I am not really one for writing New Year’s Resolutions but I am one for trying my best on the first page of a new notebook or diary, joined up hand writing, no mistakes, concentrating and writing something pithy. Here I have often tried to acknowledge where we are at as we start a new year, this is the post I wrote at the start of 2017, and 2021 should be no different.
Though where are we at? In the UK some of us are in Tier 2, and able to go about our daily business relatively unchanged. The majority of us though are in Tier 4, non essential shops are closed, as are gyms, hairdressers and restaurants. There is debate about schools, with some being closed to all but children of key workers or those taking exams this summer, and there are many more that have delayed opening for a week whilst rumours swirl that they will all be forced to close imminently.
I can’t ever remember a time when there was so much uncertainty surrounding us all. Making plans is nigh on impossible, nobody dares plan a summer holiday for fear of it having to be cancelled. We have a holiday booked in May but have no idea if it will actually go ahead or not, it is already one that was postponed from 2020 and it will be heartbreaking to think it has to move to 2022. But then so much of what Covid has done is heartbreaking, isnt it? Both lives and livelihoods impacted, industries hit hard, jobs lost, plans wrecked, there can’t be a single family that has escaped unscathed.
If I am honest it hasn’t been as hard for us as it has for some. We have a garden to escape to, and decent wifi. We also have some savings in the bank that have allowed us to bulk buy food for a month at a time, and to allow us one or two treats to make things a little easier when things have been tough. I have never felt our privilege as much as I have in the past year.
That doesn’t really stop my head still being as scrambled as it was in 2017, some days I cant remember a list of two items, but I do think
Becoming a grandma in 2020 was everything I expected it to be, but at the same time I couldn’t do alot of things I wanted. We have been able to hang out in our bubble at the weekend but we havent been able to do the days out, trips to the zoo, playdates I had hoped we could.
I truly hope that 2021 allows for more of that. And writing. I barely blogged at all in 2020 and I really want to remedy that, and do hope you will join me in having the occasional read.