A look back at the lockdown period

Time: 6 min

A look back at the lockdown period

The corona lockdown is over. Our blogger Ulrike Légé looks back and tells us what she misses and where she's glad to be back to normal. And what does the family dog Sunny think?

If there's one thing our dog will never understand about us humans, it's our complex feelings. Now we're back in the new, old normal. I look back on the lockdown period and realise: I miss exactly the things that I'm actually so glad are over ... Do you have to understand that as a dog? Probably not.

For example, I don't miss everyone being in the house at all. Someone was always banging in the kitchen, clattering down the stairs - even the sound of our toilet being flushed once an hour by five people got on my nerves. I'd rather have a cuckoo clock ...

Dog Sunny takes it easy.

What's more, all our children were suddenly looking for new ecological niches to be alone with mum or dad. Our middle daughter was standing by the bathtub chatting at 6 a.m., our teenager wanted to play games with us at midnight and the little one suddenly discovered her love of gardening. All the natural retreats that even every deer is entitled to in Switzerland were suddenly gone for us parents!

At the same time, I really miss not having everyone in the house. It was really cosy. The virus was raging outside and we made ourselves cosy inside. A bit like being snowed in without cold feet. But still with lots of card games. And jigsaws. And colouring. And watching films together.

The mum chicken with all her culinary chicks

Whenever we all sat together like that, I felt as happy as a mummy hen with all her chicks. When I shared this elation with the family, however, the children just burst out laughing, saying it was obvious. Hens always have such fluffy bum - and so do I since the lockdown. Haha. Which brings me to my next point:

I miss our meals together.We're a semi-French family, but my husband's gourmand genes only really came into their own during the coronavirus period. What exactly we wanted to cook and bake and decorate and eat - these were suddenly evening-long discussions.

Then my husband took over in the kitchen (ratatouille! quiche! crêpes!). Sometimes our YouTube- and fitness-influenced 12-year-old daughter (stuffed cucumbers! fresh ravioli! tomato salad!). And sometimes our purely pleasure-orientated little one (Pancakes! Pasta! Pizza!). Only the teenage son declared categorically from the start that his kitchen expertise lay in plastering. Which he did.

On the other hand, I'm glad that all our meals together are over. We didn't feel like we were doing anything else! And if no one felt like being a maestro in the kitchen, who had to step in and provide the basic supplies? That's right, the mummy with the fluffy bum. She was also allowed to clean up after all the star chefs.

I stood behind our open kitchen counter day after day and felt like I was in a drive-through: as soon as the last customer had finished breakfast, the first one arrived for lunch. Even our plates look kind of tired since they've been in constant use ...

Cheers to homeschooling

But what I really miss is home schooling. Both of my parents taught. Even though a «not-so-good friend afterwards» once told me that being a teacher's child was already a diagnosis, something positive has been passed on. I really enjoyed sticking little cards on lesson plans together, solving syllable puzzles, doing mental arithmetic exercises, learning bird species and looking for them outside.

After teaching children to eat, tie their own shoes and ride a bike, parents often wonder whether they are more annoying than useful. Homeschooling finally made me feel really useful again.

At the same time, I think it's good that it's no longer up to us to teach at home. The darn e-cloud was constantly crashing or the documents the child had painstakingly created were disappearing into the e-black hole. We were hit by fits of rage like summer storms: when we asked the children not to spread their worksheets over half of the table, where - see above - they were constantly eating.

The newly gained lockdown energy is channelled into gardening.

Or if we couldn't answer the question of what a pronoun actually is. Something that can't be assigned to any other type of word? I still don't know today. Or when child 1 put the homework in the letterbox for the teacher to collect, child 2 found it there and brought it back into the house as supposedly new material. Then child 1 got the whistle from the teacher, and then child 2 was beaten up by child 1. Thank God that's over now!

Where is the lockdown energy?

What I definitely miss is the children's energy. Getting through a lockdown like this without sinking into grey brooding is quite a challenge. It gets easier when someone is already looking forward to watching newts in the pond early in the morning. Or really wants to play fluffy ball in the garden right now. Or has just found a mega-funny TikTok. Someone was always in a good mood.

I'm now glad that the children's energy is finally finding other channels again. We went on a club holiday as a family once (and never again). Since the lockdown, I understand why all the friendly entertainers there are around 18 years old. And probably start their day with Red Bull.
Who else is a match for these little Duracell bunnies without an off button? They're constantly jumping around, wanting this, needing that, arguing, hurting each other ... In the middle of lockdown, they think they need to redecorate their room, buy real bunnies or go shopping for new jeans. Phew.

Our dog sees it all very differently. Until recently, the whole pack was still at home. There was always someone on the sofa to snuggle up to. There was always someone shouting «I really need to get out of here - come for a walk, Sunny!». A bit confusing, but all in all a great thing.
Now Mummy is sitting at her desk all alone again and you can lie on her feet in peace. Sometimes she sighs happily and relaxed, sometimes she is so comically sad until the young members of the pack come home again. A bit confusing, but all in all a great thing. Humans are funny animals.

A look back at the lockdown period

A look back at the lockdown period

The mum chicken with all her culinary chicks

Cheers to homeschooling

Where is the lockdown energy?

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