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Original poster

How have you found this lockdown compared to the March - June one in 2020?

106 replies

daffodilsandprimroses · 08/04/2021 08:04

In the first one I missed having my hair done but I didn’t mind other aspects. Quiet roads, wildlife, a general feeling of solidarity.

This one has been utterly horrific and really has affected my mental health, although I’m ‘lucky.’

I pray to god we will never go through another one!

OP posts:
StrawberryLipstickStateOfMind · 08/04/2021 14:22

Can't believe that a haircut can be considered an essential requirement for a tv presenters job ffs. Ridiculous. Doesn't reflect well on any of them for doing it though does it, the ones who have chosen not to certainly come out of looking like better people!

Newmama29 · 08/04/2021 16:12

I second the haircut thing, it’s funny that Nicola sturgeon has stood up every week with a near identical hair style & perfect highlights Hmm

On the subject of vaccine passports it’s really becoming a breach of human rights, why do young people have to be vaccinated against a virus that has little to no effect on them? But they will be pressured into taking it just so they can enjoy life again, go to the pub & go on holiday. FWIW I’m very pro-vaccine but I just hate how we’ve all became content to allow others to force us into things

pommedeterre · 08/04/2021 16:24

Im getting even more annoyed by the TV presenters going on about how they need a haircut whilst sporting neat ends and roots!! Do they think we're stupid?!

pommedeterre · 08/04/2021 16:25

The football really winds me up too! The singing and hugging!! So unfair.

Ilovemycat13 · 08/04/2021 16:28

Easier during the winter as days were shorter and we are in a flat with no garden. Was dreading the lighter evenings and warmer days as people will start showing off their gardens/bbqs again 😂 that was super tough during the first lockdown. But overall I found it easier. The first one was lovely and quiet though

MarshaBradyo · 08/04/2021 16:30

Better finally as school is back, that three weeks before Easter holiday helped

But the weather feels like a big factor

When it’s freezing hours in the park is much harder than when it’s nice

Spodge · 08/04/2021 17:51

The first I found horrible and scary. Empty shelves in the supermarkets, problems with delivery slots, Project Fear ramped up to the highest levels so the slightest whiff of risk of Covid felt like a death sentence. No drugs, no jabs.

This one has been easier. I have hated it but at least I know how to deal with lockdown to preserve as much of my mental and physical health as possible.

btwwhichonespink · 08/04/2021 17:56

Agree with you all on vaccine passports. It's a very depressing situation because sadly I have seen lots of support for it. Why can't people see they have been brainwashed into wanting it?

I don't feel that June will be the end of legal restrictions. I feel that freedom will still be a half-life, and even that open available to those who carry the passport. No freedom for the young and healthy who don't want the jab.

BloomingBlooms · 08/04/2021 18:06

I am exactly the same as you, OP. I would go so far as to say I enjoyed the first lockdown - time with family, lovely weather etc and this was despite losing a close family member to the bloody virus.

This one - horrible. We are all a bit sick of each other, weather been crap, endless mud everywhere, work has been erratic, GCSE year for DS, probably drinking too much, definitely eating too much. Head not in a good place at all.

MarshaBradyo · 08/04/2021 18:34

The one thing that I still can’t get is GSCE exams cancelled.

Was it really necessary?

flowerycurtain · 08/04/2021 18:36

Every single person I know is grumpy most of the time.

kittensarecute · 08/04/2021 18:40

First one - shit
This one - shit

There must never ever be another one.

CrazyHorse · 08/04/2021 19:04

@MarshaBradyo

The one thing that I still can’t get is GSCE exams cancelled.

Was it really necessary?

Was it necessary last year? I think this year if exams had taken place disadvantaged kids would have done worse than usual, advantaged kids would have done even better - I think teacher assessment is the fairest way this year.
Maryann1975 · 08/04/2021 19:10

The lockdown this year has been horrendous for me and I’m really struggling. Last year, Dh and I weare both off work (furloughed/SEISS grant) and although one of our dc had massive mental health issues and no support from anywhere, we managed. The weather was good, we had a good routine going. Our neighbours at the time (They’ve since moved) were lovely and we had a lot of coffee/gin dates on our front gardens. Although it was A stressful Time, it seemed ok.
This year, I feel so alone. Parents and sibling have been able to bubble together and there are three of us in my friendship group and one was eligible for a Single person bubble. For various reasons it made more sense that friend bubbled with other friend. Although I should feel lucky I don’t need a Support bubble, actually, I feel immense jealousy that these people are able to socialise together and get to go in to each other’s homes, while I am stuck at home all the time.

