This week the UK death toll for corona virus has gone from 1,415 on Monday, to 3,605 on Friday. It is week 2 of lockdown in the UK. At the same time, the sun is out more, the air is warming up and there is a definite sense of spring in the air. But rather than coming home with a spring in our step, looking forward to the Easter break, there is still a huge uncertainty, fear and gratefulness to all the hard work that the NHS are putting in to help save those most in need.
Things are still very surreal - at least to me. I have a huge new admiration for the teachers and pre-school teachers out there - just two weeks of home schooling, entertaining my pre-schooler and keeping my toddler out of trouble - and I am exhausted! I have gone from being excited about agreeing a new routine as a family, enthusiastically collecting all the resources and advice that had been shared with me into a shiny little e-book, looking forward to each new day at home ahead, to feeling like I am 'limping' to the weekend.
I have noticed how the tone in many others' posts has changed slightly, too - from wanting initially to be upbeat and positive, to now acknowledging that nobody can do it all - and that that is ok. In fact, that sharing the struggles unites us in our quest to stay grounded and connected with each other, against all odds. It makes me wonder what is in store for us all in the coming weeks - will being in lockdown just get easier and become the new 'normal'? Will we all start to adjust to our new daily lives and find our way in terms of giving each other both support and space to do what we want, when we need a break?
Or will the opposite be true, as we yearn for some freedom to go where we want, when we want without fear of contracting or spreading Covid-19? To have a quick coffee or pint in the sunshine again, to hop on the tube to go to the cinema or a restaurant with friends... I read somewhere that in China, where people are gradually coming out of lockdown, the divorce rates are starting to go up. In our world, where we stress about the big (and little) things, it seems it is the simple things that we end up missing most: freedom of choice and being around friends and family and colleagues.
The other thing I have noticed, is that there are days where I am truly bored! And so are my children. Once the school work is done, the football and trampoline exhausted, the TV watched and the video games played, we wonder what to do with ourselves. It makes me realise just how (probably too) busy we normally are - rushing around here, there and everywhere with no time to just 'be'. And now that we do have that time to just 'be' - it is hard to get used to it again.
The optimist in me still hopes that this is a time that we will remember as scary, unprecedented and daunting, yes, but also a time where we simply were together more and the time we'd normally spend commuting, was spent having breakfast together, or sharing a giggle and play before bed and bath time. It is ok to struggle with the day to day, the mundane, and the new routine, and sharing these ups and down with each other will help us all. But it is also important to see beauty in all the small things that we can do at the moment - the time we get to spend together to enjoy the little things, to giggle and relax as best we can!
I would love to hear how you are getting on.
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