Never in the history of our country – and many others – has a school ‘holiday’ been this long. You most likely don’t need to be reminded of this. But, it’s all over.
Going to school has resumed and life is slowly getting back to normal in many ways.
South African parents can indeed pat themselves on the back. You’ve all made it.
In a year that the New York post termed ‘the year from hell’, a year with ‘its fair share of world-shifting events’, it probably felt as if the world was shifting in your own home each time the school calendar changed/was shifted or when you were in charge of home schooling for the day.
Amidst it all,
there are many positive things that stand out among the general craziness of these times…
Think about it and tick off what is true for you:
⬜ You learnt to perfect the baking of banana bread.
⬜ You are still thanking your lucky stars that you don’t have to teach your children – or anyone else’s – every school day of every year.
⬜ You now know how to make pineapple beer.
⬜ You got creative in the kitchen.
⬜ You got creative in your home/study/garden/anywhere else.
⬜ All your drawers and cupboards have been organised and cleaned.
⬜ Quality time, loads of it, spent with your nearest and dearest is still a treasured memory.
⬜ You saved a lot of money because it was impossible to go out and spend it.
⬜ The Jerusalema! You can now dance the Jerusalema.
(Speaking of which, the way the world embraced the Jerusalema made us proudly South African. As do the Ndlovu Youth Choir. Listen to and look at Ndlovu performing the Jerusalema by clicking here...)
⬜There was time to rekindle an interest in old hobbies.
⬜ So much reading could take place.
⬜ There was no need to dress up in the mornings or any other time of the day.
⬜ Building puzzles and playing board games became cool again.
⬜ Your technological skills improved in leaps and bounds, with Zoom, Teams and whatever else.
⬜ Virtual museum and art gallery visits enlightened everyone.
⬜ You stopped smoking (?)
At the start of November 2020 Brent Lindeque, the Good Things Guy, asked the following question on his very popular website, www.goodthingsguy.com:
What is the best thing that happened to you in 2020?
As he explains, ‘A simple question asked… a mountain of positivity followed!’
Sometimes very few words are needed to get a life-affirming message across. Here are two examples:
‘I survived.’
and ‘I fell in love with life again.’
To further buoy your spirits read it all by clicking here…
Good Things Guy is dedicated to telling good stories and to share things that inspire in South Africa.
Likewise every parent in South Africa can probably testify that 2020 taught them: Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.
2020 also reminded us that we should never neglect to: