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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

The covid rules don’t make sense!

50 replies

blackbettybramblejam · 04/04/2021 08:42

As of Next Monday my DS will be allowed to go to gymnastics and dance lessons- loads of 4 year olds tearing around inside together.
But he isn’t allowed one friend to play at our house! Just crazy.
The worst of it is that his nursery bans anyone for 10 days if a child discloses that they’ve had a friend round to play.
These arbitrary rules are insane!

OP posts:

Lougle · 04/04/2021 08:43

Organised events will have measures in place to reduce the risk of transmission. People's homes don't.

blubberball · 04/04/2021 08:44

You're allowed a friend in the garden I think? Or outside? I've lost track of the rules tbh.

user1497207191 · 04/04/2021 08:45

Gymnastic/dance lessons still have rules/restrictions to comply with. They shouldn't be the same kind of "free for all" that they were pre covid.

whatswithtodaytoday · 04/04/2021 08:45

Amazingly sensible nursery rule, I love that!

The rules don't necessarily make sense on an individual level, but they make sense for the population as a whole to prevent community spread.

Abraxan · 04/04/2021 08:46

To be fair it depends on what the measures are really.
In school we apparently have measures. I'm not sure they are 'real' measures which reduce transmission though tbh.

Happycat1212 · 04/04/2021 08:46

They’ve never made sense

upsydaisyssinging · 04/04/2021 08:47

As before, if money exchanges hands it's ok. If it's 'just' social caution reigns. Perhaps if you charge the friend it will be allowed

Chunkymenrock · 04/04/2021 08:48

It's about slowly allowing things to return. It's about limiting contact. They're much closer playing together at home. You don't just say yeh, back to normal everyone....Surely it's obvious?

Abraxan · 04/04/2021 08:48

@whatswithtodaytoday

Amazingly sensible nursery rule, I love that!

The rules don't necessarily make sense on an individual level, but they make sense for the population as a whole to prevent community spread.

Only vaguely sensible if the nursery actually checks that it's actually a real friend ( rather than imaginary, a teddy, a pet, etc), not part of a support bubble, not just in the garden, etc.

Temp023 · 04/04/2021 08:49

Meh, they are trying to reduce the overall number of contacts, it sort of makes sense.
Have a friend to play in the garden. It’s not for too much longer!

wonderstuff · 04/04/2021 08:49

Every contact is an additional risk, especially if it's inside. Gymnastics might be a similar risk level to having a friend over, but you won't forgo gym to see the friends, you'd do both if both were allowed hence having some things allowed and not others.

Lots of people with symptoms aren't disclosing them or getting tested so private events across the country would be a big risk at this point.

ChrissyPlummer · 04/04/2021 08:50

I’ve found it crazy (and really fucking annoying) that I can’t go in a hair salon where there’d be a maximum of 3 other people but kids can go back to school. Measures in place or not, I’d imagine it’s really hard to keep small kids following them all the time. Whereas 3/4 adults would be no problem.

Also find it mad that I can go in my parents garden, but not use their toilet. I don’t suppose for a minute schools clean their toilets every time someone uses them?

ElizabethG81 · 04/04/2021 08:50

@blackbettybramblejam

As of Next Monday my DS will be allowed to go to gymnastics and dance lessons- loads of 4 year olds tearing around inside together. But he isn’t allowed one friend to play at our house! Just crazy. The worst of it is that his nursery bans anyone for 10 days if a child discloses that they’ve had a friend round to play. These arbitrary rules are insane!

I hope nursery realises that little kids make stuff up all the time. Plus, those people could be in a support bubble. I hope they wouldn't be expecting payment for those 10 days (although my experience of nurseries tells me that they absolutely will).

RoseAndRose · 04/04/2021 08:52

They can meet to play outdoors and the weather is improving.

The idea of organised events is that there is some control on how people are mixing. Once it's a free for all inside private dwellings, the. essentially that's it. I suppose they perhaps could have improved the consistency of measures by continuing to ban indoors sports. But is that a desirable outcome?

R rose to 1 (ish) on the back of schools reopening. The mixing of DC indoors is not neutral on the trajectory of the pandemic, especially if it leads to parents and older siblings in contact too.

greensnail · 04/04/2021 08:52

Our dance classes are incredibly strict about social distancing, completely different to having a friend inside to play. Seems a bit pointless as they aren't distancing from their friends at school but we're just enjoying being able to see people outside for now.

RoseAndRose · 04/04/2021 08:53

I'm sure they know that very well. And are capable of checking.

And of course you pay when it is your actions that caused the issue

dancinfeet · 04/04/2021 08:53

To be fair, I see where you are coming from (as a dance teacher). Under 5s do not have to social distance at out of school activities, so yes it's rubbish that your son cannot have 1 friend round to play, especially if they are in the same nursery bubble together.

I have the opposite problem in my classes of children not understanding why they have to social distance at dance class from their friends who they have spent all day at school with not socially distanced, and who they walk to/from the studio with. I do enforce it though, silly as it seems as I want my classes to be able to run.

Pippa12 · 04/04/2021 08:55

Definitely makes sense if the club are following the guidelines unlike in domestic homes...

It seems that those that state ‘they don’t understand’ the rules just don’t want to understand them as they aren’t convenient to their lifestyle.

megletthesecond · 04/04/2021 08:55

You can't have everything at once. We've still got to come out of this gradually while we wait for the vaccination programme to finish this round.

latissimusdorsi · 04/04/2021 09:02

Someone explained this on another thread - If you have a child in your house to play who then tests positive you will all have to isolate for 10 days.. If your DC was in contact with the child at gymnastics only your DC will have to self isolate.

moochingtothepub · 04/04/2021 09:03

Kids activities are meant to be socially distancing inside - some have tape down, using hula hoops etc. It's not meant to be a free for all. I still can't see my own dd so it's hardly fair for them to say kids can have friends around is it? Adults meeting another adult inside is safer than kids because we can socially distance but stupidly the kids activities are back first, I want my gym classes back!

Original poster

blackbettybramblejam · 04/04/2021 09:06

You are allowed to use people’s toilets if you go to their gardens so to get to my son’s friend’s toilet he has to walk through the play room and this is where the nursery rule is tricky.
My son will no doubt be questioned by the nursery on the first day back about whether he has been to anyone’s house which he has to play in the garden but did go through the house to use the toilet. I hate that nursery are doing this to the children and treating the parents like criminals when on the very day my son will be questioned he will be attending a massive dance class completely legally after nursery!
It is insane and very disturbing what the government are doing to us all.

OP posts:

Oblomov21 · 04/04/2021 09:08

Nope. I agree. The rules don't make sense.

"The rules don't necessarily make sense on an individual level, but they make sense for the population as a whole to prevent community spread."

No. I disagree with this aswell.

Clymene · 04/04/2021 09:35

The rules don't make sense. Millions of school children have been in a classroom with the same 30 kids for the last few weeks but they're not allowed to sit inside their home with one of them, only outdoors

NailsNeedDoing · 04/04/2021 09:41

Many of the rules have made no sense for a long time, that’s why people are beginning to ignore them.

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