We have to hope there’s a brighter future beyond this | Blaise Tapp

Eventually.

Growing up, I was subjected to an assortment of pithy one-liners such as: ‘Were you born in a barn?’, ‘Eat up those carrots, they’ll help you see in the dark’ and, the timeless classic: ‘If the wind changes, your face will stay like it’.

They all worked in their own way, so much so that I have been known to trot all of them out during my not-so-plain-sailing first decade as a parent.

But none as much as my current dad mantra: ‘Be grateful for what you have’, which I seem to be uttering on a daily basis even though children everywhere are enduring a genuinely tough time right now.

The second lockdown is not something that anybody relishes but youngsters are harder hit by this more than most.

Yes, most still keep their daily routine by going to school, but that is where the positives abruptly end because life right now isn’t as much fun as it should be when you’re five, nine, or 13 years old.

Not being able to go for a playdate, hang out in town with pals, learn to swim, or, most importantly, having permission to give friends a good old hug – all of these things are missing from the lives of every English child due to the restrictions placed on us all by the government in the last week.

The uncertainty that reigns over all of us threatens to hit the young the hardest during the long run but, despite the bleak outlook, there is still much to be grateful for.

Much like my mum used to shame me into eating my chicken kievs and broad beans by reminding of the plight of children in famine-hit Africa, I am never slow to remind my children how lucky we are to live in 21st century Great Britain.

My daily sermon about the joys of our situation is met with a combination of blank-eyed silence or, if am very lucky, a cry of: ‘Daaaaaad – we know’, which is shorthand for: ‘Shut up you boring old so-and-so’.

Right now, a huge dose of perspective is needed, not only for our kids but for all of us who have just about had enough of the chaos, misery and outright confusion brought about by 2020.

There is no denying that it is grim and that a significant number of people are ill, while the death toll rises at a worryingly steady rate.

And this is before we even touch upon the financial hardship that the pandemic has wrought upon families, our high streets, not to mention our nation’s coffers.

We are at the beginning of what we are told is the worst recession for centuries, which will also impact the health of many.

The road back to recovery is a long one and will be full of potholes and metaphorical sleeping policeman along the way, but despite this, we have to have hope that a brighter future awaits.

I think it does, although my crystal ball is unable to tell me when that will be.

I have no idea when a vaccine will be found or what the tragic final death toll will be or how long British taxpayers will be picking up the Covid-19 response and recovery bill for.

But I have genuine hope that those of us who have had it easy for so long – and I very much include myself in that – will have a future reference point for what hardship looks like.

I have long considered myself to be part of a very fortunate generation, one that hasn’t had to go to war and has lived through an unparalleled era of innovation.

Much of this good fortune has rubbed off on our own children, who will hopefully be able to appreciate more what they have once all of this is over.