Feel like the country is opening back up but not for people with young kids

[Bookworm36]

I am feeling so so isolated. I had been feeling pretty good until last week. I don't know what happened but a huge wave of sadness just hit me and now I'm waking up each morning feeling miserable.
Im a sahm mum, so in that respect very lucky that I'm not having to juggle work etc. But my life is just completely empty!!
Me and my children have done every activity, game, walk etc that we can think of and we are now all bored out of our minds. I have not spent a single minute alone since 23rd march.
As of tomorrow all shops, town centres etc are opening up. My parents are so happy, theyve been to lovely villages in the countryside, to ironbrige, and are now going to go to Chester, Shrewsbury, Manchester for a lovely day out.
But for me I still feel trapped!! I don't think that taking young kids to these places is a good idea, so we are still just going to be stuck with at home, with bad weather at the moment too
I didn't really have much of a social life before all this, but the problem has been magnified by lockdown. I'm seeing other people having fun nights with family and friends on zoom etc. We have none of that. When this is over I am going to make some positive changes and I'm trying to focus on that but anyone else feeling really isolated?

Yanbu. I'm a sahm and my youngest is autistic. I've been out twice since lockdown, both for very short walks. The only reason I put up with it is because I'm scared of getting that long tail covid thing.

Saying zoos and Legoland etc are opening is so fucking middle class it makes me sick.

A vast amount of parents simply cannot afford to visit those places; they’re children find social interaction and entertainment are places that are free cheap like the library, Leisure centres, toddler groups, and play parks.

-*their

Golf courses, theme parks, zoos are private companies - they will have lobbied government hard to be allowed to reopen.

A stay and play session in the community hall, the local library etc are unlikely to have been doing much lobbying.

I've not got kids but I agree with the OP. Libraries could open with social distancing and zoos (for those who can afford to go) could have opened two weeks ago or even earlier).

Saying zoos and Legoland etc are opening is so fucking middle class it makes me sick.

Calm down! Noone said its accessible to all, its a suggestion that things are opening. The OP didn't state her financial situation.

And before you launch at me, I'm well aware these things aren't accessible to many.

@Dumbie

Saying zoos and Legoland etc are opening is so fucking middle class it makes me sick.

Calm down! Noone said its accessible to all, its a suggestion that things are opening. The OP didn't state her financial situation.

And before you launch at me, I'm well aware these things aren't accessible to many.

No I won’t calm down thanks, not when it comes to children’s well-being.

Dh and I just want to take dd 9 with is to a garden centre or something as she hasn’t been out other that walks/bike rides for months but they all say no! So no family morning trip out.
Fed up of it as it’s not as if she’s a grabby toddler

Saying zoos and Legoland etc are opening is so fucking middle class it makes me sick.
Fucking hell, get a grip ..

Wow @snappycamper that's a horrible thing to say. There a thousands of thousands of people who are vulnerable who are not elderly, do you view them the same or is it just old people you appear to think are disposable? It really fucking worries me that people think like this.

Where did I say anybody was disposable? I'm livid that the government has completely prioritised reopening services which enable people to spend money. Children have been completely forgotten as they have no spending power. Vulnerable families are very welcome to keep their children at home, the majority absolutely need to be back in school at this point. Shops are open FFS, schools should be too.

My point about the elderly, as you clearly know, is that this is a disease for which young people are incredibly low risk. The vast majority of people who have died from COVID in the UK (89% according to the ONS) were over 65.

I agree. Just want to take my DD to the playground

Agree with @snappycamper

@Fluffybutter

Saying zoos and Legoland etc are opening is so fucking middle class it makes me sick. Fucking hell, get a grip ..

Of what exactly? Heaven forbid someone express an opinion that it’s a terribly middle-class viewpoint to take, zoos and trips out are honestly the least of our worries when children’s centres, council-run facilities like libraries and parks that a lot of the most deprived children rely on are closed.

Yes, it’s good for the economy that those things are open, but I really think some people’s view is so blinkered and so no I won’t “get a grip” - what a puerile response.

You need to if someone mentioning the zoo or a theme park makes you sick .

For people saying they can't meet with friends because kids can't social distance - come on, you need to get out there !

Many, many senior paediatric experts are coming out and saying social distancing is not needed for young children. In other European countries under 12s are not asked to social distance.

Just wash their hands and only meet up outdoors, tell them to stay apart where they can. It's not meant to be an iron clad rule for kids to stay 2m apart and no experts think this is necessary

Our government are utterly failing families - we need to now take pro active steps for our own kids sanity

Agree about theme parks etc - this is 'pay to play' opening before free play. It's wrong wrong wrong.

That's a really good point, do you mind if I add that to the petition?

www.change.org/reopenplaygrounds

Loads of things have opened up here-gardens, NT, nature reserve so plenty for us to do. We walk to the beach too. I guess its very dependent on where you live.

Just an idea of something different to do with little ones, is go fishing with a magnet (there's all sorts of treasures that little kids find fascinating at the bottom of the rivers). Also, without a trip to the beach, catching crayfish can be exciting too (exactly how you would traditionally catch crabs). Of course that's if you are near some rivers and can do it safely.

But, if you have friends with little kids, meet up with them and let the kids play TOGETHER, like how kids are supposed to and how they've done since the beginning of time.

@Fluffybutter

You need to if someone mentioning the zoo or a theme park makes you sick .

Oh don’t be so facetious, I’m obviously not being literal

@BabyofMine I would equally love the children's centres and parks to open. Noone is saying they don't need to open. They are saying that there are some options starting to come available.

That said, How does social distancing at a theme park even work? Are the rides open? Aren't they going to be touching all the lego and stuff? Makes no sense vs parks, unless they're wiping it all down a dozen times a day.

Can't MN help us campaign for this kind of thing? I agree with PP that zoos etc could have been opened a few weeks ago and the only reason they have now been allowed to open is lobbying of government. Effectively this government ignores anyone but the loudest voices and the only way we will get children's wellbeing on the agenda is through being a very loud voice indeed!

As it stands in this country, preschool children can only legally play with other children if the parent pays for a service. Permitted entertainment for children is largely that which generates some kind of revenue. So I actually underhand why someone is angry at the ‘go to the zoo/legoland’ chorus. We’re talking children’s social and emotional development here. It should NOT purely be assigned an economic worth.

The thing is though, it does have economic worth, it's just not this government who will have to deal with it. If our children grow up with additional health and social care needs, and families develop additional health and social care needs, this has economic costs for the future, through provision of addition health and social care support and also through for example lower economic output through school/work missed or not engaged with, unemployment, lower educational achievement means a lower skilled workforce which can't compete internationally as well and can't support a competitive, successful economy here. It's not the case that there is no economic merit in e.g allowing children to use a playpark - there is, it just won't be apparent until e.g. 10/15/20/years down the line in most cases.

@MeadowHay

The thing is though, it does have economic worth, it's just not this government who will have to deal with it. If our children grow up with additional health and social care needs, and families develop additional health and social care needs, this has economic costs for the future, through provision of addition health and social care support and also through for example lower economic output through school/work missed or not engaged with, unemployment, lower educational achievement means a lower skilled workforce which can't compete internationally as well and can't support a competitive, successful economy here. It's not the case that there is no economic merit in e.g allowing children to use a playpark - there is, it just won't be apparent until e.g. 10/15/20/years down the line in most cases.

You are correct. It’s just not immediately measurable as part of the GDP recovery but it’s definitely there.