Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

She doesn’t want to touch the ball-y’know, because of covid

320 replies

Thecarobsarefalling · 18/08/2021 10:21

We were at the beach last night with toddler Dd, she was happily running around the beach and fairly nearby was a family with two girls, maybe 8/9 years old.
Dd ran near to them (does this fairly frequently) to say hello/wanting to play. The older girl looked almost scared and backed away and said ‘I can’t’ we called Dd away as it felt like an awkward situation. The mum then cheerfully called to me that she probably didn’t want to touch the beach ball, because of covid. She then told her daughter she’d done the right thing. They left, saying a cheery goodbye and for us to enjoy our evening.
Aibu just to find this so very sad.

OP posts:
RobinPenguins · 18/08/2021 12:04

[quote Doodlebug71]@dementedpixie. Neighbours are ICU staff. They told me the age groups of CV patients in their unit, and what the main vectors are and have been. Touch is one of them, which is why they're all continuing their covid stance (masking, cleaning and so on), even if much of MN appears to have decided that it's all nonsense.[/quote]
Do close family members trump neighbours in the anecdote stakes? Because my brother is an ICU doctor and says differently. Also, ICU staff do not know where/how their patients caught covid. Most patients don’t know for sure.

You are spreading misinformation which puts people at risk.

Touch/surface transmission is not the main method of transmission. Airborne transmission is. People should be focusing their efforts on the latter because if they spend all their time on the former they leave themselves at risk. You are spreading dangerous misinformation.

Gwenhwyfar · 18/08/2021 12:04

"@RobinPenguins. No worries. I'll tell the neighbours who work in ICU that they're wrong because people on MN said so. (Obviously, I won't.)"

Feel free to ask your neighbours why they know more than scientists who've done proper research all over the world.

21Bee · 18/08/2021 12:05

@Doodlebug71 I value scientific peer review research over your neighbours. Working in ICU means nothing.

MyrtlethePurpleTurtle · 18/08/2021 12:05

@Thecarobsarefalling

Not really judging the family and they were perfectly nice, just the look on the girls face and how she went from looking so delighted and was about to play with Dd, then as of she remembered and looked so frightened and backed right away. Just so sad.
Except you are judging!
Gwenhwyfar · 18/08/2021 12:05

@NowEvenBetter

I can think of limitless things sadder than a kid not wanting to play with your toddler, which isn’t actually ‘sad’. Gosh.
People not interacting with each other in general is obviously sad though isn't it?
TheKeatingFive · 18/08/2021 12:05

It IS sad, it's sad that children have been brainwashed into being terrified of a virus that poses very little harm to them (and most of the population now vaccinated) and the chances of catching it outside on a ball are miniscule.

Totally agree

Why is it so impossible to get covid from a beach ball? If someone with covid has coughed or sneezed near it or over their hands which then go on the beach ball, or even wiped their nose, touched their mouth then the beach ball, surely the beach ball is going to have covid virus on it

They now understand that the virus’s structure is fragile enough to be extremely unlikely to survive this kind of transference. Fomite transmission is much, much less problematic than they believed at the start.

RobinPenguins · 18/08/2021 12:05

No worries. I'll tell the neighbours who work in ICU that they're wrong because people on MN said so. (Obviously, I won't.)

I mean, go ahead, they’re either lying, misinformed or don’t exist so…

Neverrains · 18/08/2021 12:06

No worries. I'll tell the neighbours who work in ICU that they're wrong because people on MN said so. (Obviously, I won't.)

It was a fair question. How would they know how their patients caught Covid? My mum works in ICU and she has no idea how her patients caught the virus.

Neverrains · 18/08/2021 12:08

The patients themselves are very unlikely to know exactly how they caught it.

TheKeatingFive · 18/08/2021 12:08

Consultants in ICU don’t know more about disease transmission than scientists whose actual job is studying disease transmission.

GintyMcGinty · 18/08/2021 12:09

That is so sad people are still living that way.

Especially children.

MyrtlethePurpleTurtle · 18/08/2021 12:09

@Ionlydomassiveones

I think that was an excuse by the mum. My dd’s friend used to look scared like that when our toddler ran up to her. Not all young girls want random toddlers running up ‘to play’ and not all little girls know what to say or do in that situation. If they’re not used to other young children it can be a difficult situation for them. Sometimes people on a beach just want to be left to themselves. People are not there to amuse your toddler.
This is what I thought (but was too polite to say so…)!
elenacampana · 18/08/2021 12:11

I saw something like this in Subway OP. A father saying ‘don’t touch nothing’ to his young kids. Yes there could be CEV etc etc etc, but educate yourself on how an airborne virus works before making life even more weird for your kids.

