ADs skipping to school - and that's only the parents

[RealityExistsInTheHumanMind]

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Link to previous thread bum tomatoes

Yes to all of the above. 😄

I've had a full on rant to my husband because parts near me have been mentioned by the newspapers as being next in line for a local lockdown. It's alright for him, his life has barely changed and if we go into full on lockdown style like March onwards then his life will still hardly change whereas mine was completely uprooted. I've realised how much I need to get out and do things with people so I'm making an effort to plan things as much as I can get away with but there is the constant threat of having it all taken away. He thinks I'm being dramatic and worrying over nothing, I think he's being too accepting so it's causing constant friction. I've come out of lockdown feeling incredibly restless, full of pent up energy I need to channel. God knows how I would come out of another one.

@mightbealittlebitmad
I'm tired of the constant threat of lockdown, it's putting me on edge all the time. I've just started to get my life back and start planning fun things to do, I can't have it all taken away from me again.

Same here.

Like others on here I have DS due to take A levels next summer. Having been through a fairly disasterous school situation (nothing to do withcovid!) with DD in the past I am maybe a bit less anxious this time round- nothing can be as bad as that, & it won't be the end of the world if it doesn't go to plan. BUT I really hope they decide what is happening about the exams next year, & that they do this soon. It won't be helpful to leave it until January before instructing schools.

I see Bolton have been told they can only do takeaways now because of the rise in cases. So that's the hospitality sector shafted. Apparently it's because of the yoof going out socialising & getting drunk. What's to stop people of any age getting a takeaway & eating it with their mates at home? Against the rules to mix households in a house- but people break the rules & are possibly more likely to do so if they can't go out freely.
Why have cafes & restaurants been shut down too? Cafes that don't sell alcohol & restaurants that have "well-behaved" customers are being punished. This isn't just about people getting drunk & hugging, it's about people probably losing their jobs as a result of this.

So worried it will happen here.

Chicken pox is doing the rounds here now. I know of an adult who's got it.

I've had to look up the definition of "exponential". Fancy word for things increasing suddenly. I wish the fancy words would stop. It makes armchair warriors think they are experts.

@justasking111 happy birthday, hope you had a nice day.

Ha killing the battery on my phone is exactly what I've done today .

Right, advice please ADs. I'm an ex teacher, secondary English. Currently a SAHM. I could really do with bringing in a bit of money but I am definitely not going back into the classroom. Thinking about trying to set up as a tutor, feel a bit daunted about a new venture for all the normal reasons but also feel a bit like I'd be trying to cash in on the Covid situation. Is that stupid?

SirSamuel I would go for it. And it is a good time but that's why businesses thrive when there is demand for the services.

Absolutely go for it @SirSamuelVimesBlackboardMonito There is going to be so much demand, especially for the core subjects. I've got friends spending loads on tutors at the moment. When we all face so much future uncertainty I would plough the tutor furrow as long as I could!

@SirSamuelVimesBlackboardMonito

Ha killing the battery on my phone is exactly what I've done today .

Right, advice please ADs. I'm an ex teacher, secondary English. Currently a SAHM. I could really do with bringing in a bit of money but I am definitely not going back into the classroom. Thinking about trying to set up as a tutor, feel a bit daunted about a new venture for all the normal reasons but also feel a bit like I'd be trying to cash in on the Covid situation. Is that stupid?

@SirSamuelVimesBlackboardMonito

Right, advice please ADs. I'm an ex teacher, secondary English. Currently a SAHM. I could really do with bringing in a bit of money but I am definitely not going back into the classroom. Thinking about trying to set up as a tutor, feel a bit daunted about a new venture for all the normal reasons but also feel a bit like I'd be trying to cash in on the Covid situation. Is that stupid?

Not stupid at all. If the some of the people that are getting paid to do it are finding every excuse not to, there will be loads of parents desperate to find someone to help their kids.

Ideally it shouldn't be necessary and obviously not all parents can afford it (or want to) but there will be plenty who will and if they don't use you they will use someone else.

I keep doing that - I mean to delete the quote but keep forgetting

Sounds like a great time to become established as a tutor. I know someone who took it up a decade ago when she had young children and she's kept it up as it works for her better than classroom life.

