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?

@freckles20

I'm so sorry you've had such an awful year & you feel the way you do. I hope something good happens for you and you stop feeling like that.

Threads like this (gloaty/goady/fake 'wide eyed') are best avoided really. I'm trying to, but they piss me off & it's hard to just close them.

Big 🤗
X

@Hellscape

Here in the North West we had about 3 weeks of being able to mix in households...then back to restrictions again.

Yep, feels like we've been under some sort of restriction since time began, but my god I made the most of those 3 blissful weeks with my friends.

I can't wait for the bars and restaurants to reopen again.

We went for a few drives and days out - with a picnic and well out of the way of everyone else!

I saw a friend in the garden for a socially distanced coffee a couple of times

My mum died suddenly in June,so I went to her funeral and emptied her flat

Mostly we were shielding ds, as we have done for much of the year

@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?

I live in Gtr Manchester where we were put under restrictions at the end of July. So yes, we were isolated from family and friends all last Summer.

I had a baby!

We went out for our daily walks.
Barely anyone visited, just our bubble.
I went to see the midwives.
We went to the beach for a day (which was absolute bliss)

That's it. I stayed at home for the most part to protect my baby and I was exhausted from... well, birth.

@Crazycactuslady I’m sorry for your dreadful experience.
I would definitely keep a record of events or future reference.
To me that was just pure negligence on the part of health services.

At some stage, I'm sure it was up to thirty people could meet up- I doubt I know 30 people

I could remember the number but it was way more than 6.

So all the people saying they met up in line with the rule of 6 in the summer must have had a crystal ball

*couldnt

for future reference

@Hellscape

Here in the North West we had about 3 weeks of being able to mix in households...then back to restrictions again.

This.

@Iremembertheelderlykoreanlady

The rule of 6 didn't come into force until September.

So over the summer we were allowed to meet outside with more people than that. Just googled it

But some areas had additional restrictions which prevented that. In Oldham for example, we've been banned from mixing with other households in houses and gardens since the end of July. There was a couple of weeks where we could mix in public spaces, pubs, cafes and restaurants but that was also banned in mid August. We were advised not to travel out of area and I know people who had UK holidays cancelled because the had an OL postcode.

To top it off, when our cases dropped dramatically they refused to lift restrictions despite other areas of the country having higher cases yet fewer restrictions.

@Bubbinsmakesthree my point was that if you had followed the rules (i.e. your kids had to social distance outside of school) like many others did, you too would’ve one of the ones saying this. As it was, you didn’t follow the rules but now don’t seem to understand why others didn’t have the summer you had.

Another one who didn’t go out to eat, didn’t go on holiday. We did 2 days out I think during the summer holidays, one to the safari park and one to the beach. A few socially distanced in the garden play dates when they were allowed for the children.

That’s pretty much it.

Is it just me who now can't get that shitty 00s film "I know what you did last summer" out their head when they see this thread?

In answer though we went to visit friends at the coast in devon. Was a lovely break, no stress because we hadn't paid anything (so no worries if there had been any restrictions meaning we couldn't go) and was lovely to see friends and the kids played on the beach.

This year we are going to book somewhere in the UK - we've checked that we can move dates in case of restrictions / lockdowns.

I'm not going to watch I know what you did last summer though, cus it's crap

@AmelieTaylor thank you for your kind post and fir understanding.

I'm going to try to talk to my GP, to see if maybe he can help.

I'm glad some people have had a good year. But it's not my fault that mine has been awful.

to everyone struggling or who have lost precious friends and family.

@Iremembertheelderlykoreanlady the guidelines were 6 people outdoors, the law was 30. So everyone following the guidelines (which we were supposed to follow) stuck to 6 max.

I had a really nice summer.

We bought a lidl dinghy and went to the river with my friends who also had those or paddle boards. It felt holiday like when we were there.

I took the dc to Cornwall for a week with my friend and her dc and we went in the sea everyday.

Had socially distanced bbqs when restrictions lifted and meals out with friends.

Me and DH had three mini breaks, one in Cornwall for surfing, two in Wales. We borrowed a mates camper van for Cornwall and stayed in naice hotels for Wales.

