My Silver Lining #silverlining

Silver Lining

As we fast approach the end of week 5 of this unprecedented era of lockdown. People across the country are learning to deal with rules that to begin with felt so unnatural. But does every cloud have a silver lining?

The majority of children are off school, many people told to not work. All of us have been told to stay indoors where possible. 

I was nominated by Nigel over at DIY Daddy to take part in the #silverlinings challenge. Has there been anything happen or come about that might not have happened previously. 

I was initially nominated for this last week, but for any of you that follow my column over at Dad La Soul will realise, last week wasn’t my best week to find the good that  will come from all of this. However we are in a new week and I have always been the type of person that will find good in anything. Every cloud has a silver lining. 

As we move forward, each week something else happens that will make me step back and take stock.

Often in a good way. When we return to normal, i’m not sure the normal will be the old normal

Silver Lining
Discovering new things all around us.

anymore. Have we all changed? Will that be for the better? Musings we are probably all pondering at the moment. Could they be a silver lining moment perhaps? 

Initially during lockdown, my first thoughts were, how quickly we adapted. Yes, there were people flaunting the rules. Guidance wasn’t always being followed and it took a while for everyone to come to terms with the whole social distancing idea. 

However, many businesses adapted. Some people discovered they could in fact work from home without too much disruption to workflow. Would this adaption to life move over to the new normal? My first thought would be flexible working in the future. Would people be given the chance to work remotely more often? Would people get the chance to spend more time with families and build a better work/life balance. 

I was impressed with the schools and teachers. With little notice they managed to not only create a whole online module of learning, they managed to deliver this quickly. Equally the kids adapted fairly well. Without wanting to sound like a school motto. My three showed real grit and determination about school work. They worked together to properly figure out google classroom. Even my teen, who isn’t the biggest fan of school, is knuckling down and completing tasks. Albeit not at the correct time. But the work is being completed. 

The maturity I saw, is something I hadn’t noticed before all of this happened. It was clearly there. But cleverly disguised in some other form. 

My eldest has always struggled to stay engaged. He gets distracted easily and often finds himself on the mischievous side of caution. Over the last few weeks, he has not only managed to complete a lot of work, he even managed to get the highest mark in his class in a recent test. He did complete the test from 10pm not 10am. However he did complete it. 

His teacher commented via email. That during normal conditions he would have probably been distracted in class and failed to complete all the answers. Was distance learning having a good effect on some perhaps? 

Like many siblings my lot have had a tendency to bicker, not really fight. More pushing buttons for attention and the like. Throughout this period, they have shown a lot of maturity. Whether that is learning about each other’s personal space. The bigger two have both offered (unprompted) to play with their little sister. That is something that would have been an unlikely occurrence little over a month ago. 

Silver Lining
My Silver Lining

A word I never thought I would hear stumble out of a child’s mouth is ‘routine’. As parents we try to form routines, get them in routines and generally live to a routine. My three have all admitted they miss the routine of life out of lockdown. The eldest even admitted to missing school. 

I have really started to appreciate the slower way of life. We now amble and plod along in a good way. We don’t particularly need to rush anywhere. The washing can wait until tomorrow. Dinner can be served at 7pm not 6pm. Yes we get the basics or priority stuff done, but the other things can all wait. Deadlines can be extended. We have all become more mindful and relaxed about lifestyle and pressures.

All of us look forward to our family walk or other exercise. However we  have tried to mix things up. Sometimes we ride, scoot or even run. We have discovered new footpaths and bridlepaths that have always been on our doorstep, but until now were untrood by us. 

We have taught each other new things. The little lady was proud when she explained the difference

Silver Lining
Which way dad? Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot…..

between a fox hole and a badgers hole. The middle boy loved sharing his knowledge of space and satellites as we stood in the front garden in our pj’s  searching the sky for the skylink satellites and the eldest made me proud to be his Dad, when he stepped up and helped boost the morale of his little sister when she started to fall behind on a longer than average walk the other day. He not only made her laugh, he even carried her on his shoulders for the last little bit.

This whole episode in our lives has certainly brought us closer as a family and that is my #silverlining. 

What about you? Have you noticed anything positive to come out of this strange time we all find ourselves in? What are your silver lining moments? 

I nominate Ordinary Runner and Diary of the Dad  and Our Transitional Life. What are your #silverlining moments?

Silver Lining
My Silver Lining

 


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