How it really feels to spend your birthday in lockdown - and ways to celebrate at home

The coronavirus pandemic has put many countries on lockdown, with everyone asked to stay home as much as possible, only venturing out to the supermarket for essentials or for exercise once a day.

We're also practicing social distancing, meaning we have to stay at least two metres from those who don't live with us at all times.

Because of this a number of events and social gatherings have been cancelled - and forget about having a big birthday bash, it's not on the cards.

However, just because we're stuck inside, it doesn't mean we still can't make birthdays feel special. Courtney Pochin shares how she did this:

Earlier this week, I turned 26 and even though celebrating during the lockdown was a very weird experience, it was still possible to have a nice day.

Kind family and friends had posted cards to my flat in London and I had a little pile of them to open in the morning while enjoying a cup of tea.

A large portion of the day was then spent working, but my housemates had put up banners and balloons in our temporary office/living room. It was cute and the pink sparkly decorations made me smile each time I caught sight of them.

Once work was done, we went for a walk to get some fresh air, before returning home to cook a meal together.

Because it was a special occasion, we changed out of our comfy clothes and decided to have fun dressing up - something none of us had done in a while so we revelled in the novelty of getting glam.

After dinner I sat on the sofa in my posh dress, swapped my high heels for slippers and ate birthday cake while watching Clueless, one of my all time favourite films on Netflix. It was great.

It may not have been the most extravagant of birthday celebrations, but it was certainly one I won't be forgetting any time soon.

I know it's a cliché, but in times of difficulty, they say you realise what's truly important and seeing my nearest and dearest do their very best to make my day a little brighter, despite everything that's going on, truly did make me realise just that.

When you've got people who care about you, it really doesn't matter if you're stuck at home on your birthday.

If you've got an upcoming birthday and are unsure how to spend the day during lockdown, there are a number of fun things you could do.

Here's a few suggestions:

Download online gaming apps and play games with friends and relatives

Watch movies and TV shows at the exact same time as your pals and chat to them while you binge

Take part in a virtual pub quiz

Go on a virtual tour of somewhere you've always wanted to go

Get out of the house for a bit and enjoy some fresh air by going on a walk/run/cycle

Bake yourself a birthday cake or birthday dinner with whatever ingredients you have in your kitchen cupboards

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