It’s quite hard to believe that we are only two months off a year from when the UK first went into lockdown and schools and business closed. When the bulk of the UK, or world even, started to work from home, whilst simultaneously trying to educate children…almost a year!

Thinking ahead

Given the current situation, it’s also pretty hard to imagine a time when this won’t be the norm. A time when we will be able to travel, visit and even hug friends and family, eat out and go to the cinema.

It’s hard to imagine, but we must try to focus on a time when things will be brighter again. What are you most looking forward to when lockdown ends?

School

Like most parents I imagine, one of the things I’m most looking forward to about the end of lockdown is schools re-opening. All my children really miss school. They miss their friends, they miss the routine of school and the experiences they have there. Home-schooling is hard-core juggling like I’ve never done before and can feel rather overwhelming at times.

Friends and family

Seeing friends and family is something we are looking forward to as we now haven’t seen most of them for around a year. A nice meal out with everyone, somewhere that does group dining would be fantastic and something to look forward to, although everyone is loathed to put a date on anything like this at the moment – just in case! What’s your favourite type of group dining? I love a teppanyaki, it’s such an interactive experience, not to mention utterly delicious.

The children are also looking forward to seeing grandparents and their little cousin. They can’t wait to have a sleepover. What a novelty it will be.

Leisure Centres

The other things we are all looking forward to as a family is a time when the leisure centres can open again. They did once before, just like school, so we are hopeful that this isn’t too far away. Both little boys miss their swimming lessons and our big girl misses her swimming club. Swimming, I felt was a really safe place when things started to open up again in September. We all felt that fantastic systems were in place and everyone felt very safe there. It probably helped that everyone was getting dowsed in disinfectant each time they got in!

Sports and drama clubs

Before our tighter restrictions began in Wales again before Christmas, the children’s sports clubs had started opening up again. We weren’t anywhere near the pre-Covid arrangements BUT basketball had begun again for our biggest boy and netball for our big girl. We were still waiting for gymnastics, minis basketball and drama club.

Travelling

Something we love to do as a family is travel. Travel, of course is one of the things that has been totally halted by COVID, although you’d be forgiven for thinking Dubai was on a different planet with all the people who seem to have managed holidays there recently!

We can’t wait to travel again and experience new places, it will all be so exciting for the children again as it will be very different from the experiences of the last year.

When restrictions eased up over the summer we were able to spend days out exploring more of Wales, not having to travel far, it was wonderful to see new places we hadn’t yet been to and we filled our days with waterfalls, reservoirs, lakes and forests. We feel very lucky to have all of this on our doorstep and to live in such a beautiful part of the UK.

Cocktails with the girls

Cocktails with my mummy friends is something I’ve really missed. Not that we did it very often, two or possibly three times a year if we were lucky, but not having it at all has made me realise just how important it was. I can’t wait to get dressed up and go to our favourite local cocktail bar, where we will boost and revive each other after an intense time of home-schooling.

Whilst it can be hard to see an end to the current lockdown situation, I still remain confident that things will look much more positive in the Spring. Hopefully, as the tulips and daffodils begin to bloom, we can all begin to do more and more again – more grateful than ever for these experiences that we once took for granted.