I had a lovely summer and made the most of the outdoors. Lockdown in winter is completely different and feels like its never ending. I am happy if we have another summer like the last one.

Well I worked through the summer facilitating some of the trips to bars/restaurants and hotels, demand was really high so I worked a lot, even for hospitality in high season, got 20% back that I didn't on furlough but no overtime because I was salaried.
So I missed the time that we weren't under stricter restrictions and could mix a bit more. By the time I changed jobs we were back in restrictions. So it does feel like a year to me that there's been some sort of fall out from this, to me personally, and I missed the 'best' time because I was making sure other people could take advantage of it. Though with something this big I don't think anyone can expect to be unaffected at all.

Last summer, DH and I still went for regular walks but we were able to drive further afield to do them.

I saw two friends, separately on one occasion each, outdoors and with social distancing.

I worked, bloody long and hard because covid has made my workload explode. Wfh but doing 10+ hours a day. "volunteered" as with other members of senior management team, to sacrifice 40% of my annual leave allowance to ensure other members of staff could take theirs. Didn't get any thanks from above or below. Managed to take one week off in late August. Went self-catering in Wales in the middle of nowhere. More walks. Hardly told a soul we were going because I couldn't face any criticism and most friends and colleagues were taking a holier than thou attitude to any type of travel or holiday - even though it was permitted, we were as safe as possible and I was about ready to collapse under the stress and strain of work and I needed to take that break away from home because home = workplace.

So yes, while I am very grateful for the break that I had and the small glimpses of something approaching normal life, I do still feel that it has been "a year of this" and I don't know how much longer I can take this life.

What is it with the empathy deficit on MN at the moment? There were multiple restrictions to normal life last summer and for some people they had a bigger impact than others. Not really that hard to understand TBH if you want to.

@Iremembertheelderlykoreanlady

At some stage, I'm sure it was up to thirty people could meet up- I doubt I know 30 people

I could remember the number but it was way more than 6.

So all the people saying they met up in line with the rule of 6 in the summer must have had a crystal ball

During the summer I think the guidelines said 2 households could meet indoors, and 6 people outdoors, it was the actual law which said 30 people. Most people I know followed the guidelines as they were what was pushed by the government at the briefings.

From mid March last year we cancelled all plans and stayed at home - went for one meal out when numbers were at their lowest mid July

will be staying at home now until 3 or 4 weeks after vaccinations are complete for adults, when there will be decent ish immunity around, and I'm expecting that to be another year from now.

Another one who was very cautious over the summer holidays. We managed to go to the Isle of Wight during one of the hottest weekends of the summer and had a lovely time ( we’d had 2 foreign holidays cancelled and felt lucky to book a last minute UK break) - it was nice to get away but we were still careful & only felt comfortable outside for all activities.

We live right by the beach so had some fab bbq’s & days there mainly with our own family/household. I’m sure the rule of 6 was in place so I met with the odd friend & their child/children but the children played socially distanced in parks & on the beach.

Had one friend over in the garden but never inside. We are out as a family twice - only sitting outside as the restaurants where we live we’re always packed especially during Eat Out to Help Out and we just didn’t feel safe.

We did some lovely days out with picnics to reservoirs & country parks but that was about it.

Not our usual summer but we made the best of it. Certainly no cinema, museums, shows, soft play or endless socialising!

@Iremembertheelderlykoreanlady

The rule of 6 didn't come into force until September.

So over the summer we were allowed to meet outside with more people than that. Just googled it

This is not the case in the advise of 15 August the rules remained that you must not meet with more than 2 household up to a maximum of 6 unless for a wedding or funeral .

‘You must not meet outdoors in a group of more than six people from different households; gatherings larger than six should only take place if everyone is from two households or support bubbles’

They may not have called it the rule of six but it was there anyway

@Hellscape

Here in the North West we had about 3 weeks of being able to mix in households...then back to restrictions again.

Same here in Yorkshire Think we had roughly 4 weeks of relative normality between May last year and now. So yes, we have almost had a whole year of this