Coronavirus: The families who are loving life under lockdown

Some families say they have been enjoying life under the lockdown because it's giving them the chance to spend more time together.

Stef Scott said her two children - Lewis, 10, and Alex, seven - were flourishing because she and electrical engineer husband Stephen, 42, were at home rather than in the office.

The 43-year-old content marketing manager from Edinburgh said: "It's been great because the children have loved all the one-on-one time with us.

"Normally we are scrabbling about, but now we have much more time together."

She said one benefit was that she was aware of how Alex was progressing with his school work, and where he needed support.

"We have also cycled 100 miles as a family over the last six weeks, which has been great, and spent a lot of leisure time together doing things like jigsaws and roasting marshmallows at the fire pit, which we bought for the lockdown.

"It's a nice time being all together.

"And Alex said: 'It's nice to have mummy at home'."

Khi Leonard, 45, who lives in Glasgow, said he normally only spent about an hour a day with his physio wife, Raz Leonard, 43, due to their shift patterns.

The Crossfit trainer, who is originally from Bournemouth in England, said: "My wife has two jobs and has to travel to Falkirk and two different places in Glasgow, and I work until 9.30pm at night, so we only see each other from then until we go to bed at 11pm.

"But now my wife has been furloughed from one of her jobs and has very few hours in the other one, so it has meant she has lots of spare time."

He said they had been baking lots of pies and pasties together from a new cookbook.

"I'm really enjoying the lockdown as I'm so happy to be able to spend so much time with my wife, and she's much less stressed because she isn't having to go to work.

"I would be happy if the lockdown remained as long as the weather lasts. If it rained it would be a bit more irritating."

Samantha Macfarlane, 37, from Edinburgh, said she had been enjoying being at home with her children - four-year-old Maisie and two-year-old Rory - since she was furloughed from her job as a retail manager.

She said: "We normally have a hectic childcare scenario. We both work full-time and I sometimes work evenings as well. We are not used to having time together, so this has been lovely.

"Being furloughed really helped as now I can focus on what we are going to bake next and where we are going to go for our one walk of the day.

"Maisie has also learned to ride a bike without stabilisers during the lockdown as we've been able to spend more time teaching her, so that's nice."

Samantha added: "It's been great having unlimited time with the kids and the freedom not to have a structured day.

"We don't have to be anywhere and can just do what we feel like doing - it's great."

Jack Jewsbury, 30, who lives in Leith with his wife Roseanne, 28, said he had been able to speak regularly to friends he grew up with in Switzerland.

He said: "I'm enjoying the lockdown, it has been really good. We have all been playing games and doing quizzes because now we all have the time.

"We have all been hanging out virtually over Zoom chats, which we normally don't have the time to do.

"My wife has said she is going to miss spending all this time with me once the lockdown is lifted."

He said they had also been doing new things, like cooking their first roast dinner together.

"Roseanne has also been getting into running, which she normally doesn't do.

"We also are having breakfast, lunch and dinner together, which we normally never do as she leaves for work when I'm just getting up."