We're all going on a summer holiday

[MinnieMountain]

Even if it means 2 weeks of quarantine
The anti -dementors are here to be reasonable and sensible about everything.

Yes. I’m a rule followed by nature. Despite thinking a lot of the rules were batshit I have, in the main, been following them.
If all we get tomorrow is some shit about being able to line up in Next then I will no longer be following the rules.

Early on in this I found myself getting cross with people who were blatantly breaking the rules (In my head) and then I took a good hard look at myself. These people weren’t putting me in danger by walking past me normally or cycling too close or driving to the park just to feed the ducks, if the virus was transmitted that easily we’d all have it. So I made an active choice to challenge myself and tried to stand up in my own small way. Now I feel we’ve all done our bit but the government haven’t done their bit of the deal and I’m cross with them.

I’m cross that testing isn’t available in enough care homes in wales
I’m cross people are dying from preventable diseases
I’m cross children are being denied safeguarding, education and play
I’m cross the economy is being destroyed so we won’t have any flexibility to deal with future crises
I’m cross that being isolated is seen as virtuous and people feel they can judge others

At the end of this we need a healthy society and by every measure we’ll be sick. Coronavirus is destroying us in lots of ways and once we’re all back from holidays we’ll have to start the long haul of rebuilding again. That’s something I’ll be proud to be part of.

Those of us doing childcare for our grandchildren aren't keeping 2m distance from them. I actually asked my daughter if she wanted me to console my 2 year old grand-daughter if she was upset or hurt herself while in my care and she said, yes, of course she did.

I have a child due to start back at school next week (2 days a week) I was feeling fine about this until I got the 'contract' for him to read this morning agreeing not to go within 2m if anyone else within school or risk being asked to leave the premises.....he's 5

Same here, naturally inclined to follow rules and be seen to do so, as long as I can see the sense in them! When I can't, I start to get a bit rebellious. In the beginning even I was moaning about other people, but now I really don't care as long as it isn't obviously risky or putting others at risk.
DD's friend's mum just called and asked if I'm happy for her to play in their hottub this afternoon. I was like, yeah crack on! Her family have been very compliant with lockdown so far so was quite surprised, but I think seeing how happy the DCs are to actually socialise has tipped them over the edge into rebellion...
One of hers is back to school next week anyway, I'm sure an hour or two outdoors in a chlorinated hottub won't kill anyone.

I'm not a rule follower or a rule breaker.

I guess I'm a rule challenger.

I think rules are important but I think they need to be fair and proportional.

If I think rules are stupid and unfair, I won't follow them and I find the idea that I should, just because they are rules, deeply annoying.

But I don't think I'm special, I don't think anyone should follow stupid or unfair rules and devote time to making sure they don't have to.

It's been useful to think through this because it has helped me understand why I'm so infuriated with the Lockdown Enthusiasts.

I think in my head I consented to abide by rules I was unsure were proportional on the basis that they were temporary and that there would be a strong counterweight to any attempt to normalize them.

Now there are people who describe themselves as "loving" a situation which involves the police being called on a mother and two toddlers playing on a sand pit.

I feel betrayed that people are not just making the best of (which I am) but are actively revelling in, and seeking to prolong, a situation that is causing so much harm and damage and that has suspended so many of the rules that normally protect us from state intrusion.

Well said wales

@savehalloween
I think they have a chance this week to keep people's compliance. If they harp on about golf and shops again without addressing what people really care about, I think people will just stop listening.

I think you are absolutely spot on.

Also as an aside, I am LOVING "DANGEROUS BUFFOON!"

@anothernamereally

I have a child due to start back at school next week (2 days a week) I was feeling fine about this until I got the 'contract' for him to read this morning agreeing not to go within 2m if anyone else within school or risk being asked to leave the premises.....he's 5

I'd go ahead and sign that contract, secure in the knowledge that it will be totally ignored the minute actual 5yos are in a room together.

I followed the rules diligently to start with - the actual rules, not the made up Dementor rules - even though I was very confident I came down with Covid just as lockdown started anyway. But I no longer think they can be justified or make sense. I err on the side of abiding by rules, as long as I see the rationale for them. If I don't see it, I will question it. And if I question it and it makes no sense... Nope.

