How are you feeling about Lockdown 3.0 (as I’ve seen it being called)?
I initially felt very upset and even had a little cry whilst watching the announcement on Monday evening.
I think not having the usual Christmas build-up of drinks with friends, family dinners, the annual visit to see Father Christmas and not being able to catch up with my clients for Christmas lunches as well as hearing that initially schools wouldn’t open for 2 weeks had pushed me close to the edge. However the announcement on Monday evening telling us that we were going into another full lockdown with schools not due to open until at least the end of February along with the short days and dark cold nights really hit me like a brick on Monday evening.
I really am a person who loves routine, I love going to the gym, seeing friends on the school run, having my quiet time to concentrate on my client work and that is now all up in the air. Yes I can still lock myself away for parts of the day to concentrate on work, but there is also home schooling to be done and working out schedules with my husband to make sure we can still give 100% to our respective jobs and our family.
I feel so sad for the children that they are going to miss another half term of school. My son started reception in September and has come on so far academically and also made some great new friends that he has been talking about for weeks. I feel lucky that my children aren’t at a really important part of their academic life with starting senior school or sitting exams, but I think for their age (4 and 7) it’s the social interaction that they miss most of all. My daughter loves being a school, interacting with her friends but also loves learning. We are lucky that our children go to a great school and the resources they have provided to us online for this lockdown are excellent – its just our responsibility now to keep on top of it!
All that said, I know the reason for all of this is to keep people safe and protect our NHS, which we all need to be doing. We have done our bit since March with social distancing, wearing masks and extra handwashing and we will continue to do our bit by staying in as much as possible. We have even purchased a spin bike at home so we can keep active and keep our mental health in check. I’ve even set myself a challenge to run 5k in 25 minutes – my current PB is 27.25 seconds so I do believe it can be achieved (the first step in achieving your goals!).
I am naturally a happy positive person and always try to focus on what we have in our lives that is good. I am always grateful for what we have and feel lucky for the fortunate position we are in and I will continue with that outlook through this next lockdown. Yes of course it is ok to feel low and have a cry, but I feel it’s also important to try and focus on the good in our lives and be grateful as much as we possibly can.
Wishing you well, please feel free to reach out at any time for some positive vibes and support.
Jo x
Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash