Can we have a thread for ‘life planning for the New Normal’?

[GreyishDays]

It’s a bit off pure prepping, but I thought you lot might have already started thinking.

What I mean is if we’re possibly going to be working from home/homeschooling/second wav-ing for a bit longer, is there anything we can do to make it less awful?

If I’d been told in March, we’d be at home for months, is there anything I’d have done differently - getting organised with stuff, lowering expectations, starting good habits, etc?

I can’t even think what I mean?

I'd definitely have tried to get some kind of school routine going earlier. Dd is 6 so we pretty much let her just play but trying to get 10 mins of maths done now is impossible.

Also, my new normal will have more storage for sure

Get a virtual reality headset. We got an Oculus quest and it's been amazing during lockdown for fitness, virtual travel, and games. Best thing I ever bought.

We've accepted it's not ideal with DH working in the dining room, so we've cleared out the spare room and he's moved in there. He only goes into the office one day a week and can easily work from home, so can't see this changing for a long time.

For those who haven't food prepped before, certainly consider stocking up on longlife foods for meals and keeping freezers stocked up. Also, an extra packet or two of toilet rolls and anything else you really wouldn't want to be without.

Proper workspace has been a godsend!! As the last one to "stay home" in the household, I got the dining table for a week before we managed to rebuild an old desk of DDs and put away 1 spare bed under the other to make space in the spare room to set me up (DH was already set up in our home office in the box room, and DD had a decent desk and shelves etc for schoolwork in her room).

I am working on changing our food shopping routine - a large bulk stores shop once every 4-6 weeks, and just the basics in between (break, milk and dairy, meat, fruit and veg) and the odd item we run out of. We're eating differently too so all the leftovers and single portions in the freezer are still sitting there and mocking me - and taking up space for more useful things now. I've also diversified where to buy food - local butchers more often, and fishmonger and bakery, and a couple of delis which are more expensive but shorter queues (we can afford this).

We weren't too bad about habits - we all got stuck into homeschool and working from home fairly well, but I am not exercising enough (I have knee issues so walking is not great and swimming is not an option just now, but I'm doing some walking and some yoga/pilates), DH walks every morning and sometimes for work calls or in the evening, and DD does a lot of sport still even if alone.

What I've found lacking are certain supplies for sewing, as I have time to get stuck into my stash of fabric, and need a lot of interfacing and other things I normally just wander into the local haberdashery when I need them. But I'm making different things instead to use up other bits of fabric and should hopefully get what I need in the next week-10 days.

We had bought paint before lockdown, so were able to repaint DD's room as had been long planned, and also do a lot of DIY/maintenance jobs at weekends. But I found we needed a few specific bits we hadn't thought of, and lots of pots and compost for the garden. And we also need to replace DD's wardrobe which has to wait a while longer until Ikea is not quite so mad.

I need to remind myself about the homeschooling websites I had found years ago (when I thought DD may need to be pulled out of school), to help her with things they are doing in school. For when she goes back in September (hopefully into school but just in case). I had bought a chemistry set to support science, but it's mostly unused. And school had been pretty good keeping going online - but she has had difficulty with some subjects. Next year is an exam year.

I'm pretty well prepped for food & school supplies but wondering if anyone had any ideas for keeping kids physically active in winter?

My 3 (age 11, 9 & 7) have been fine using the garden, trampoline & going for walks etc (even in the rain) so far but I'm not sure how much fun it would be in winter.

We didn't think about what we might need for the garden which was frustrating as we could only get so far with certain jobs until the diy shops were opening back up. I've done some decorating over the last month but DH and I have said we need a list of jobs we could do if we have another lockdown and must get in what we'd need to complete them while stocks are available in the shops.

I did quite well, I had a well stocked food cupboard and freezer I didn't have the need to panic buy - but I do want to go keep a small stock of things in the future. I have started to order things that we use on a regular basis in larger quantities from Amerzon, I used to go quiet regularly to Costco but have not been there is 4 months and I am going to keep a stock of two or three in the cupboard of things like bleach, shampoo, cleaning things, jars things that keep but it must be items I use frequently.

PhantomErik keep an eye out for decent waterproofs (jacket AND trousers), perhaps in the end of summer sales.

Thick warm socks (hiking socks in sales or Lidl/Aldi's versions are usually good, or ski socks from Lidl/Aldi).

Possibly wellies for all, or decent hiking boots to keep water out.

Thermal layers - could just layer up ordinary clothes, but the Lidl/Aldi thermals are actually pretty decent and very cheap! But making sure you have layers to add like fleece under the rain coat etc - rain coat can be a light summer version as long as it keeps rain out and doesn't keep sweat in, and then you can just add more layers underneath to keep you warm.

Hats and gloves, and possibly neck warmers (like a Buff scarf). Grab a few pairs of cheap gloves from Primark/H&M or similar, to be able to dry one pair while wearing another - or get some ski gloves from Lidl/Aldi which tend to be more waterproof but bulkier so less useful for doing stuff with your hands (so it depends on what they want to do - just walking/running/cycling, or including building forts/climbing trees etc? ). Having one decent hat each, that they are happy to wear, and preferably comes down over their ears, will really help too.

