Get ready, get set go!

Life was on auto pilot, and I, a mum of four, felt it was my judicial responsibility to show my face in every social event I was invited to.

Life with four kids is a cart wheel performance on a slimy floor as it is. And with social presence being the only way to prove your existence, it was as if I was managing six social lives; one of my own, my husband's and four of my kids.

Six social calendars, six wardrobes forever in the need to be updated for the events that keep on coming up without fail. Not to mention gift shopping for six different age groups. Absolute heaven!

Somehow it never felt odd, we all were coping in the name of enjoying our lives. Until it all stopped.

Covid-19 forced everyone to stay at home, and suddenly there was nowhere to be but home. (Oh, no!)

It felt surreal, I mean who stays home all the time? It felt like a page from The Diary of Anne Frank coming to life. Ladies and gentlemen, the life in the closet had started.

Same faces everyday. Home cooked food. No need to ever wear a lipstick. Who would have thought that looking at your family each day would be a thing! So basic, you know!

It was survival of the fittest, in the claims on a particular sofa, a toy and the time in the bathroom. The sofas actually had our "prints" on them for sitting on 'em so much. This was the new normal and any other version started to seem unreal.

Till the lockdown opened again.

The Government of Dubai finally allowed socially distant gatherings. As if the gates were opened and we leaped towards our friends as Shere Khan would towards Mowgli.

Except things seemed different this time.

It felt like I had lost my touch, getting ready felt like a chore, and getting the rest of them ready and in a car a different story altogether. Small talks started to feel like punishment, I just longed to get home and curl up with a book. The long, well-articulated tables of food which I used to admire seemed like such an unnecessary indulgence in this time of suffering around the world that I started to lose my appetite around them.

How could I do it in the first place I wondered?

So much time and energy wasted for the FOMO injected in my life through the syringe of social media. So much time that could be spent with my family instead. So much money wasted on clothes and make up which I never get to use in the whole of 2020. What was the purpose of all the ostentation? Of the hustle, of the self-induced misery.

Whilst Covid-19 brought a lot of suffering to this world, it did bring a realization of the smaller things in life. JOMO. The joy of missing out. The comfort of our homes, the carpets which finally look like they've been walked on. The toys strewn everywhere and the noise in the house. The aroma of baking induced by boredom and the frequent movie nights.

What Covid-19 brought along with it was mindful living. When fear-stricken, every family laid their own rules and no-one judged, and even if anyone did, no-one cared. Priority being the protection and the wellbeing of our own families.

Today, the situation around the world is fluid, the lockdowns open and close. And in these changing scenarios, I sometimes wonder.. What is more important after all? Respecting boundaries was the biggest lesson we learnt.

Everyone should be able to do what feels right to them. No pressure, no judgement. We should be able to say "no" , take a pause and enjoy the people who matter the most. We should be able to enjoy our JOMO, because it took a pandemic to put it in perspective. And I for one, am not letting it go.