One Year On- #DayOfReflection

Today marks a full year since the UK’s first national lockdown due to the corona virus and as a result the 23rd March 2021 has become a national day of reflection. Although it is very important to take time to remember all those who have lost their lives over the last 12 months it is also a great opportunity to take a moment to look at what we have learnt and achieved during this unprecedented time (I have refused to use that phrase until now!).

A year ago when we all thought this would be over in six weeks we never anticipated the full extent to which our lives were about to change. Schools and nurseries shut, shops closed, hospitality venues couldn’t open and we were told to limit our outside time to an hour in our local area. You couldn’t really get much different to the lives of freedom we were used to. We had to quickly become accustomed to a completely different way of life where we were teachers and home workers, where we had meetings via zoom rather than face to face, we had to appreciate the outside world which is on our doorstep rather than travelling to bigger and better sites and venues. We had to learn to become more respectful of each others space and boundaries, to watch out for each other a little more and to not hoard all the loo roll and pasta Sainsbury’s can stock!

On a personal level I have learnt a lot these last twelve months- being a bit of a control freak my learning curve has mainly involved being able to let go a little (not too much though!). It quickly became apparent that trying to run a business full time whilst looking after a 3 and 4 year old wasn’t going to happen in the way I had hoped. There were days where I had to just accept that I needed to put my phone down and turn off my PC and reply to emails out of hours. And low and behold I discovered how understanding and compassionate the snoozzzy customers really are- after all we were all in the same boat!

During this ‘down time’ with the girls I learnt how to have more simpler fun with them. I was always one of those mums who seemed to have to spend a small fortune every weekend trying to keep them entertained by going to different places- you name it we have probably been there. But for six months we did the same walk every day. Yup, I can’t even believe I just said that. Six months. Every day. Believe it or not all three of us enjoyed it every time. We made it fun by making up treasure hunts, spotting wildlife, making up stories and it quickly became part of our routine. I definitely learnt a newfound appreciation for the countryside we live in and just what I have on my doorstep. I also definitely supported my local restaurants and think I pretty much completed every food delivery app available, but we can talk about that another time.

So what about snoozzzy? Even though I had other things taking up a lot of my focus that doesn’t mean snoozzzy was put on the back burner. At the start of lockdown 0.1 I was lucky enough to feature on BBC1’s The Customer Is Always Right and the response and feedback I received once the show aired was so overwhelmingly incredible and I will always be grateful of that opportunity. Snoozzzy featured in blogs, The Sun, The Independent, The Evening Standard, was rated as one of the best by ‘Mother & Baby’, the range has been expanded, the website has been made more beautiful and that is just the start!

This last year is definitely going to be in the history books, it is weird to think that our children and grandchildren will be learning about the great virus of 2020 in school and we will be sat there chatting about the time when we couldn’t pop to the shop without a mask and all the pubs were shut. This year has been very tough for a lot of people that goes without saying, I have shed at least a tear or two over a lonely G&T but I think it is important to try and find at least one small positive we can pull from this unique experience. There is now a light at the end of this never ending tunnel and the very least we can say is that we did it together ❤️