It’s been too cold and wet to do much exercise with another person (I have been for walks with people, but it’s just miserable in the Cold and rain).

I’ve always worked from home, but have always gone out and met others each day as part of my job. That has had to stop, so I’m quite isolated at work now too. Last lockdown, I was shut down. This time round, Boris declared my industry safe, so able to carry on working.

So definitely, the first lock down was easier for me and I hope we never have to do it again.

Schulte · 08/04/2021 19:16

Better weather would definitely have helped. And the novelty has worn off! First time I enjoyed finding 1000 ways to entertain the family. This time I simply couldn’t be arsed.

bumperthumper · 08/04/2021 20:30

The first one was much worse, trying to juggle homeworking and home schooling my DS(5) and looking after my DD(3). I also needed emergency dental treatment which wasn't operating so also spent a lot of it in severe pain. It also seemed to go on for ever!

This one nursery still open and childcare bubble with grandparents who also helped with the homeschooling, the children didn't fight as much as they spent time away for each other when DD was at nursery and I even managed to get extra sessions for her as some children were not attending. It also ended when they said it would. The second one was 100% times better for us!

RuleWithAWoodenFoot · 08/04/2021 21:04

Oh this one was definitely more shit. Having to teach from home was awful. Last time I was in school much more, and when I wasn't, we weren't doing live lessons, but doing videos and speaking on the phone and marking stuff properly. I'm not sure that it was better for the kids or parents, and it certainly wasn't better for me with my child at home too.

The mud too. OMG.

Marguerite2000 · 08/04/2021 21:22

I quite enjoyed the first one, it felt peaceful and quiet. This one has been shit and boring.

Womencanlift · 08/04/2021 21:41

I really enjoyed the first one. I loved the fact the world just paused. It was so peaceful and I really enjoyed getting out and walking around my area and finding places near me that I didn’t know existed.

Loved the new ways that people were interacting and entertaining themselves. I guess it was the novelty factor. If it just lasted until about June then I would have looked back and thought that was such a good few months to take stock and mentally have a break from normal life

Now..... I am over it!!!

megletthesecond · 08/04/2021 21:46

My house is even messier.
There wasn't any solidarity around here during either lockdown because I live in grot estate.

hopingforabrighterfuture2021 · 08/04/2021 21:49

I have found this one much, much harder.

Feelinghothothottoday · 08/04/2021 22:11

I’ve lost the motivation to do anything. A friend invited me to her garden for a glass of wine. I couldn’t be bothered. Who wants to sit outside in the freezing cold? My sons A levels were fxxked up last year and his career is on hold.

I do enjoy wfh though. Really really don’t want to go back to the cold, dirty and miserable office.

MercyBooth · 09/04/2021 01:17

OP it went on till July Hairdressers wernt allowed to open until the 4th.

Jay2020 · 09/04/2021 01:39

I am struggling to understand... First lockdown, we were allowed into another house the start of July-after about three months of lockdown. This time round, we won't be allowed into another house until mid may at the earliest-about five months into lockdown. We had more warning this time, plus we have vaccines. What am I missing?

FreeFallingFree · 09/04/2021 08:05

@Jay2020

I am struggling to understand... First lockdown, we were allowed into another house the start of July-after about three months of lockdown. This time round, we won't be allowed into another house until mid may at the earliest-about five months into lockdown. We had more warning this time, plus we have vaccines. What am I missing?
I think essentially there is a tacit acceptance within gov that they unlocked too fast last summer with calls for everyone to be back in the office and eating lunch at Pret; that initiatives like EOTHO may have driven up infection rate; that Test and Trace, which was meant to be the main means of managing R rate in the warmer months, didn't really work; and that the PMs habit of overpromising and under delivering on dates for unlocking was both bad for public morale and damaging business confidence (retail and hospitality sectors in particular need certainty about when to start ordering stock). So this time around the plan is a much slower unlocking, but it is unlikely any of the dates will change, bar calamity like a dangerous new variant or vaccination programme having to be stopped.

None of those points about EOTHO, T&T, the pace of last year's unlocking or BJ's misplaced optimism being a political liability will ever be publicly admitted, of course, but watch politicians do, not what they say.