My subject would be less desirable and the DCs keep me too busy in the evenings.

I used a tutor at A-levels because my teacher was a bastard who quashed my confidence in that subject.

Finally delurking, I've been meaning to over the last few weeks. This thread is my sanity and helps balance me when I'm feeling so anxious. Thank you.

Weve had a hard time.4yr old shielding(though no one officially told us until juky). I had a baby in lockdown (also have a 2 yr old as well) and my mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer at Christmas. (Though hoping we have a few years).

Today has tipped me.over the edge and I've finally snapped back. DS is 20 weeks and has been due his 16 week jabs since the middle of August. Each week I ring the gps for them to tell me they have no slots and ring back next week when they are released. Ring today and they have none for 2 weeks and I have to wait to call for the week of 21st September. I snapped at this point and argued with the receptionist. I know it's not her fault but the risk of covid for him is so minimal compared to getting meningitis or something more nasty that he should be vaccinated for. She argued back that they were really really stretched. I dont understand how?! Or am I being naive? Surely vaccines and babies should be a priority. Poor kid hasn't even been registered yet (i can't get an appointment until he's 6 months old!)

@SirSamuelVimesBlackboardMonito

Ha killing the battery on my phone is exactly what I've done today .

Right, advice please ADs. I'm an ex teacher, secondary English. Currently a SAHM. I could really do with bringing in a bit of money but I am definitely not going back into the classroom. Thinking about trying to set up as a tutor, feel a bit daunted about a new venture for all the normal reasons but also feel a bit like I'd be trying to cash in on the Covid situation. Is that stupid?

Go for it. Don't see it as cashing in on Covid, see it as helping kids who've been badly let down by school closures. Just because someone's paying you to do that doesn't mean it's a bad thing to do.

If you want to feel you're doing your bit for society, you could even offer to charge less for kids eligible for free school meals or something? (When I finally set up as a private tutor, which has been my dream for ages, I'd like to do this.)

@TheOrchidkiller Ireland has kept most pubs closed - they're finally reopening them later thus month - and cases have still risen sharply there over the past month. People who want to are just having house parties instead, and then of course they're less likely to co-operate with track & trace measures because they know they've broken The Roolz. Its a wider issue though isn't it?...if you're governing a liberal democracy, then your whole approach to virus containment has to depend on people voluntarily coming forward, getting tested & being transparant about their social contacts....so maybe shaming people & criminalizing a whole range of normal human interactions isn't the way to go??? People aren't going to strictly social distance for the next twelve months, so all you achieve is driving them underground. It reminds me of an American friend of mine who was a youth worker in the southern US back in the 90s talking about the obsession there with shame-based abstinence only approaches to sex and how much it really DIDN'T work

Welcome @albazavi ! That does sound incredibly frustrating and I'm not surprised you flipped.

I'm very glad to hear that parkrun is coming back too @BogRollBOGOF . I have missed it a lot.

You should definitely look at becoming a tutor @SirSamuelVimesBlackboardMonito - sounds like a good use of your skills but less stressful than actual teaching.

Go for it with the tutoring - I used to do it pre-kids alongside supply and the demand was bloody barmy! That was pre-covid and endless school closures as well.

@SirSamuelVimesBlackboardMonito our neighbour a linguist speaks so many languages tutors. DS was struggling with a rubbish spanish teacher, thankfully we were able to use him. Tutors are so useful if you struggles in a large class or has a not so good teacher. Try it..

Thank you for the birthday wishes had such fun at Cheshire Oaks with DIL and DS today, the masks were up and down like a tarts knickers all over the village, being welsh we stuck to social distancing as well as masks. It was not busy and being an outdoor village works well.

Am not going into the murk that has transpired today re: covid except to say it is shit for so many yet again.

I have the rage this evening. Our toddler group hasn’t started back despite murmurings that it would along with schools in August (Scotland). Then I find out from my neighbour that her keep fit class in the church hall we use has been back a few weeks. I asked on our group chat if there was any news and the group’s self appointed covidfinder general has decided it’s not safe (despite toddler groups being allowed to open here from 31 Aug) and that it would contravene current restrictions in Glasgow. Despite the church hall not being someone’s house. The house of God, perhaps, but I doubt he’s got the virus.