@anothernamereally

I have a child due to start back at school next week (2 days a week) I was feeling fine about this until I got the 'contract' for him to read this morning agreeing not to go within 2m if anyone else within school or risk being asked to leave the premises.....he's 5

Fucking hell. Some head teachers really have lost the plot.

That taping up the books in the classroom thing really pisses me off. “Look little children, look at all the lovely things you’re not allowed to touch .” Everyone know with small children out of sight is generally out of mind so not just pack them away in a cupboard? Well I know why, because empty bookcases don’t make such a striking image .

What do you think the chances are of places like Butlins opening up by July or the end of this year? I've seen arcades are going to re open by June the 15th. So guessing that Brighton pier will be open?
Also hotels when will places like travelodge open? We was going to have a weekend in Brighton in August.

After reading some of the threads today I’m starting to think that we are losing our humanity, or that large chunks of the population never actually had any. I never thought I would see a time where we debating the legality of hugging family members, where police are called and actually turn up for toddlers in a sand pit, where police are chasing children off swings and where I’m worrying about being fined for being out with my autistic children.

When all of this started I was worried about loss of rights. DH couldn’t see it. Now he does. I worry about the future. We seem to sleepwalking into an utterly toxic society

I get you nihilioxclica. I'm pretty compliant, but have no gusto for pointless, petty rulings. (One of the list of reasons why my enthusiasm for teaching faded rapidly a few years back with trivial things like the super-prescriptive academy uniforms. I taught in a non-uniform, first-names school at one point and loved it. It did not compromise learning and cut out a whole swathe of time-wasting nit-picking. I always had a blazer-free policy in my classroom, why waste lesson time asking to take it off to be able to learn comfortably?) Anyhow, with lockdown I saw sense in staying local but did leave the house more than once a day as it was of no consequence. In a densely populated area, it might have made a difference in giving people a chance to get out with decent spacing (especially if living in flats with shared access), but in my area it made no difference whatsoever.

I suppose I was technically in the wrong when DS went to play football in the park as we ended up with 3 families, but the important bitis that we stayed spaced and were outdoors which is the bit that makes a difference.

The neighbours had the grandparents over yesterday and the children sounded so happy. I'll admit to being jealous, as our family situation is very different, but that doesn't mean I should begrudge them. A few times now, we've had no positive tests in a day for a tresting area that's of probably 250,00 to 500,000 people. The risks are so low.

Well said, Blackberry. I totally agree.

Arcades are reopening on June 15th? Don’t get me wrong, I bloody love a good tacky arcade, but they’re the most grubby places imaginable. If they open and swimming pools and playgrounds don’t the world has gone utterly insane.

@BarkandCheese it just really confirms that as a whole, children in the UK are seen as a necessary nuisance rather than inherently of value to society, and so things that are beneficial to them but not to adults need not be prioritised.

savehalloween, as an ex-school librarian I am absolutely horrified by that photo. Why are they teaching children that books are dangerous? Or more dangerous now than during a norovirus epidemic or even a nasty cold season, given how unlikely it is that a child (a) has not previously been exposed to the virus (b) will pick it up via a book and not via any other surface?

rookiemere I’m interested in antibody testing but read yesterday that the government has instructed private companies to stop processing them. Not sure if it’s true though.
The week before lockdown DH was working in London. 5 days later he came down with a high temp, fatigue and cough. A couple of days afterwards DD2 had a high temp and a cough, followed by me, DD1 and DS. Mine lasted 8 weeks, and I was eventually sent for a chest X-ray which was clear. Really interested to know if it was covid!

Could go a slushie right now.

Drivingdown that's what I was saying earlier- DH and I both sent off for antibody tests (our anniversary present to each other ) as we also think we have had it- but we've received an email saying government has stopped private companies from carrying them out as worried about their accuracy. All seems somewhat sinister to me.

We've just booked a caravan holiday for the end of July we feel there's a good chance it will be open and we're happy to comply with social distancing measures and expect services to be reduced. We just want a change of scenery

rookie, the science is tending towards antibody testing not being of particular value even when accurate as many people seem to have T-cell-mediated immunity ie are immune but have no specific Covid antibodies. This was presumed anyway S people known to have had Covid had tested antibody negative after clearing it and Sikora posted a paper in Cell he viewed as very significant recently which I think confirmed the t-cell hypothesis. He thinks that many people also have immunity without catching Covid via antibodies from previous coronaviruses.

Oh DH is having an anti body test today as part of the NHS trial.