Things I have learned in Lockdown

1. The only person in my house who really needs to leave the house on a daily basis is me.  The kids are happy staying in our house/garden all day long.  Brad does like to get out a bit, but mostly just for exercise.

2. Teenagers need A LOT of sleep.  How lucky is Lauren that she gets to sleep until 11 everyday.  I have stopped trying to get her up any earlier.  Her brain is forming, just like toddlers.  And her behaviour is that of a toddler sometimes too, except when she is helping me with all my technology questions.

3. Being a dog owner is a lot more fun than I expected.  It helps that everyone is here all day, everyday.  But Archie is ALWAYS happy to see me, even if it's only been 5 minutes since I saw him last.

4. Brad and I drink A LOT of coffee, like at least 2 bags per week.  Thank goodness for the coffee pot.

5. And we also drink a lot of beer.  5 PM is beer o'clock everyday.  It's hard not to have a cold one when the weather has been so amazingly gorgeous.  And G&Ts as well of course.  We just discovered Monkey 47 Gin which is fab.  (Our recycling bins are overflowing after about one week, thankfully our neighbours are away so we can use theirs for the overflow.)

6. The girls really only need about 2 outfits, as they just wear the same clothes day after day, yet their laundry baskets are overflowing.  That is a true mystery.

7. Sunshine makes things seems not so bad ( I suppose I realised this before lockdown), but I can't imagine what our days would have been like if they had been gray and dreary.

8. The "key workers" that society depends on the carry on are some of the lowest paid, but hardest working people.  From the doctors and nurses to the bin men to the all grocery delivery people and grocery clerks and stockers.  I didn't realise how much we really need these people, more so than the bankers, etc who make all the money.

9. Human contact and interaction is necessary.  The zoom calls are nice to see friends and family, but it is not the same as seeing people in the flesh.  I do appreciate that I have been able to talk to my Miami girls several times on video chat!  And talk to multiple members of my family in different parts of the world at the same time.

10. Tik Tok is taking over the world (especially for tween and teen girls).  Everytime I turn on a hot hits UK playlist, the girls start randomly dancing in the middle of the kitchen.  I don't really get it, and I can't remember a dance 5 minutes after they have taught it to me!!

11. Teachers work really, really, really hard!  I have so much more respect to teachers now that I have tried somewhat successfully to homeschool Drew and Alison.  (Lauren has mostly gotten on with it herself.)

12. Our neighbour is serious about his football training.  He trains at least 2 hours everyday, and his dad develops drills for him.

13. Working from home has its positives and negatives....the positive is that I can work in my lycra if I want to, and work as early or as late as I want.  The negative is that I have access to all the food all day long, which would explain the few pounds I have gained despite doing more exercise.  I guess all that walking really does help.

14. I am so thankful for FitState, my lovely work out people.  They were very quick to organise Zoom workouts from the very beginning of lockdown, and have continued with over 10 classes each week at different times that we can join for a very affordable price.  I am so, so, so thankful for that.

15. There are SOOOO many books to read, and not enough time to read them.  Just as there are so many shows to watch and not enough time to watch them.  Brad watched "Tiger King," but I decided not to subject myself to that sort of rubbish.  The kids and I have been enjoying "Modern Family" and Brad, Drew and I really enjoyed watching "Race Across the World," which is similar to "The Great Race" in America.  I learned a lot about South America!

16. Watching sports is a huge part of Brad (and Drew's) life.  It has been really tough on Brad not having sports to watch live, read about and listen to commentary on.  He did watch "The Last Dance," about Michael Jordan which was a good distraction.  Apparently, the Premier League may restart in about 2 weeks time with no crowds but we shall see.....

17. Journalists are really good at asking the same question in a different way.  Before they said anything about what would happen after the lockdown rules changed, about 80% of the journalists asked what the rules were going to be.  And then when Dominick Cummings was called out for breaking the lockdown rules, for at least 3 days, almost every journalist asked another question about his activities, etc even though Boris Johnson made it clear that the case was closed!

18. Having a family bathroom is tough.  We had started our bathroom refurbishment just before the lockdown started, so we have been without the 1st floor bathroom from end of March-beginning of June.  Which means that the kids have been showering and brushing their teeth in our bathroom! (and leaving their clothes and wet towels on the floor!)  It looks to be finished by mid-June.  I can't wait!!!!

19. Some days I feel like all I did was cook and clean the kitchen.  You don't realise how much food everyone eats until you are all eating EVERY SINGLE MEAL at home.  We have ordered takeaway about once a week, but it still seems like I am almost always thinking about eating or what we are going to eat for the next meal.

I have to say that when we look back on 2020, it will provide memories unlike any other year.
~We haven't travelled anywhere since December 2019
~All sporting events were cancelled
~Public transportation usage decreased by 90% for nearly 3 months
~schools closed
~almost everyone I know was working from home
~we have only filled the car with petrol once since February
~we added a dog to our family(!!!)