There’s no denying that these are strange and difficult times we are living in. But it’s too easy to focus on the negatives, when actually there is a lot that is positive. Sarah over at Run Jump Scrap blogged about some of her positives during lockdown, and it inspired me because I don’t want this section of the blog to only be me writing when I am feeling down and needing to vent.

I feel like there are 2 sides of me at the moment, a huge part of me, the resilient adaptable side is just getting on with things and finding a new happy. The other part of me rebels against the obvious negatives and though I’ve talked predominantly from that view point on here, actually the happy side wins most of the time.

So some of our positives:

The kids are getting on really well.

In general our kids always get on OK but they really have gotten closer during the last few weeks. They still bicker and annoy each other but they are also playing with each other a lot more. I guess because there is noone else they are allowed to see and play with, but they don’t seem to be missing their friends as much at the moment. Part of me is sad about that, but it’s a sign of their resilience too and I’m so grateful that they have each other.

Family bike rides

We are lucky to have a beautiful country park and easily accessible countryside right on our doorstep. Hubs and I both grew up round here so we know the area well and there are loads of places on the ‘one day we’ll go on a bike ride with the kids there’ list. But with Liberty only being 5 we didn’t think she was ready for some of them and just never got round to going on them. With needing to stay local for our daily exercise though it has made us give them a go. We figured we could turn back if it was too much for her, but so far she’s surpassed our expectations and has done amazingly well. We are all really enjoying our family adventures at the weekend.

Being Quieter

In general we like to be busy and going out and about, visiting new places and seeing friends. I miss not being able to do that but there is something very restful about the quiter weekends at the moment. We can’t go anywhere (other than our exercise) so there’s less pressure to feel like you should be doing something with your time. Sometimes I feel a bit restless but at the end of the day I actually feel quite rested, if that makes sense!

More time to spend with the children

Spending almost all my time with the children isn’t always easy and I do feel a bit trapped at times, but overall I am enjoying the time spent with them. I’m not a teacher but there is something rewarding about seeing my kids learn when we’ve done an activity, and I’m learning more about them too. It’s challenging trying to teach them as well as parent them but I am learning about what works best for them and how to get the best out of them.

There are also tonnes of activities I’d thought about doing with the children, but never really had time to do before this. We’ve been doing some coding and junk modelling, and we’ve even got my old Nintendo Wii out the loft and had great fun playing mariokart with the kids! So it has been great using the time to do some fun things together.

Really valuing human contact

When you don’t see people very often it really does make you appreciate it more when you do. I’ll be honest I’m not always the most sociable person so actually in some ways I’m enjoying not having to have some of the awkward daily nonsense conversations on the school run etc.

But I’m also really enjoying random human interaction more when it does happen. A chat with someone in the local shop has been the highlight of my day recently. A couple of times on a walk I’ve bumped into (well from a distance) a mum from school. It can be a mum I barely know but we are both so happy to have some adult interaction you’d think we were lifelong friends who’ve not seen each other in a while! It’s amazing how much more important that interaction seems. I know that’s a contradiction but that’s how I feel.

I’m also enjoying the opportunity to have video chats with friends and speaking to each other, even if only by messenger. Every human interaction feels more precious I guess, even just saying good morning to strangers we walk past when out doing exercise.

Enjoying music

Being at home more has made me appreciate music more. Sometimes when the kids are bickering or driving me a bit mad whining about something I’ve asked them to do, putting some music on in the background can really change the mood for us all.

I’ve been trying to rediscover some bands and artists that I’ve not listened to in years and it’s really nice remembering why I used to like them so much. It’s also really fun introducing the kids to some brilliant music.

Appreciating what we have.

I guess that on the whole, a lot of the positives I’ve mentioned can be boiled down to this. Not having the freedoms we are used to has made me appreciate the things that we do have.

I appreciate having a lovely home in a lovely area.

I appreciate having my husband and children and to all be living together.

I appreciate our family and friends even if we can’t see them as much as we would like to.

I appreciate the fact we are all healthy and are able to live comfortably.

So I know a lot of the things I write are quite negative lately, but I really really do appreciate all that we have and how lucky we are in so many ways.

What are your positives from the lockdown?