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

[Thecarobsarefalling]

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.

Some people are spectacularly missing the point OP! It's amazing to watch ....
They're not, they're just being argumentative because the op's post, while it says it isn't today, has one hell of a goady sarcastic title which doesn't help any people out there who are nervous about covid either rationally or irrationally and necessarily or unnecessarily!!

Goady not today!!!

That is very sad, and the parents should be ashamed that they have lead their child to feel that way. There are going to be some serious mental health problems regarding fear of germs. Totally ridiculous!

@Bakewellisntjustacake I imagine it is to do with vaccination rates. But we have to remember that as schools start then the virus is going to rip through our unvaccinated (children). Numbers have been bandied about (on this thread), but as far as I am aware no one really knows how delta will spread among children in that situation, the percentage that will end up in hospital, in icu etc. Even if the percentage is low.... a low percentage of a high number is a high number. And the percentage of chn that will end up with long Covid will be higher still.

Children are not jst mini adults. They need specific care in icu. Ireland has 35 icu beds. All in Dublin. I am scared for my child. And I completely and utterly resent threads like this..... the people on Mumsnet patting themselves on the back for going on holidays and returning to normal. Condescending to others who are “sad” for trying to protect their children. Judging them for causing their children mental health issues. Smacks of self righteous self indulgence.

It is sad. Yes very.

But maybe that girl was like one of my DDs.

ADD and huge germ anxiety.

I'm incredibly sad daily that she can't enjoy life carefree like other children do. People then judging us for her behaviour only makes us both sadder.

www.google.ie/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2021/08/09/health/coronavirus-children-delta.amp.html

This is my fear for children returning to school. This is “sad”. What is sad is the fact that we couldn’t put children first. We had to have freedom day. We had to have indoor dining. We had to have no masks. Creating a well of infection, which will surge through our children. That level of selfishness, combined with the self righteous “but mental health”, “but economy” is sad. It is sad that chn in Israel are returning to online learning (www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/society/1629182595-israel-unvaccinated-students-in-red-cities-may-face-return-to-online-learning). It is not sad that a child thought twice about touching a ball because of COVID. Perhaps if we all acted like that kid, our own kids wouldn’t be facing this fresh hell in September.

Please can I make clear:

1). I wasn’t judging anyone

2). We weren’t looking for someone to entertain our toddler, nor do we normally do that.

3). It wasn’t intended to be a goady post.

I was genuinely surprised as haven’t seen anyone act like this before (could be to do with where we are 🤷🏻‍♀️)
I felt sad, not for my Dd, for this little girl and children as a whole, with this whole, sad situation.

No, it's not anyone else's place to judge. She doesn’t want to touch the ball in case someone with covid has been touching it, that's fine. Her choice isn't sad, it's sensible.

I felt sad, not for my Dd, for this little girl and children as a whole, with this whole, sad situation.

Do you mean it's sad that covid outbreaks have been so poorly managed that children can't play as normal or sad that the little girl was fearful of catching covid, or both?

@Gilda152

It's not that deep really is it. Two families, handling their children in different ways, for their own subjective reasons. Bit of a non event.

This

Meh.

If my child ran up to another and they didn’t want to play. I’d just say. Oh. Don’t worry kids. They might just be shy. Or want to be on their own today.

Not even sure why it brought up feelings of sadness.

Be sad for the thousands of people who lose their life daily. Or for children being exploited by sex trafficking.

But sad because a child didn’t want to touch a ball. Meh (again).

You're right that fomite transmission is relatively minimal. Others are right that you have no idea what's going on in that child's life and you are being deliberately goady.

In terms of the States, which people mentioned above, many counties (and even states as a whole) are out of pediatric ICU beds.

There aren't any pediatric ICU beds in all of Dallas and most of the surrounding counties. I think there are a couple left in Mississippi. Alabama is out of all ICU beds in the whole state, pediatric or otherwise (actually, negative 11).

School is back in the South, and school districts are shutting down all over the place, almost as soon as they're opened. It's not helped by states that refuse to allow a mask mandates for schools.

There are over 1900 kids in the hospital with Covid as we speak and they expect the numbers to continue to rise as more school districts open. (Opening days for schools are at the local or state level; tends to be later in the North.)

Cricket is a good option. No one touches the ball except the bowler and the wicket keeper wears gloves.

@Thecarobsarefalling

Please can I make clear:

1). I wasn’t judging anyone

2). We weren’t looking for someone to entertain our toddler, nor do we normally do that.

3). It wasn’t intended to be a goady post.

I was genuinely surprised as haven’t seen anyone act like this before (could be to do with where we are 🤷🏻‍♀️)
I felt sad, not for my Dd, for this little girl and children as a whole, with this whole, sad situation.

I'd maybe believe this a tiny bit if your title wasn't so sarky and judgemental.

You're just trying to backtrack.

@Thecarobsarefalling - Why?

It is sad, but for all you know that girl might be living with cancer or something

Transmission by touch is one of the main vectors. Always has been. Doesn't matter where you are (indoors or out).

😄😄😄

March 2020 called, they want their misinformation back.

children can't play as normal

Children, under 12, have been able to play as normal since July 2020 in Scotland. It was only the first 3 months of the pandemic that they weren't.

So I certainly find it surprising and sad and shocking that a child is fearful of touching a beach ball.

Entirely sensible imo. You know nothing of their personal situation so dont overthink it.

It is sad, I agree. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed seeing my DC enjoy playing with or at least close to other children in recent months. It’s completely alien to treat other humans like lepers, we’re naturally social creatures after all.

Suppose they could be CEV so extra cautious. Highly unlikely to catch it from touching someone else’s beach ball though, you can always sanitise your hands straight after.

But sad because a child didn’t want to touch a ball. Meh (again).

Honestly, are people deliberately missing the point of the OP? She is clearly referring to the huge shift in risk assessment and management that Covid has introduced to everyday life for most of us. That two small children making contact with one another on a beach is met with anxiety on the part of one of the children, when previously this would have probably been a carefree moment of spontaneous play between children, is sad. It reflects how much Covid has impacted what used to be normal, carefree interactions between people. And where it affects children I think it's particularly sad as they are likely too young to remember life any differently.

@LionGiraffe

Cricket is a good option. No one touches the ball except the bowler and the wicket keeper wears gloves.

Which is why Boris Johnson's announcement that a cricket ball was a vector of infection at some point last year was so utterly baffling !

@LionGiraffe - no one touches the ball in cricket?! What do fielders do? 🤔

Op, you don't have to feel sorry for other girl, they already have loving, caring parents. More you post, more you sound horrible.
Please stop saying feel sad for other people's children. Sounds really condescending.

It is sad because all you do is wash your hands after , because it’s touched the floor never mind Covid .

Please stop saying feel sad for other people's children. Sounds really condescending.

She’s not feeling sad for other people’s children, you have completely missed the point. She feels sad for the societal change, we are a social species, children develop through their ability to relate to other people. Anyone who doesn’t feel that this increased wariness is sad has lost sight of our basic humanity.

It is also possible to feel sad as well as recognising why these behaviours have developed. The two are not mutually exclusive.