Here's a short list of things I've done for the first time in 2021 - good and bad alike.
1. Home-schooling three children, simultaneously. The lockdown of spring 2021 is something I would like to forget, but I will remember that I was mostly able to home-school our three children (while my wife went to teach at her school) and get them through that time relatively successfully. We managed to do more than just survive, and I'm thankful for that.
2. Teaching Ben to ride his bike. At the other end of the scale, I was delighted to teach Ben to ride his bike; it took some time, and we were dependent on the weather for our training slots, but after some back-breaking effort, and an adjustment to the height of his saddle, he was off riding solo. Lizzie's uncle taught her to ride several years ago during a summer holiday when I was working through the summer.
3. Three funerals, including the first for someone younger than me, and the first which I watched remotely. These do not get any easier, and Covid has meant that 2021 has been challenging in many, many ways.
4. First time attending an airshow with the full family of five: this was a bonus to our August holiday, as we were able to attend an air display near the cottage we were staying in. It was just right for our family too, with enough entertainment for everyone, including those who have little or no interest in aircraft. I was pleased to be able to plan the day out and for it to go so well (it was dry but extremely windy!).
5. First time deliberately driving to intercept the Red Arrows on a transit flight (ie en route from their airbase to a display location). The Red Arrows flew a long route across the country to display at the G7 summit in the autumn, and I took two of the three children to watch them fly over Mow Cop Castle (on time, as planned). Monitoring their flight plans (through NOTAMS) has become very useful!
6. At work, I was promoted to become a people mananger, which entailed a number of consequences. At the start of 2021 I had no intention of ever becoming a people mananger, but on 1 September, I became the manager of my team. This had a number of consequent firsts: holding interviews for new staff, first hiring, first, "Thank you for applying, I am sorry to inform you..." and so on. It's been an eventful and exciting time, and in many ways, every day has been a first.
7. And for something completely trivial: early on the year, my wife confessed (that was her word) that she had started to enjoy South Korean dramas (so-called K-Dramas). Well, in turns out that there's a wide range of them available on Netflix, and so for the first time we watched several series of K-dramas (with subtitles). Our clear favourite is Crash Landing On You, which is a unique, funny and touching romantic drama... it's difficult to classify as anything other than a good K-drama and it's highly recommended. We didn't enjoy Sky High (too intense and more of a thriller than a comedy) and The Secret Life of My Secretary was farcical. We are currently watching Kim's Convenience, which is about a Korean family in Canada... possibly the best comedy of the year.
On the whole, I am pleased with what we accomplished as a family in 2021 (and what I achieved personally), and am more pleased to be saying goodbye to it, and hello to 2022.
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