And have the house warm for when they come in home, do things like drinks of hot squash or hot chocolate to cheer them up and warm them up, possibly hot showers during the day rather than evenings to clean up mud and get warm again, and encourage getting out of wet things when they come in and into warm cosy clothes for indoors (and passing wet things out to get dried for next outing).

Definitely would've cleared the yard out of the crap DP has been hoarding there. We've got a decent stash of plants and small pots out there now but still work to do.

We're swapping rooms around to ensure our space is maximised to its fullest potential in readiness for winter/home schooling DSD/WFH/next potential lockdown.

Next stage is to pick up a new freezer with bigger capacity, and a bread maker. I've already started shopping for Christmas, and picked up bigger shoes/wellies for DD for the winter, as well as a good raincoat and some puddle jumping trousers for her.

Brexit looming soon, too.

I’m definitely going to have a good think about homeschooling. Hopefully it won’t be necessary, but I need better strategies. It’s been a bit of a misery really.

I’ve set up deliveries of meat and a veg box, and I have a milkman too. I think online slots might get scarce in the wet, winter months when people will want to avoid queuing.

I’ll finish up schooling this week and move into summer holiday mode (Ireland) and I’m itching to tackle the house that has been neglected. I need to sort out better storage as low-level prep is our new normal and I have stuff poked in here and there.

Maybe not quite in the spirit of prepping but a 34" widescreen monitor connected to my lap top means that I can be as productive at home as I am in the office. Effectively, I have the space equivalent to three screens available at the same time.

I've also changed my feel around so I can see through the window to what is happening in the garden.

I’ve bought an instant ink printer - we were constantly running out of ink due to the volume of printing needed for homeschooling, and our printer was a nightmare and kept jamming.

Bought a new printer, cost £90 but comes with 7 months free ink, which will hopefully last us until the kids go back to school properly, and the best bit is it knows when your low on ink and sends your next shipment, so you never run out!

I’ve also been stalking the next clearance section - they are slowly adding things, with massive discounts. Ordered DCs thick winter coats, all around £10 instead of £40-50. Also got wellies for under a fiver.

I’m hoping in the July sale to get sorted with jogging bottoms and hoodies that can be tumble dried for winter - if blended learning remains in place till next year, I want easy clothes as I’m expecting to use tumble drier a lot - with 5 people at home full time I doubt the radiators will be used for drying washing - we already have a damp problem so that’ll just make it worse.

And, because I’m expecting utility bills to go up due to increased use, I’ve changed to a cheaper energy deal and fixed my tariff until after Brexit.

I did the same with broadband - cut my monthly bill in half by switching from BT to Plusnet - and service is the same as BT own Plusnet!

@EveLe your printer sounds like an excellent investment. I’ve easily spent that much on ink this year.
Great point about clothes also.

@Barbararara I think so. You have to sign up for a monthly subscription to get the 7 months free trial, but you can change it at any time. So I signed up to the 7.99 monthly package which allows you 300 sheets per month (even colour or photos) to get the best use of the free ink.

My plan is to switch back to regular cartridges in January if DC are back full time, but if not I’ll keep paying the 7.99 per month - I was previously spending £20 each on colour cartridges and wasn’t getting more than 300 out of them, so it seems like a good investment.

"Also, my new normal will have more storage for sure"

^This. If I there might be a time again that I can only escape my cluttered house for peace, once a day, and shopping would be a nightmare again, more storage is surely the way to go. And a good final declutter now the dumps are open again, getting rid of crap I don't use, for stuff I will.

I'm thinking about getting ds some clothing basics, in the next size up, now primark is open (atm at least).

I would like to get a net curtain wire and sew a pocket along the top of the old duvet so I ont have to climb on and off the worksurface to hook it up to the cable clips.

I usually think of prepping to be food but after reading threads on here about other things to prep I bought my dd a winter coat today (H&M sale) also got a Christmas craft bundle on an amazon deal that will be good for craft activities for Nov/Dec especially if the dc are not in school.

Also bought 4 more tins of fruit for the winter stash

@EveLe do you have a link for that printer please?

I'm trying to get house stuff finished and get the list boarded out for storing the spare toilet roll etc.

@NotanotherboxofFrogs Sorry! Just realised I never replied to you.

Might be too late now, but my printer is one of the HP Instant Ink ones - I bought it from Curry's as they were cheaper than amazon, and quick delivery - at the time printers were hard to get!

There's lots of different models, and they all seem to come with different amounts of free ink, so worth shopping around, but you can get them from Argos, Currys and Amazon.

The model I have is this one:

www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessories/printers-scanners-and-ink/printers/hp-envy-photo-6234-all-in-one-wireless-inkjet-printer-10167993-pdt.html

I’m itching to tackle the house that has been neglected

Me too! We broke up from school last week and that's my main priority for the holidays - can't believe how much clutter has accumulated since we moved in 2.5 years ago.

I've made an extensive store cupboard food shopping list and am starting to replenish my stocks from last time. Also thinking of getting a small freezer which will have to live in the dining room. DD isn't a massively fussy eater but wouldn't, for instance, eat a tinned ready meal so I want to make sure I've a good supply of frozen meat, fruit and veg.

Will try and get the study properly sorted out. I've bought a coffee machine for it but haven't set it up yet.

Would be interested in any ideas to make life more interesting if we have another lockdown. I was WFH and caring for elderly parents during this one (and possibly would be again) so it felt like a really hard slog.