I cannot do this until September, I just fucking can't

[Elmerrrrrrrr]

The press conferences today with Raab and Sturgeon saying it won't be safe to reopen schools any time soon have just sent me into a tailspin. I'm at home with a 3 year old on. Both dh and I are lucky enough to have jobs (for now) but we still work a 40 hour week and both of us have constant calls and meetings. It is impossible to work around ds. Neither of us can be furloughed as we are paid from public funds. We live in a 2 bedroom flat with no garden. I'm used to seeing my mum 3-4 times a week and ds cries every day because he misses her. Every day is relentless and we are working until midnight and getting up at 5 to fit everything in.

I can't do this until September. I just cant.

Sorry, 5 half days a week. Not 3

Wehttam

No i am not safe. When your MH is like mine you are never safe and without the right support which simply doesn't exist right now, there is very little you can do about it

I'm more at risk from myself than covid. I hate myself for it but thats the truth

I see @crustycrab well you're much calmer about it than I am. We cannot survive on one income. We just cant.

However our chances for surviving Corona should we get it are pretty damn good.

I will speak for myself and say this ordinary woman wants to go back to bloody work and be allowed to make her own decisions.

I'm starting to quite like being on lockdown.
But I'm lucky that I'm getting paid and able to wfh.
Our employer has promised no redundancies until the end of the year, should any be needed, and even then we have about 50% SOW contractors who would go first.

I don't have small children. My adult DCs also have safe jobs.

When I drive and when in occasionally go to the office in love how quiet it is everywhere. It's like driving used to be - no queues.

I also find work less stressy when wfh, and there's no commute.

In appreciate that so many people have lost their income and businesses though, and that i am v lucky.

Yes you should speak for yourself. And your opinion is as valid as mine, of course it is. I just resent the "are you listening Boris" stuff because that opinion doesn't represent mine.

How/why would Primaries go back first? I agree all children can't go back at once but what's to be gained by opening primaries and leaving secondaries closed?

It's well publicised that you'll be entitled to a mortgage holiday. Check Money Saving Expert website.

I'm expected to be available for meetings 9-6 so it doesn't really add up. No, no, no. Tell them you are available for meetings only morning or afternoon (or whatever window), at other times your 3yo will be on your lap while you are at desk. Your partner vice versa (ie if you take mornings, he take afternoons). This is not typical "working from home" and no employer should be treating it as such!

On social media (including Mumsnet angry), the pro-lockdown voices are overwhelming, because anybody who dares say otherwise is branded a murderer.

Agree Wandering - and well said. Perhaps we should write to our MPs. I feel I am living in an asylum where everyone's OD'd on valium or else maybe a scene from the Stepford Wives.

Boris Johnson has turned into a bowl of jelly - blabbing on about how he nearly died every day. I know I sound cold, but I think most people of average intelligence got that when he went into intensive care, I had respect for him then, but now have lost it. Mainstream Media has become a ghoulish hysteria show. The "NHS" is the new religion ("Education" was the old one). Scare-mongering and vapid sympathy-seeking has replaced the hard and necessary job of real political, social and economic thinking. If I want a few dumb banners and vapid statements and thought police, I'd just go and live in a nursery run by a security guard.

@MrsJoshNavidi that's lovely but have you RTFT? This possibly isn't the place for it

But... You're getting what you want. We aren't.. your opinion is clearly being heard. Ours is not.

You have the choice not to go out into the world should you decide that

I don't have the choice to go back to work because I am quite literally not allowed to use the childcare that I have selected, or in fact any child care at all.

I’d have thought that employers would still be happy for staff take annual leave in most cases - otherwise they’re going to have a huge backlog of unclaimed leave later this year and staff wanting to take it at once... I mean, people would normally be taking time of for Easter breaks, summer holidays, long weekends away.

MrsJoshNavidi

Good for you, did you come on just to be smug about it

@MrsJoshNavidi wow your comment is fantastically insensitive to the op who says she is losing her mind.

I really need this to be over too. One of my children has severe autism and his mental health has collapsed. Joining mine! I can’t work as my son needs constant 1:1 care and my husband’s contract was cut short so from Friday we have no income at all. And no furlough money! Feeling pretty desperate at this point tbh. Even with a mortgage holiday we can’t plug the gap.

Definitely ring your bank about a mortgage holiday and see what they say.

If they say yes then see if work will allow you to take unpaid parental leave.

If not, go on childcare.co.uk or similar and see if you can hire someone for a few hours a day to be with your son using money saved from nursery fees.

Print on a poster a reminder that survival is success. Every day your son is ok and you are ok is a win.

You are doing so well OP. It’s impossibly hard.

Jesus , rosskemp amd navidi , this is NOT the thread for that shit.

No you can't OP and you won't have to I think, I can't imagine the scenario you describe trying to entertain a 3 year old in a flat while working full time - well of course I can but I would find it intolerable too! I am struggling home schooling 3 (and furloughed for now) but my only comfort is that my twins aren't pre-schoolers! Hope next week some better news will be released and you can at least see your mum xx

@Elmerrrrrrrr t depends, if @MrsJoshNavidi is aware they are in a good position compared to others, hopefully they don’t mind if they end up taking on a bit more work while colleagues with young children do slightly less. I do have kids, but if I didn’t I like to think I’d be happy to use my increased productivity under lockdown to balance other members of my teams decreased productivity. Maybe that’s what they meant?

I have a two year old who is now nap refusing and food refusing and angry at the lack of outdoor time. Myself and husband both work Ft. But we've arranged with our workplaces for me to work 6am-12pm and DH 12pm-6pm. Not ideal but it's better than the chop and change approach where you're juggling a toddler and a con call. We block out our diaries for the times that we are unavailable.

My husband takes our son out for a long walk at about 9, brings him back for lunch, then I do an activity such as painting with him after lunch. I've also adopted 3-4pm LONG bath session each day to pass the time 😂

But god yes this sucks, toddlers are the worst age to be trapped indoors with!

@Elmerrrrrrrr I am so sorry but please read what @Bluntness100 said what he actually said was this

He says the five tests are crucial. The government wants to avoid a second spike.

He says Sage is looking at different options. But they could not open all schools without a real risk of R going above 1, he says.

Could not open ALL schools is very definitely not saying all schools are going to be shut for the long term (i.e until September) and indeed in many ways is saying the opposite. Schools will in some way or another start opening I suspect in June.

Whether it includes your child - I cant say but there will be a phased in plan

But actually what you need I think is it eased so you can see your Mum who at 53 is younger. That may well be soon I hope!

Am missing something? Theres been no announcement on when school go back has there?

(Naive optimist in human nature that I am)

The thought of home schooling until the summer holidays isn't an appealing one. Last week was awful as was yesterday morning. DD wasn't listening and keeps rushing work then gets upset if she realises she's done something wrong. She was doing really well in school. There were tears, arguments.
Mentally I can't cope until September! Luckily, DP had last Friday off work (he's been told to use some days up) so he took over for the day. I just hate it.

Well.. nor can the chief lockdown adviser, Neil Ferguson so hopefully that will be an end to this now!

I'm sorry if I'm saying anything wrong I'm just not coping at all tonight