It’s amazing what ‘happy’ can be found in the middle of a pandemic lockdown isn’t it? This months happy moments have been in the ordinary days, the small stuff – that’s probably already there but I always took for granted…

A blazing bank holiday – and a lot of splashing!
Wow, how lucky were we to have such a hot bank holiday weekend? And being forced to stay in, meant there was no sitting about in traffic jams, no rushing to find a parking space closest to the beach/forest/theme park.
I’ve never been so grateful or happy to have a garden, a trampoline and running water to let the kids run, laugh and splash about in.
We ran out of gas for our BBQ before lockdown happened and with nowhere to find any, I picked up a cheap charcoal barby on my weekly supermarket shop – so we even managed  a lovely BBQ too. Stereotypical Brits doing typical bank holiday things.
It felt so ‘normal’ we almost forgot we were in lockdown.

Arlo is dry in the night!
Well, my clever little boy is dry in the day and now through the night too. One night he decided he didn’t want to wear a nappy any more, so down went the extra towels under the sheet and away we went. He’s been dry ever since!
We’ve had two night time wee accidents in the last four weeks but now, we hear the patter of tired little feet in the night as he takes himself off for a wee and then hops back in to his bed.
He suddenly seems to grown up – and I’m a very proud mama!

Spreading kindness
Sometimes social media can be a bit of a negative space – but during April, a #spreadkindness campaign started and wow I was totally onboard with it.
The idea was that everyone shared their Amazon Wishlist and if you wanted too you could treat someone to something from their list. I sent around 30 gifts of varying value to people. Some I know, and others complete strangers, that I found using the #spreadkindness hashtag on Twitter.
I didn’t expect anything in return but wow, I received some super lovely gifts from a range of people and it was so exciting to see what was appearing in the brown boxes!
I’m going to continue gifting in May too – we definitely do rise by lifting others.

Method Fabric Softener
Now this is a bit of an odd one, but never underestimate the smell of clean, fresh and soft laundry!! I have been using Method anti-bac spray for a couple of years now but since discovering the fabric softener – it’s been a game changer in our house.
The washing when drying on the airers makes the house smell amazing and when it all gets put away, the drawers keep a little burst of freshness. No need for drawer liners!
I’ve never felt so middle aged – or happy…

Dropping dinner to my dad on his birthday 
I hadn’t planned to do a socially distanced visit to my dad on his birthday, but sadly my Grandma (his mum) passed away suddenly in the morning.
And whilst it’s not ‘allowed’ to visit family, I decided to go and take my dad a birthday dinner and drop it at his doorstep, in a bid to raise a little smile. I knocked the door, left the dinner on the doorstep – then when they were inside I brought the kids into the garden.
It was so nice to see my parents for the first time in over three weeks – which isn’t a huge amount of time, but during that we missed Mothers Day, Arlo’s birthday, my brothers birthday and then my dad’s birthday combined with my grandma’s sudden passing. It felt like forever.
I was so upset seeing them but unable to hug them, that I immediately burst into tears, but as I drove away I knew I’d made the right decision to spread some happiness to my dad. Reuniting Supergamps with Sofia and Arlo was special during this time.

A girls night in-in
It’s the future isn’t it? Girls nights in hosted by Zoom!
Eight of us girls (aka ‘the baby group‘) set up our laptops, grabbed the fizz and had a good chinwag for a few hours.
I’m not a phone talker at all, I’m WhatsApp all the way but it was so exciting to see some new,  but familiar faces, and put the world to rights on the craziness happening all around us. A Saturday night well spent!

Daily walks
On our daily walks we have discovered places that we’re literally a stones throw away, that we’ve never visited. I’m grateful for being forced to discover the things we have on our doorstep.
During our walks, amongst the kids screams and laughter, I’m enjoying listening to the birds sing, the roads being quiet and people being so friendly when you pass them.
A smile or a simple ‘hello’ can really cheer you up when you’re having a down day. I’ve been making sure I greet every person who comes across my path – and I truly hope the world becomes a friendly, happy and kinder place off the back of this pandemic!