Time For A New Normal

When will we get back to normal? What is normal? Emma, a fellow blogger asks this question in her latest post.

These lockdown conditions for some people are a normal way of life. They're not normal for me, though. It's been 8 weeks since I was furloughed from work. The longest time I've ever been off work.

I do miss going to work, I miss getting paid 100% of my wage more. I miss going to town on my days off and wasting money. I miss going to the pub with my mates, even though that is only once a month. Being told we cannot see our families or friends is the worst part of this whole lockdown. Obviously, it would be worse if any of actually had gotten the virus but I don't know anyone with it or who has had it, thankfully.

The one thing I am glad about is the time at home with my children.

At most, I get two weeks holiday in one go at work, so having 8 weeks so far has been great. There have been times where the kids have driven me crazy but even that is something I would never have gotten if it wasn't for the lockdown. Silver linings an all that.

We have done some school work with the kids, admittedly not loads. Without knowing how the schools teach the children things like division etc. it's been difficult for us but we are trying to teach them other things. Joseph is 8 and Alice is 4. We've taught Joseph how to make us a cuppa, obviously the most important thing we've ever taught him. He's also learned how to use the washing machine, how to use a drill, which he enjoyed, and wants to keep trying.

With Alice still being fairly young ts harder for us to show her practical things but we know that when she goes into reception next year at school, she will be learning how to read words such as "Is, On, If" etc. so I have been teaching her these and she is doing really well with them. She's also been getting extra sassy and really showing off her cheeky attitude.

Both the kids are really missing their friends though. It will still be a big change when things get back to "normal". I said to Joseph today that I might be back at work next week, in some capacity. His response was "aww".

This is the longest time I have been off work but this is also the longest time I have spent with the kids, and for this, I'm glad someone scranned a bat for lunch.

It's made me question whether I want to go back to work. realistically I have no choice, we need the money, I have no other training and when they go back to school I wouldn't see them if I was at home anyway.

When shops are allowed to open and more people are allowed back to work, things still won't go back to how they used to be. We will still have all the social distancing etc. It will be another new normal.

Will we ever get back to the way we used to live? What do you think?


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