The children in Scotland have gone back to school on a full-time basis since they were abruptly closed way back in March due to COVID-19. There are completely mixed views about this as we all have different opinions on these matters as well as our individual wellbeing challenges.
Personally, I’m relieved they are at school and seeing their friends, although I appreciate this could change at any time.
On reflection, spring 2020 seems like a lifetime away and many parents in Scotland are now presented with a new normal way of living their lives. Family lives have changed. Individuals’ lives have changed. For many grown-ups, working lives have changed too.
Recently, my main priority was helping my children socialise with other children as they’d not seen other children during lockdown. Socialising with others plays a huge part in our mental wellbeing and being surrounded by others can positively impact our mood. Thankfully, after thoroughly searching my mobile phone, I discovered parents’ numbers from birthday RSVPs from life before lockdown.
For my children, a couple of short, socially distanced play dates were arranged which helped to take the edge off their anxiety. Seeing the other children made a huge difference to their mental wellbeing as well as my own as I was able to meet other parents, catch up about how we’ve coped during this time and discuss the plans for returning to school.
Immediately the children were so happy to see their friends again and instantly became more positive and excited about returning to school.
We also made arrangements for family socialising. It was truly wonderful to see our friends who lived an hour away but family living further has proven difficult due to them either being key workers or having to shield.
For many children and adults, socialising has been very much more restrained and restricted than life before COVID-19. This has impacted many people, especially those who’ve been shielding or have family and friends living further away from our home towns, cities or even overseas.
As an advocate of positive mental wellbeing, I had noticed my children becoming hesitant to enter play parks, especially when small groups of children were already playing. In my eyes, the parks weren’t busy at all, however, they were in the children’s eyes and that’s all that mattered. Many times they asked to go back home instead. Home has been a place which has provided them with comfort and love throughout the whole period of lockdown.
There’s no denying it’s been tough for parents to juggle childcare, continue to work and to wear so many extra hats, as well as dealing with the emotional strain of being distanced from loved ones. The mental wellbeing elements of coronavirus have certainly taken their toll and, for the present, we have the welcome relief of a new type of normal living.
None of us know what lies ahead in the coming months. Living in the present while making short term plans and having small celebrations may be the way to go: Returning to the workplace, socialising, seeing friends and family, making the most of filling up your social cup and getting out and about while we can.
Our Botanical Mood and Sleep Bar Corporate Scent Experiences are now available online where your staff can choose their desired mood and wellbeing outcome with their chosen natural fragrances. The personalised rollerballs are posted to staff home addresses in the UK.
Our Scent Connoisseur Experiences include a video consultation using our Natural Scent Palette Technology™ to support our clients’ wellbeing, using the science of aromatherapy and aromachology to help them boost their mood, have a great night’s sleep and feel incredible with the natural bespoke scents they love.
In the meantime, we’re patiently waiting for the Scottish Government’s announcement, expected mid-September, so we can reschedule our in-person scent experiences for our corporate and individual clients. Our autumn diary is now open for prospective in-person and Zoom team building experiences to create and design your own perfume, design your own home fragrance diffuser and design your own home fragrance wax melts.
Let’s make hay while the sun shines!
p.s. we’re looking for product testers join our Facebook Group and we’ll be in touch.
