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Original poster

Chat for those who are shielding

956 replies

AuntieSocia1 · 22/04/2020 16:06

Apologies for the very unsnazzy title but as it suggests a place to chat for those who have to shield at the moment. A few of us have been talking on the the Shielding after lockdown thread in the coronavirus topic.

Thought I'd put this in chat as some days I'm guessing we'll want to chat about anything other than coronavirus!

I know all of our circumstances are quite different as well as the reason we need to shield but it's a pretty big thing to have in common. Despite my username I look forward to interacting with you and as my username suggests I might also slink off from time to time!

OP posts:
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Methtones · 13/05/2020 12:06

I'd be sending that shit to my councillor. They really dont get it, do rhey?

kirstinm · 13/05/2020 12:14

Does anyone know who would be best/most effective to contact about this? MP/MSP?

Methtones · 13/05/2020 12:23

I've written to both kirstin. If something has come from the local gov I'd go to your councillor about it specifically.

plus3 · 13/05/2020 12:31

Morning everyone - I am contemplating a walk ...out out, not just in my garden Shocknot seeing anyone walking past the house but lots of cars. Bad idea??

Egghead68 · 13/05/2020 12:32

I’m breaking my shielding with an exciting trip to A&E. I am thinking about going for a very short, socially distanced, masked walk in the park on the way home if I feel up to it (that would be the first non-hospital trio out since 11th March). Life in the fast lane...

Egghead68 · 13/05/2020 12:34

@plus3 - I think only you know your circumstances and how busy it is round you. I might risk a short walk as I am out already (and also I have almost certainly had covid-19).

kirstinm · 13/05/2020 12:45

@Methtones thanks, I'll look into it this afternoon. I definitely want to contact them

@plus3 I've been out for a few walks. I pick quiet time and routes and not every day but I have been doing it.

Redcherries · 13/05/2020 12:51

Is there any information on it that would help those not as savvy online as us lot @Kirstinm One of my biggest peeves about this situation is the lack of information offered and us having to find advice, support etc online that others may not be doing. In that case that would be good, however they need to not assume we are all one foot in the grave! Has anyone even looked at the demographic of the shielding group to see that so many of us are not this perception the country has!

Pebble21uk · 13/05/2020 12:54

Had an email from my school this morning (I'm a Y1 TA) asking me to fill in a form as part of the government's framework for opening schools.

It has three tick boxes: Box for those shielding, who have a letter or live with somone who has a letter.
Box for those considered clinically vulnerable.
Box for those neither shielding or vulnerable.

I don't know if this is just my school (independent) or a standard form for all schools, but I was encouraged by the live with someone shielding being in the same catagory as shielding. I'm shielding but my wife is also a teacher (different school) - it would be ridiculous for her to return if I'm still shielding.

Original poster
AuntieSocia1 · 13/05/2020 12:57

@outnumberedwoman what have you done!!! I'm now singing 'hotel corona' to the tune of hotel California Grin

It's so nice to hear about projects and plans we have. We are not for the scrap heap thank you very much!!!

I'm feeling a lot more positive today too. Actually managed to get some work done this morning and make a nice lunch for everyone. Kids are now out in here garden while I have a cup of tea and 5 mins before I need to get back to the slog!

OP posts:
OculusThrift · 13/05/2020 13:00

Hope you're ok @Egghead68. DH had to go to A&E a few weeks ago and it was so quiet, he got sorted pretty quickly.

Quiet day here today. I am hiding in my room as repair bloke coming to hopefully fix my dishwasher. DH will bleach everything down before I can go back downstairs. Might even have a little nap.

slalomsuki · 13/05/2020 13:01

Late to the thread here but I have been shielding since lockdown although the letter only arrived 2 weeks ago. There are 5 of us here, 2 shielders and 3 not.

I've only been out 4 times in the last 7 weeks and that's been to go to the supermarket with face mask. I chose one that I knew would be quieter and make it less stressful and went after the morning rush. I managed to get a home delivery this week so that helped out loads and have got flour and yeast from amazon so the old bread maker has made an appearance.

I have a parent in a care home locally who while they are being looked after they are not getting the additional stuff regularly like toiletries and snacks. I'm now getting distraught phone calls about why we haven't visited and although they don't have dementia they clearly are not coping well with the isolation.

Home schooling is OK as the school has been organised and has been sending work. Kids are getting up and doing a bit each day and seem to like the small structure to their day.

OneNightTimeMenaceStrikesBack · 13/05/2020 13:03

definitely going to have a nap this afternoon, i got less than three hours sleep last night, i just couldnt settle then had a bit of an asthma attack at 2am so ended up on the sofa where i could sit up better. Feel rubbish today after that so hoping a nap perks me up a bit

ClientQ · 13/05/2020 13:04

Had my car fixed by a nice local garage. Turned up and did the battery and cheaper than the RAC!
Blood tests are now tomorrow so I get to go out Grin briefly. Must admit when Starbucks drive through reopens I'm tempted to nip through as don't have to go in

kirstinm · 13/05/2020 13:09

@Redcherries I just had another look and to be honest not really. It consists of a list of 'safety information' - which is very much 'be wary at the door' and 'don't give out your bank details' and then a short section about the SMS service (national) and then a web link under 'local assistance' which I think is to register for the food box. There is also a 'mental health support' section which has one web link under it - www.moodcafe.co.uk - I'm not sure what that is.

