Just got reported to police for breaching lockdown. WIBU?!

[saylor]

For context: I have 2 toddler DC (tiny age gap!), we live in a flat and we have thus far abided by all lockdown rules, and it's been fucking hard!

This morning, at 9am (!!!!), I took DC to the park across the road and let them play in a sandpit which forms part of an un-gated playground. All the play equipment is roped off with police and hazard tape and we didn't go on the equipment, just played in the sand with buckets and spades. First time in 9 weeks and no one else was there.

After literally only being there for 5 minutes a police van pulls up and tells me I'm breaching lockdown rules, took my details, and gave me a warning. She stopped short of fining me. I apologised and started packing up the buckets and spades and older toddler had an absolute meltdown that we had to leave. The police woman took pity on me and said she was sorry she had to move us on but because someone reported me, it was her job.

So someone saw a mother and her two young children playing in the sand and decided to call the police at 9am and tell me off. This is after a bank holiday weekend of huge groups of people socialising all over the park and no one told off.

I'm livid. AIBU? Or WIBU to take my DC to the sandpit after 9 weeks of lockdown hell?

Whatever cunt reported you to the police needs to cop themselves on.

Without sufficient police, the lockdown 'rules' relies on neighbours reporting people. This, I think, is the most sinister of all.
Lockdown is also hardest on parents of young children, not all have gardens, etc

I thought being alert and using your own judgement would mean you would be perfectly well able to distance if other people are around you?

clearly not something the great British public is able to do as we've seen.

I don’t blame you for being pissed off. You’d think people would have better things to do with their time at 9.00 in the morning than ring the police on you.

Ugh - you did break the rules and the sandpit was empty because we're not meant to be in it... but I have sympathy for you. I'm sure there were kids playing closer together than they should've been on beaches all across the country. It feels very unfair and it was crappy to report you!

[Insert joke about using sand to test eyesight here]

God OP there are some real knobs out there aren't there.

I can't see how you broke any rules. What difference does it bloody make, a toddler playing on grass outdoors, with only their own household, or playing on sand outdoors. People are utter twats, I hope you enjoyed the little time you did get .

There are rules for a reason.

Are they?

Many COVID related rules do not have sufficient scientific backing and have been meant to "set the tone" rather than reduce the spread.

Limiting daily exercise or banning outdoor family picnics has made little sense from the outset but the government (or their advisors?) felt they had to sound "tough" and "decisive" for people to take the lockdown seriously.

Closing playgrounds might have been prudent to start with when we knew much less about COVID but now there is reasonable evidence that the risk of COVID transmitting via surfaces is reasonably low. If we are allowed (and expected) to exercise judgment, I do not see why OP cannot allow her children to play in an unrestricted sandpit balancing their physical and emotional needs against small risks of infection.

fuck the rules. play in the sandpit, live your life

Mind blown by the police. Do what you like on the beach but sandpits, huh...

Sand in full sunlight? YANBU.

Well I think reporting you was utterly pathetic. Glad you weren't fined!

Oh OP try not to take it to heart. Life currently is about constant risk assessment. It's an interesting concept because I live near a large beach , it's our dog walk route and we have literally got play parks on the sand of the beach , so everyone plays on the sand literally within cm of the play equipment but doesnt touch the play equipment which is perfectly within the guidelines (and we have hoards of security and pcso who patrol the seafront believe me when I say if we didn't comply we would know about it within 2 minutes), how is your situation really any different from that?

People like a couple of pp are unfortunately not capable of intelligent risk assessment so they have no concept of sensible decision making.

The police have to be seen to be enforcing hence her moving you on. Who knows where the curtain twitches was....if they could see you and the police hadn't moved you on there would have been a Daily mail sad face quick sharp.

Try to just draw a line and be grateful you dont have to live life as an dementor who is unable to think through anything rationally.

Honestly an uncovered sandpit in a public area is a place I'd avoid right now. What if your DS jabbed his hand on a syringe and you had to take him to the hospital? Sadly, that's something we have to consider in my area at any time. Park equipment does have the risk of accidental injury so should be avoided. You could wonder why they didn't tape off the sandpit along with everything else. Maybe they did and someone moved the tape?

Anyway, just accept the warning and avoid the whole play area until the tape comes off.

Oh honestly, the person who reported you should feel ashamed of themselves. How sad. How is you playing in the sand pit on your own any worse than going to the beach with loads of other people around and playing in the sand there. Really feel for you OP. Lol at the pp who said you should have said you were testing your eye sight! Hope you manage to find somewhere nice to play with you little ones in this beautiful weather away from busy bodies.

It's ridiculous. Sorry you had to go through this.

The sand forms part of the park and you can’t play on parks etc. Depending on the layout it may not be possible to ‘fence off’ the sand put, or someone’s removed the sign saying it’s closed. Our local parks have some equipment that’s not within a fence and is just in the main grassy area, they have a sign saying closed, but they haven’t fenced it off.

My childminder has said that she’s been told the kids can’t play in sandpits/water etc because it can’t be sanitised.

The fact you can go play at the beach does seem very contradictory And unfair. BUT you must be aware your not allowed to play on a park. You’ve not been fined, your child will survive. Chalk it up to experience and crack on. My ds saw some kids sat on park equipment the other day and obviously doesn’t understand why he can’t play with it when he can see other kids playing on it.

That's an absolute joke after the Cummings thing. Certainly is one rule for them, one rule for us.

I’d be livid too op. When you say you got a warning, was this a formal caution or just a verbal warning? I believe you can challenge a caution, and if I was you I probably would try (coming from another flat-dwelling mum of 2).

Honestly i wouldn't report you but i would feel a little fed up to see you. Only because my child would love to go to the park and if she saw you she'd be begging to go and cry if i said no. And she wouldn't differentiate between sand and other play equipment. Yes i see what you were doing, tho low risk, as being against the rules. I'd not bother reporting tho.

Yanbu

it amazes me that crime ever happens in this country because you'd think there would be 100 witnesses the way everyone spies on each other

I think all in all YABU. The sandpit is part of the playpark. The reason it is so quiet is because other people are staying away from it.

However, I think it is OTT to report this as such a minor thing. If someone had an issue, they could have mentioned this to you. I don't think that the response was really proportionate.

I think best to forget about it, and just avoid the sandpit in future.

That's ridiculous, OP.

Firstly that someone local to you has such a sad existence that they bothered to pick up the phone and call. Secondly, that the police made the effort to speak to you about it.

I think the real problem is that the Lockdown 'rules' are open to interpretation.
We are allowed out to exercise. But how do you define exercise? How long can one exercise for, and how often?
Sitting on the beach was wrong, but doing yoga exercises on the beach was fine.
Allowed to go shopping, but how frequently, and what can we buy?
Some police forces were draconian in their interpretation. Remember the police commissioner who said he was going to check shopping? He was subsequently chastised.
It's OK for those with large gardens, but parents of young children in a small flats are suffering the most.
The Government relied on Neighbours reporting each other, and creating a cimate of fear.

all parks are still off limit
That's not true. Maybe it varies by area, but mine in north London are open.