Has anyone else received notice that their child’s nursery is opening?

[Ethelfleda]

Received an email from DS’ nursery last week. Exact wording:

“The nursery will be reopening on the 11th of May for children who's parents are Key Workers/ Critical Workers and for those parents who are still working and have not been furloughed”

I haven’t responded and am resigned to wait and see what is announced tomorrow. Both DH and I are WFH but just about managing.
Has anyone else received similar?

house arrest
state sponsored child abuse

Goodness.

Are you this dramatic in real life?

@Biscuit0110 I absolutely agree with everything you’ve said and will be doing similar.

Good luck then, you two!

I take it your dc are tiny?

Mine? What's that got to do with it?

And no, they're not.

What would you call it then??

Of course it is house arrest.

Children can not do anything at all beyond a small amount of exercise outside the home. In fact, convicted prisoners have a far better time of it! Not only do they have exercise every day, but they also have access to huge libraries, workshops, they can build friendships within and outside their cells, and indeed many others benefits besides.

Our children are locked away from their whole lives, their friends, their schools, hobbies, sports, playgrounds, days out, family visits, grandparents and all the rest. There is literally nothing left of their lives - so don't tell me what house arrest means callme I should know what house arrest feel and looks like after eight long weeks of it.

In three weeks time if the schools and nurseries do not open:

We will be gathering other children of similar ages with likeminded parents to teach them via tutors and other parents.

We will be doing sleepovers/parties and playdates again

We will be organising for sports to resume. Researching local tennis courts and organising classes for other sports. Team sports like rounders etc.

We will be seeing family (not the over 70s and anyone vulnerable) and we will be seeing friends.

There is no way on God's earth I am going to see my children sink into a mental health quagmire, see the loss of their emotional and educational well being when there is almost zero risk to them.

Furthermore if Boris is not capable due to his own experiences of taking a neutral and scientific position and understanding the minimal risk to children, I am sure as hell will not support or allow my children to be part of this hideous social experiment.

We do not know the damage locking up children for six months will do to their developing brains and bodies, but I think we can be fairly certain it will not be a positive development.

OP....you've made yourself look a right fool 😂

I made that same decision last night @Bluntness0110. We’ve absolutely complied with lockdown but now my dc have to be priority.
Just read on AIBU about a 7 year old with a high pressure in her optic nerve who keeps being sick but her hospital appointment has been cancelled. Mum wonders if she should phone GP. FFS the world has gone mad😡

Why not repurpose garden centres as schools? At least the owners would get some income. There are generally cafes where children could eat and they could use up all the jam and naice biscuits before they go out of date.
TBH I never understood why they were closed, they could have opened them with supermarket style precautions in place.

If being at home with parents for 8 weeks is tantamount to child abuse I’d suggest a review of your parenting strategies

That might be the most batshit thing I’ve ever read on here and that’s really saying something!

Children have died, there is a risk to them. But you crack on. Personally I'm doing everything I can to protect my children and prevent them from catching this killer virus.

@fairybatman if the parents are being expected to complete FT hours working from home whilst caring for small children, spending hours on video calls whilst having to ignore them, it definitely counts as neglect. There’s a reason why people generally aren’t allowed to take their small children into work, because it isn’t feasible or possible to work whilst caring for them.

It’s all well and good people saying “caring for DC comes first!” But if your employer has outright told you that they expect your work completed and for you to be present, and the alternative is furlough/reducing hours/unpaid leave, a lot of parents will have no option but to push through.

A lot of people on here are forgetting this thread is about NURSERY, not school. Nursery children can be aged anywhere from birth to 4. The majority of them will be babies or toddlers, who need constant supervision and attention. How the hell are parents meant to fulfil that whilst trying to work 8 hour days? It is neglect, which is a form of abuse. There’s no other way around it.

@my2bundles do you know how many children have died?

Of CV I mean.

Well, quite a big factor also is how many people children have unwittingly passed the virus onto, directly and indirectly, who have subsequently died.

Children have died, there is a risk to them. But you crack on. Personally I'm doing everything I can to protect my children and prevent them from catching this killer virus

This is a little over the top. Children are far more likely to die because of lockdown than because of Covid.

This is a little over the top. Children are far more likely to die because of lockdown than because of Covid.

Any data on this?

I’ve been doing a bit of digging to find out how many children have died of Covid19 in the world and there doesn’t seem to be any separate stats I can find that show this particular age group. The US seems to be reporting more and more child deaths though - mainly in the last three weeks and seeing how many cases and deaths they have, could be an indicator.

A lot of the earlier articles (from March and early April) did go down the route of assuming children were low risk but more recent studies have shown that children under 10 are just as likely to contract and spread Covid 19, as adults are. The studies have not mentioned deaths. Scientists in the U.K. are warning that this could bring a second wave, based on these studies.
For those posters desperate to go back, you may have to accept that there may be a second lockdown around October time, if we were to all return to workplaces and schools this month or early June.

I work in a nursery and do not want to risk going back to work until it is safe.
You cannot social distance in a nursery and it's not fair on me and my colleagues to be put at risk as children can still carry the virus.
We do not know who they have been in contact with at home and what they could pass to us.
Shop workers can at least social distance or wear some form of ppe but what could we wear?

happy But it is okay for nurses, doctors, shop workers, midwives,food production workers, prison officers, GPs, cleaners, nannies and everyone who works in transport to have some exposure, or in some cases significant exposure to actually ill people? But not you.

Look for a new job but don't hold the rest of to us ransom on the off chance that you may or may not catch up CoVid whilst working.

fairy you might think lockdown is fun for children, you are definitely in the minority.

happyandsingle I can sympathise but I also don’t think it is viable to not have nurseries return until there is a vaccine. I just don’t know what the answer is as everyone will have to take some risk to get things moving again.

I work at a small term time only pre-school. My boss is worried about re-opening even when schools start to go back because of the children being too young to understand no contact etc.