Egghead68 · 13/05/2020 15:59

Thanks @OculusThrift. Just post-Covid cardiac problems (caught presumed covid just before shielding) - not too serious thankfully. I hope your DH is OK.

Egghead68 · 13/05/2020 16:02

I hope you feel better soon @OneNightTimeMenaceStrikesBack.

outnumberedwoman · 13/05/2020 17:18

Have retreated to my bedroom for a cry to myself and a vent to you lovely people. DC2 decided to pull his nappy off and pee all over the bedroom. He was reading a book and i thought he would be ok for a minute but i was clearly wrong. DH has now said it was my fault because I left him on his own and obviously i am not coping and he wont leave me in charge again because i clearly cant cope on my own. I have had enough now. I try my hardest but it is impossible to keep eyes on 24 hours a day. I already feel like a failure because of all the issues dc2 has. He might be 4 but its like having a 2 year old with the strength of a 4 year old. Now husband thinks i am a failure too. Jolly good! And i cant even go for a walk to clear my head for 15 minutes. We live quite rurally but everybody seems to want to come here to walk so its probably busier than the city at the minute!

brainstories568 · 13/05/2020 18:30

@outnumberedwoman I'm sorry you felt the need to post that.. sounds like you need a vent and a hug. I don't know anything of the backstory but I do know it's really really hard work trying to get a child in and out of a nappy at times, and that's from having a 14 month old let alone a 4 year old. Did your husband tell you that you are a failure? Or is that your interpretation of what he said? As there is a massive difference there.

Look at it this way, it could be poo all over the bedroom so actually you've had a lucky escape. When mine was a few months old he did a squirty poo without a nappy on which literally went across the changing mat, onto the carpet and onto the wall the other side of me. It missed me by an inch or so but the floor was such a mess.

Anewuser · 13/05/2020 18:36

Outnumberedwoman you are not a failure. It's hard work being a parent at the best of times but factor in additional needs and then a bloody pandemic and it's not a surprise you're stressed. Have a good cry and leave him to it - it won't hurt for your DH to take over some of the childcare.
Be kind to yourself. X

Egghead68 · 13/05/2020 19:41

Flowers @outnumberedwoman and definitely Gin and Cake.

outnumberedwoman · 13/05/2020 20:24

Thanks all. He does do more than his fair share and he got up with them this morning so i could have a little extra sleep because i am still not sleeping great due to pain from getting tooth extraction last week. I had said he could have a lie down this afternoon but he didnt get it then as dc2 decided to water the bedroom! It takes two to clean up. One to wrangle him into a nappy and clothes and one to start the cleaning and keep him out of the mess! I think everything is just starting to bite. We are both tired and sore and fed up being stuck in a tiny flat looking at the same 4 walls and in a way the kids are probably bored senseless too and thats why dc2 is acting up. I feel terribly guilty that everyone is suffering by staying in because of me. But i also dont want to leave them without a mum/wife if i did get covid.

And i cant even have Gin and Cake because im only just finishing my antibiotics.

TitsalinaBumSquash · 13/05/2020 22:20

Hi, I hope it's ok to come here and vent to those who are in a similar boat.

Today has been hard, we're a family of 6 shielding due to a clinically very vulnerable DS.
We're in a very small overcrowded house so we're on top of each other, we have a small garden but can't use it due to a combo of neighbours from hell and a rodent infestation that is so bad they happily come out when we're out there, they're very tame now. They also congregate around the back sore and with the smoke billowing in from next Oder we can't even have widows or doors open, it's pretty dire.

DH is working, I'm not due to my job being in care so it's too risky.
We've both really suffered feeling down today and have slipped into a pattern of staying in pjs, not eating proper eating proper meals and just sinking onto the sofa most the time.
The kids are all very different ages and abilities so they are all a bit bored and lonely.
DS1 also has SN so that's incredibly tough to cope with in such close proximity.

DS's team have said they're reviewing shielding conditions but they think at this stage DS will be in that category for the foreseeable future and beyond June.

I don't know what I'm looking for really, somewhere to speak without hearing how great it is to go for a walk or run in a park, pop to a shop. Everyone everywhere seems to be getting on with life and we seems to have been stuck in the house and forgotten about. I miss my work so much too which isn't helping. Sad

Egghead68 · 14/05/2020 00:01

That sounds really hard @TitsalinaBumSquash. Sorry things are so rubbish.

outnumberedwoman · 14/05/2020 00:37

@TitsalinaBumSquash vent away. We are all in the forgotten masses here and definitely all in the same boat. It was floated earlier that we should just cancel this week as a few of us are really struggling this week. Seems like a brilliant idea to me.

I too am shielding with a child with SN and it is difficult. Today was bad for us. Living on top of each other is not easy at the best of times but at the minute it just makes everything worse as we cant escape to clear our heads even for 5 mins. I don't know if it helps you but you are definitely not alone. This chat has gotten me through knowing that others do understand and are in the same boat. No judgements just kindness.

This is such a crap situation. I wish i could offer you some help.

For now have some Flowers and Cake .