Staying on the theme of Positivity

This week we’re going to stay on the theme of positivity as it’s so important. It’s getting harder and harder as the weeks roll on. There’s no doubt there’s a lot to be sad and worried about. We thought we’d spend a little time focusing on the good things that have happened during the last few weeks of lock-down that we weren’t expecting.

Staying on the theme of positivity – Izzy

As a family we’re paying more attention to the little things in life that give us pleasure. We’re very fortunate to have a garden out the back with a few trees in it. We can sit and have our breakfast while watching the birds out the window. We bought some bird feeders and are in the process of working out how to make them squirrel proof. Although even the squirrels are pretty funny to watch.

Evenings are a lot less rushed without kids clubs. It feels like we’re able to sit down and eat our dinner together much more often.

We’ve found loads of great walks and cycles that we can do as a family from the front door. One of the local golf courses, Douglas Park has allowed people to walk round it and it’s truly amazing. It’s full of woods and wildlife – you could be in the middle of nowhere – not in suburbia just outside Glasgow. I’ll really miss it when the golf starts again.

The commute to work is much quieter. As well as that my working hours have changed, I’m wearing surgical scrubs at work and the weather has been nice. The combination means I’m managing to cycle into work much more than usual.

I’m working with a new team of people and they’re fantastic. I’ve moved ward to one of the wards that’s been reassigned to look after people with Covid-19. The staff are a real mix and I’m working with doctors and nurses that I only really knew to say hello to before. They’re all cheery, caring and hard-working. It feels like a real team.

The kids:

I asked the kids to tell me one good thing that has come out of lock-down. Apparently it’s that they’re allowed to chat to their friends virtually. They seem to be pretty adept with it. Whatever my feelings are about screen time generally, I have to say that on-line gaming and virtual play-dates have made life much more bearable for them.

And another surprise:

My sister has learned to cook. She’s in her mid forties and has never done it before. A combination of only being able to go to the supermarket occasionally, a good recipe book and a bit of extra time has meant that she’s gone for it. She’s almost ready for her own Instagram page.

Staying on the theme of Positivity – Matt

Our son

Like Izzy, we’ve been going to work throughout this period and our son has also been going to his local school hub, so the things that we’re feeling positive about reflect this structure in our lives.

It was really nice to take a few moments to think about what’s going well in these strange times as it’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the things we’re missing out on just now. Family holidays are the thing we’re really missing just now. That’s how we tend to re-charge our batteries after busy and stressful periods at work like this.

Despite missing his pals, we were relieved to hear our son has been enjoying more time with us. It’s hard to tell sometimes! We’ve certainly been playing more family board games together and eating pretty much every meal together, which has allowed us to spend good times together. He’s had to be creative about his down time too so that it’s not just about screens. Lego has made a big return and he’s loving digging his old builds out. It has been really nice to see him playing a bit more creatively.

He’s also making great progress with his music as he’s been practicing far more than usual. Think the neighbours enjoyed his rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on the trombone last Thursday as we all clapped the key workers!

There’s been a return to my 1970’s childhood too as he found some frog spawn on one of our walks and it’s turned into a home school project. The tadpoles are coming along nicely in the make-shift pond in our garden. Finally, he’s been grateful for the new friends he has made at his local school hub.

Our family

For us, we’ve been loving getting to work in next to no time and having a choice of parking spaces when we get there for a change. That said, due to the roads being so quiet I’ve got back into cycling to work again and have been really enjoying some early morning exercise.

At work I have appreciated the flexibility and support that colleagues have shown and have enjoyed the pizza that comes our way from time to time.

Otherwise, away from work, like most folk, we have been enjoying a slightly slower pace of life. Speaking more regularly to friends and family and winning in our first virtual pub quiz! We’ve been enjoying family bike rides in quiet spots that are usually busy, spending more time planning meals from cook books we haven’t used in years and enjoying long mealtimes  to eat it together. Even better was eating outside while the sun was shining for a while.

So we’ve got plenty to be grateful for and taking a few moments to write this down has made me appreciate everything I have  all the more.