I can't see the kids' dance class (run by the loveliest lady) or scouting getting to start up again right now to be honest with how the project fear seems to be being ramped up again and the young people being the prime targets.

Feels pretty hopeless right now.

@DominaShantotto

I can't see the kids' dance class (run by the loveliest lady) or scouting getting to start up again right now to be honest with how the project fear seems to be being ramped up again and the young people being the prime targets.

Feels pretty hopeless right now.

Domina are scouts not restarting at all? Rainbows / Brownies / Guides all start (albeit outside for now) this week in my town - they're exactly the bloody same! Why have they said they can't get going?

Thanks for the messages on tutoring. I'll look into setting up - hopefully I can make a bit of money to ease the furlough wages pain in our household!

I’ve been so enjoying having my oldest at primary school. The toddler causes less havoc and I feel like everything is right again but now I’m getting so worried about school closures and what do I do when they get the inevitable 25 colds this winter... will we even manage to be at school 50% of the time?

Giving everyone a decent summer was just so much effort with booking everything in advance and planning what is doable still and coming up with a million and one ideas. I did ok I think but I’m just exhausted from it. The idea that we’ll be quarantined once a month or so just makes me want to cry!

I’m also just so confused as to whether and how this can ever end. If CV just becomes endemic and just part of flu season at what point do we just say ok it’s over, you don’t have to lock yourself in your house for 2 weeks every time someone near you coughs? A vaccine isn’t just a miracle cure, the flu vaccine is only about 50% effective each year as I understand it and thousands of people die every year from that. So at what point do we say that the number of deaths are something that we will accept?

Hi @albazavi. Would you consider asking for your practice manager's name? That might magic up an appointment for your baby. If it doesn't, sending an email of complaint might. Not that you need more to do right now.

@SomewhereEast
Thank you for your post about pubs in Ireland not making much difference. Sometimes I think I'm going mad with my thoughts on this shit-show so when someone else comes along with information like that I feel less alone.
It doesn't take a degree in psychology or sociology to work out that there are better ways to get people to change their behaviour than saying "no" all the time. I thought one reason for delaying initial lockdown was because psychologists had advised that people would get fed up if they were asked to do it for too long & wouldn't be able to stick to it completely.

To all the comments on threads where the OP is told to suck it up because 5 months/a year/until we get a vaccine is a tiny fraction of time to live in this half-life - no, it's not, it's an eternity! I reckon most of us can do something short term & difficult for a few weeks, particularly if we know there's a definite end point. But the longer it goes on the harder it gets. Two weeks of self-isolation wouldn't seem so bad if you knew you only had to do it once, & not an unspecified number of times.

I’m also just so confused as to whether and how this can ever end. If CV just becomes endemic and just part of flu season at what point do we just say ok it’s over, you don’t have to lock yourself in your house for 2 weeks every time someone near you coughs? A vaccine isn’t just a miracle cure, the flu vaccine is only about 50% effective each year as I understand it and thousands of people die every year from that. So at what point do we say that the number of deaths are something that we will accept?

I was having this thought yesterday (maybe? The days still blue together a bit) when some government scientist was wanking on about having to learn to live with the virus - brilliant, I thought, he'll be talking about getting back to normal while accepting a level of personal risk. But no, he was actually going on about learning to live with the restrictions - local lockdowns, restrictions phasing on and off over winter. Fuck that. When is it enough?? I can't drag my family through a winter lockdown. Spring & summer with a garden and local countryside walks made it bearable - just. I can't do it in the winter.

Hello @albazavi, what a time you’ve been having!

With your dc and the vaccinations I’d suggest you write a formal letter of complaint to the practice manger. Keep it short and to the point and lay out your attempts and concerns. It’s a disgrace. I did this for the first time this year on advice and it worked a treat.

I'm sorry about your toddler group @AgentCooper.
Your phrase self appointed covidfinder general has made me smile though.
Here's a witchcovidfinder general. He looks the sort to go knocking on doors with a swab, & he'll ruin your socially distanced fun with his hazard tape. I bet he could find covid in a sterile lab just by sniffing. If you get covid & survive you are probably a witch.

(Is it a coincidence that the witchfinder general's first name was Matthew, same as the health secretary? You never see them together, do you....)