 5 minutes.

@Hardbackwriter - nope it’s not been at all normal. Getting used to risk-assessing everything and second-guessing yourself (we really agonised over whether we should see older family members at all). It’s only with hindsight from the current miserable lockdown that it feels like we didn’t know how good things were.

It's not been 'voluntary lockdown'

We've not been allowed in each others homes.
We've not been allowed to sing (so that rules out two things I do every week).
We've not been allowed to meet with other people indoors (except in very specific circumstances - oh yes, that funeral was a hoot)

Yes, we went out for a couple of 'Eat out to Help Out' meals, but I think that is all from your list.

I would have been happy to meet friends outdoors with distancing but everyone I know is playing it very safe, so the last time I saw a friend socially was early March 2020. I did see a couple of family members over the Summer and dd was able to go for walks and bike rides with her friends, sometimes.

Where we live was so jam onacjed eith tourists that it wasn’t really safe to go out in Summer. They all came here and it wasn’t safe for local people. Although it probably did a bit for the local economy.

It’s still been a year of restrictions, uncertainty and weighing up risk though. None of it carefree.

With DS out of school from March to September, the summer holidays didn't exactly have their usual sense of novelty! DH was still WFH so it was mainly just the two of us. DS was quite keen to return to playgrounds after they had been shut for so long so we mainly did that or the beach. We went to the beach and park with another family with similar aged children and hung out in each other's gardens (all SD). I was still quite nervous so avoided indoor attractions.

Both sets of grandparents are in their 70s and very anxious about Covid. We had several BBQs in the garden with my parents but they didn't want to risk coming inside at all. DH's parents are too far away for a day trip and again, they weren't comfortable being inside together so we haven't seen them.

We had a holiday in the UK and the change of scenery was good. But we normally go with my parents so it was different this year. I overcame my anxiety and went to a zoo, an outdoor theme park and out for a meal so it felt more like a holiday for DS. We were booked to go abroad at the end of August but had to cancel as quarantine restrictions were in place then which would have meant DS not being able to return to school for the first 2 weeks.

It was certainly much better than now but far from normal. It feels a bit like we're being gaslighted when someone claims people's lives were pretty normal in the summer!

We sat in my parents garden a few times last year and DD was at school Sep - Dec.

Other than that, we really have been living like this since March (DH vulnerable.) We haven't socialised, eaten out, been in a shop or anything else. So yeah, it's been a year of it.

Meant to add we both WFH

I made the most of doing things as they opened up, largely outdoors. I went to the local museum in early July before the face rag rule came in. I haven't gone to anything like that since 25th July because I struggle to wear the bastarding things. Made the most of outdoor seating at pubs/ cafes. Took out annual membership at the zoo and went 4x July-Oct, and to other outdoor attractions. Went on a shorter than usual UK holiday, caravaning because toileting and camping was an issue.

It's been socially very lonely though.
The DCs didn't set foot in school Mar-Sept.
My usual friends that I see as family units wouldn't meet until days before school went back then weeks later we got screwed with the rule of 6.
Same with the ILs/ cousins. Seen once in 2020.
DM is old and had poor health at the start of the year, I saw her June and Sept. Her area got hit by additional restrictions before mine.
Most ILs are in another country.
DS2 has lost all his social confidence and lost his friends. Some of them remained bonded in school with the two tier education system, and he didn't slot back in during the autumn term. It's now legally dodgy to arrange a meet and I daren't suggest seeing if anyone is avaliable to meet up with DS2. His desperate lonliness was eased slightly by some days at sports club in the summer, but that's not real friendship.

My social life has picked up since November. Given that my lifestyle got dumped in March and people know I'm stuck at home, I'm a fairly safe bet for meeting for outdoor exercise.

But it does gall me that family and friends don't really care about my children.

We managed to get away to see my parents in August for the only time since Christmas 2019. Didn't stay with them but nearby and saw them over five days. Cancelled our holiday in France.

Haven't seen many other people outside that - we got scuppered by the rule of 6 in September as we're a family of six.

What was I doing? Gestating an infant, mainly. Didn't seem worth the risk to mix, though I could have done it legally.

I think where I am we had about 8 weeks of slightly less restrictions but it was not normal at all. Social distancing made socialising difficult. Local restrictions messed everything up. It was better than now but it was still a bit shite for a summer!

@freckles20

Not read the full thread but being from Leicester our experience of the summer was very different to that of the OP.

It's been incredibly hard, and it makes it even worse to feel forgotten and that no one in authority is trying to tackle what's happening here.

Yep times a thousand!

I get irrationally annoyed by things like the headlines yesterday that For the first time mass testing and door to door testing would be happening.

Nope!

Leicester has been doing door to door testing since July, different streets every day, tomorrow they're in St Matthews, St Peter's and Highfields, yesterday they were in Humberstone, Hamilton and St Saviours.

Liverpool and Manchester have implemented door to door testing during periods of high cases.

But if it's not happening in London it's apparently not happening!

I feel like we've had a year of it. From January we watched it spread. It was obvious what was coming. Now so many have died its almost less scary. I'm not living in the same fear as I felt in February last year.

I live in Manchester. Restrictions never really lifted. I think we got a few weeks in June when no one was rushing to see people anyway. I've seen my parents who live an hour away in person twice in that time. Outside.

I went to restaurants in half term while on a UK break but otherwise not at all.

I've not been to my office. I miss pret lunches and chatting to colleagues in the lift.

I've got used to the fact that foreign holidays are a no no. I'm trying to enjoy the cost savings even if I miss planning trips to my fave places like Lake Garda and Lisbon.

I'm glad you feel you had a good year. I look back on 2020 and feel so much gratitude to God that my family has been so fortunate by his good grace.

*Good for you, I guess.

We didn't do any of that.

Because so many people did, the virus spread like wildfire throughout the summer, early autumn...*

This sums it up for me. You have basically 'followed the rules' - great for you I guess. Some of us however have people to protect and also would like this virus to go away. So yeah while you've still had fun, others have had to stay essentially indoors for the past year. I view people like you as being actually quite self absorbed.