Branleuse · 18/08/2021 12:11

[quote Doodlebug71]@dementedpixie. Neighbours are ICU staff. They told me the age groups of CV patients in their unit, and what the main vectors are and have been. Touch is one of them, which is why they're all continuing their covid stance (masking, cleaning and so on), even if much of MN appears to have decided that it's all nonsense.[/quote]
well they would wouldnt they. A&E staff often refuse stuff like trampolines and motorbikes too. Thats their choice as their constant exposure to the reality of accidents affects their perception of the risk.

halcyondays · 18/08/2021 12:15

@NowEvenBetter

I can think of limitless things sadder than a kid not wanting to play with your toddler, which isn’t actually ‘sad’. Gosh.
Exactly. The girl was on holiday with her family and probably perfectly happily playing with her sister. She probably couldn’t care less whether she played with a random toddler or not.
Skybluepinkgiraffe · 18/08/2021 12:17

@FuckMeGentlyWithAChainsaw

I’m wondering if it’s the girl’s personal anxiety rather than family anxiety? So the child is anxious, mum (and dad) trying to make it less of a big deal and this is how they handle it. My son who has ASD has been very anxious about COVID and previously shouted at strangers to keep away from him. Not in a rude way but a panicked way. It took a lot to get him to feel calmer. He’s only really calmed down since all adults he knows have been vaccinated. His stepdad has a condition that makes him more vulnerable and while we haven’t talked about it to him (yet) he probably picked up on that even though we’re not outwardly panicky people.

I do feel sad for the little girl for feeling so afraid but it’s not necessarily coming from over anxious parents, certainly not a negative place.

These were my thoughts when I read it.
gogohm · 18/08/2021 12:21

There could be all kinds of things at play but the mother said covid as it was simple - if the child had mental health issues, severe ocd etc she might be obsessive about covid but that's not for beach discussion

slashlover · 18/08/2021 12:21

I saw something like this in Subway OP. A father saying ‘don’t touch nothing’ to his young kids. Yes there could be CEV etc etc etc, but educate yourself on how an airborne virus works before making life even more weird for your kids.

TBH I wish more people would teach their kids not to touch things. My mum was telling us not to touch stuff and to "look with our eyes and not our hands" when we were kids, over 30 years ago.

TheGenealogist · 18/08/2021 12:22

@Megan2018

It’s not sad, it’s sensible. Your toddler is hardly going to be scarred for life. The family were friendly, what more do you want in a pandemic?
Sensible?

Fuck me, the world has gone mad. Not wanting to play with another child is fine. Refusing to handle a beach ball because of Covid is just lunacy.

How many thousands of children are going to be growing up with these ridiculous hang ups?

Original poster
Thecarobsarefalling · 18/08/2021 12:24

@NowEvenBetter Oh come on, think deeper. It wasn’t about being sad that a child didn’t want to play with my Dd 🤷🏻‍♀️

OP posts:
Gwenhwyfar · 18/08/2021 12:24

"even if much of MN appears to have decided that it's all nonsense."

It's not MN that says surface transmission isn't major, it's scientists that do proper research on it.
www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00251-4

" WHO spokesperson told Nature that “there is limited evidence of transmission through fomites."

OneTC · 18/08/2021 12:27

I think it's a pretty sensible assumption that allowing the kids to play together would lead to an increased likelihood of closer contact

OP when you said your toddler played with other kids later on was it an actually distanced game of catch? Or were they just generally playing together?

2021V2 · 18/08/2021 12:28

@Carycy

it’s really sad. I was at a play ground with my two children on one of those big circular net swings. One pushing, one on it. A young girl came and stood there waiting to get on. I said would you like to get on with them? She just looked at her mum and looked scared. Her mum didn’t say anything but said to her friend passive aggressively we are just waiting for her to go on this and then we are going. Didn’t acknowledge what I had said. They then proceeded to stand over us waiting for “their turn”. How bloody sad that kids aren’t allowed to play together anymore. We felt incredibly uncomfortable and pressurized to get off the swing despite having not been on it long.
Say they’ve been waiting to play on this for a while, we are happy for them to get on (your call parent) but we are going to be on it for a little while longer
Savannahnanana · 18/08/2021 12:28

Yes Op, you’re right, it is sad. What is even sadder is the number of people who have been left with mental health issues by the events of the last year.

GintyMcGinty · 18/08/2021 12:28

How many thousands of children are going to be growing up with these ridiculous hang ups?

Agree. The impact of covid goes far beyond the disease itself. We will be dealing with these hang ups - minor and major - for many years to come. Mental ill health, stunted development, lack of confidence, lost social skills, the list goes on....and not just children affected either.