Opinion: Time to turn our disappointment into fun opportunities for the family

As a child that meant there was fun to be had with different events in the coming months – Hallowe’en, Bonfire Night and then of course, Christmas.

It was always a time of excitement as we went from one celebration into the next.

However, once again the Covid-19 pandemic is interfering with normality and we are looking at a different autumn and winter ahead from what we’re used to.

The Scottish Government has asked families to give guising a miss this weekend for Hallowe’en and with organised firework displays cancelled, we’re urged not to have firework parties in our gardens.

As the latest restrictions were extended to November 2, when the new tier system is set to come into play, it was inevitable that Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night were going to be disrupted this year.

For many families, it’s just the latest let down thanks to the coronavirus.

However, possibly the biggest blow came ever closer this week as Professor Jason Leitch, suggested that people in Scotland should prepare their ‘digital Christmas’.

Although the politicians have been trying to down play it with comments of ‘it’s too soon to say’, the way 2020 has been shaping up, let’s face it, it’s not going to come as as too much of a surprise if we’re spending December 25 in our own homes, eating a smaller than normal turkey and playing charades with the extended family over Zoom.

It's a little disappointing that Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night definitely won’t be normal for us, however I feel that among the guidance and restrictions there’s a positive to be taken from it all. And for me, that’s family.

Lockdown and the continuing government guidelines provide the perfect excuse to spend time with the kids.

Yes, we may not be able to see and spend as much time with the extended family as we’d like, but not seeing them other than outdoors at a distance or on a screen, definitely makes me appreciate them even more.

So yes, I’ll be following the guidelines with no guising for the kids at the weekend, and on Bonfire Night we will be missing the usual party hosted by our friends for the first time in years, but it doesn’t mean it will all be doom and gloom in the Dobie household.

Instead, we’ll take the opportunity to stay home, spend time together and have some fun – lantern carving, dooking for apples and painting our own fireworks are all on the agenda.

In fact it will be nice not to have to venture outdoors into the cold, and no doubt wet, nights twice in one week.

And when we get to December and Christmas – whatever that may hold – if the kids get to see their grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins in person (at different times) then fantastic, but if not we’ll make the most of what we’ve got and have fun together.

Things for now may not be what we’re used to, and 2020 may be remembered on the whole as an awful year, but life is what we make of it and it’s time to fight back and make our own memories.