Alison Curtis: Swimming lessons used to be a chore, now I'm just grateful to be out of the house
A On Things Out 'even ' Alison Isolation, Mapping Try Like Out Chore Shop Weekly Mundane Post Formerly Opportunities New Than Rather Meal Planning, To The New Curtis: And Things Has A Taken As Just Life
Most of us over the past two years have uttered numerous times, “We will never take anything for granted anymore”. When the option of just walking out your door to meet friends in the pub was gone. When we could no longer just pop into each other's houses, send the kids into schools, get on planes or do most things that up until 2020 that had never been questioned, were gone.
Now that the country has opened up and most restrictions have been lifted I am sure all of us think at some point during the day, wow, how did I ever take "this" for granted.
It really struck me last Wednesday when, after several months, we returned to my daughter's swimming classes. Pre 2020, it was honestly one of the most dreaded times of the week for me. Knowing as we would park the car that I was about to head into the inner circle of hell as the heat of the changing rooms would turn anyone into a demon dripping with sweat in seconds.
It was always a battle to get her out of her clothes and into her swim suit with seconds to spare. Then the dreaded swimming cap, stretching, moulding and pulling over a squirming head, claiming it is ripping all her hair out, nightmare!
Then the other side of it was always worse, getting the clothes back on required a miracle of some sort. The drying gods needed to descend and help out a gaggle of stressed-out parents trying desperately to get out of that inner circle as fast as possible.
But last Wednesday, none of that seemed to bother me. I was in a completely different frame of mind. I was so thankful that this part of our old “normal” week could return. That Joan could get back into the pool, do something she loved and that we could look forward to once again sitting down with a smoothie afterwards and just take a moment.
I found myself the next day as we dashed from school back home to get a snack and do homework then get changed for football, actually buzzing with happiness. It was a lot of “hurry” but I found both Joan and I were just happy to get on with it.
A bit of the chaos has returned, a schedule, a routine. The early morning manic pace of getting a tween out of bed on time, calling for her to “just get dressed”. Packing the lunch, bundling her into the car and getting to school on time has all been welcomed back into our lives.
Just yesterday, our parents WhatsApp group was hopping with excitement after the announcement from the school that after-school activities will be returning. Joan was so cheerful picking which ones she would like to commit to for the next term and it was lovely to see.
Even mapping out formerly mundane things like the weekly shop and meal planning, post-isolation, has taken on a new life as opportunities to try out new things rather than just a chore.
After two years of a pandemic, which as a family we followed up with two and a half weeks of isolating with Covid, I was certainly not taking anything for granted.
How long this elevated state of gratefulness will last, only time will tell, but for the moment I am so happy to have our lives back up and running.
