Back to normality

Do you remember when the world laughed at the continent of Asia for it's overprotective and fearful approach to bugs and viruses? Yes me too. Well, what fools we were and what a dramatic lesson we have learned in the last year.

Keys, wallet, mask and antibac. Check. The new checklist every adult and some older children now religiously go over for their daily ritual.

Elbow greets, eye smiles and raised voices. The new way to meet greet, thank and talk. How our world has changed with something that can't even been seen is a wonderous and dangerous realisation we all have had to learn to live with.

However, the new vaccines have given the world some hope. Millions of people worldwide have already been vaccinated and a large percentage of those people have handled the new and some what rushed vaccines as we expect our bodies too. With strength and poise.

So what now?

Well, I don't see the world suddenly changing overnight just because scientists and the worlds government alike have told us these new vaccines are 'safe'.

Do I trust in them? Yes. Fully? No. Will I have one? Absolutely.

My body has changed dramatically during lockdown. From size 10 to a size 16+, I have stretchmarks in places I didn't know I could get them and a belly Winnie the Pooh would be envious of. So I need to put some hope into gaining back a little normality.

I have spent 90% of my time inside and the time I have spent outside has simply been to commute to and from my local shop or take my daughter to school when it has been open.

My arse needs a break from my sofa and my new round belly needs a break from the cheese crackers.

There have been a few surprises along the way though, which were comforting to say the least.

My significant other. I have called him a dickhead far less than I imagined I could. Sure, his smelly socks, late mornings in bed and lack of get go is often enough for me to imagine things wives shouldn't imagine about their partners. But, I've enjoyed having him home, safe, with me and experiencing every funny, weird and sometimes sad time we have experienced through lockdown with our daughter.

We have laughed, cried, played, screamed, learned and argued our way through lockdown. Me slowly losing the will to live, my waistline and gaining several wrinkles along the way. And him gaining a more rampant loss of hair and some stray greys in his bushy beard.

Our daughter on the other hand is an inspiration to anyone suffering during lockdown. She is an only child so life has been tough some days. But, she wakes up full of life everyday. Keen to play, love and learn. She has spent everyday of the last year laughing, learning, growing and changing into the wonder she is today.

Sure, she's changed too. She has shot up 2 foot, swapped her long locks for a bob and started doing this strange tick with her face that I can only blame on her ever growing love for Ticky Tocky. She makes a "Grrr" noise everyday when things don't go her way often rolls her eyes as her new found and pre-teen attitude begins to develop into the raw personality that echoes 'mini me'.

Totally the same but completely different. She is a unique blend of her Father and I, every growing, every changing and always the life of the lockdown.

So, normality. Do I welcome it? Of course. But, I would be lying if I said I hadn't enjoyed the constant late nights, the family time, the stories, the films, the laughing, the learning and even the tantrums.

I will forever remember these moments in my life and be thankful for the good I gained from the bad. The light from the dark.

But I beg, please world. Give me back some sanity.