To be annoyed they've cancelled my son's nativity

[JudesBiggestFan]

I'm just so tired of the arbitrary and pointless decisions that rob children and parents of yet more joy.
Last year my son had his nativity play cancelled at preschool. This year, the school (after designating him a shepherd and giving him a line...the excitement!) have cancelled again. Because Covid. Never mind all the pubs, restaurants, Christmas shopping, family parties that all the kids, teachers and parents will be going to.
The nativity is some kind of super spreader event that must be forfeited!
It's not going to make the news, but I'm just so bloody tired of it all. He'll never be this little and innocent again...I tolerated it last year but my patience is gone.
Anyone who wants to be is jabbed, we have lateral flows, it's as safe as it ever will be.
Yet the commercial stuff can go on, but the pure joyful ness of a kids Christmas nativity can't. Just wanted to vent really. No point complaining in real life anymore!

@Kezzywezzy

No one knows enough about Omnicron at this point in time.

They don't even know the name apparently

There wouldn't be this sort of hysteria if a new strain of flu was discovered. They would tweak and vaccine and get on with it, or not even do that and just deal with the higher deaths.

@Laiste

But all the kids that are going to school are going home to all their parents and sharing around whatever their class mates have. They're not in bubbles any more.

Once you send your child to primary school you're basically squeezing up on the sofa with every set of parents, siblings, Grandparents, child minders and teachers of every other child.

At primary level you're basically one huge family.

What awful difference is it between all of us sitting in the hall watching a nativity with a mask on or all of us sitting in our living rooms every night with our DCs?

BANG ON!!!

@user1484920171

My reception child won’t be able to be a wise man as we are all stuck at home with Covid. I’m a teacher also and as of today we have cancelled assemblies. We have a massive spike in numbers right now, so regrettably it makes sense.

Where is this massive spike in numbers you speak of?

@DockOTheBay You are so right. We have lost all sense of proportion. More severe illnesses than this have surrounded us since for ever!

It’s sad not to see the performances in person, but last year our school videoed the plays, and I think a lot of the children preferred it that way and gave better performances as a result! If there had been 60 masked parents watching, my child would have stood rooted to the spot. But in the videoed show he had a good old sing and dance that was lovely to see.

My son was in one nativity at his primary school. The one and only time they did it. Every other year was a skinny snowman or crap about a reindeer.
This year my DD is to have a carol concert and service at her catholic secondary school and I am beyond excited .. she’s not singing but to hear a choir sing carols will be wonderful…but it’s not until the end of school in 3 weeks by then this variant of covid will be rampant and everything will no doubt be cancelled! We’re not religious but I really want to to hear a religious Christmas service. My fingers are crossed (but I’m expecting to be bitterly disappointed again)

Our school has been very sensible about it. The kids are performing 3 mornings in a row, so there will only be 30 or so parents watching at each performance so plenty of room to spread out in the large school hall. Most things can go ahead if you're willing to think outside the box and not go for a knee jerk "cancel everything!" Approach

Why wouldn’t they do it and film op?

At least you can get the dc to do something and get excitement going

Ours are filming it and sending it out. I'm relieved tbh I don't have to sit in the stuffy Hall

I'm dreading this. Its something in life you cant ever get back. My dd has lost nearly all of her infant schooling and failed her phonics screening. Cant read or write at 7 in year 1. It's so beyound shit. I am really struggling to cope suddenly as all that we have missed / lost hits me. I cant even view her potential junior schools. I just feel unable to process this constant never ending crappy feeling.

I dont think I can take much more. I'm just praying each day that this weeks stuff doessnt get cancelled etc until school breaks up. Right now I would trade not seeing my family or friends for a year just to keep my kids lives normal. In fact if I could go back and this never happened or not see my family for five years I would trade that. But there is no trade off. It's this shit or this shit with no choice. But I'm finding it very hard to care about anything any more except getting through the week.

@DeepaBeesKit

Yanbu. Cases are high but hospitalizations and deaths are not, especially if you look at the rates among vaccinated people.

cases don't matter if they aren't making people really ill

This

We are taking time out of the curriculum to film our play too.
Whilst also trying to catch up in missed learning from the previous lockdown.
I'd like a life where all I had to worry about was a school play.

@BettyOBarley

Ours is going ahead but being filmed by a professional company so we all have to pay £15 to watch it!

That's outrageous!!!

YANBU at all. A lot of common sense has gone out of the window since March 2020. Kids are an easy target for 'measures' because they are a 'cost' rather than a revenue generator.

You might find it's because we're in a global pandemic, and the NHS existing after it is more important than a nativity. Why not do one at home, or even watch a recording of a nativity?

@IncessantNameChanger I feel exactly the same, although my kids are a bit older. It feels as if children's things are cancelled at the drop of a hat because they don't contribute to the economy, while nightclubs and pubs stay open. It's just a play, it's just sports day, it's just months of home schooling and not seeing their friends...and then half their childhood is gone along with all the opportunities for development...I'm not an anti-lockdown type at all, I totally accept we have to have restrictions, but the number of people happy to disregard and minimise what our children have been put through is shocking.

@HelplesslyHoping

You might find it's because we're in a global pandemic, and the NHS existing after it is more important than a nativity. Why not do one at home, or even watch a recording of a nativity?

No, it's the arbitrariness that winds people up. Why can pubs and shopping centres be full but a school performance involving the same children who spend all day together anyway has to be cancelled entirely?

Yanbu - my eldest missed all the fun stuff at the end of primary, now it looks like my youngest's last year there is heading the same way. This disease is never going away like the flu never does, when are we going to move on and live with it ?!?!

I'm sick of it all...

Watch a recording of a nativity? WTF?

I don't think it is rubbish. I'm expecting my daughter's nativity, activities and parties to be cancelled over the next few weeks and I'm so sad for her and for myself too. The rules are inconsistent and, a huge source of frustration but until we know more about the new variant, it's a risk we can't take.

Things will get better, mutations will arise but we will learn how to deal with them and hopefully the potency is or will be in decline.

I know that doesn't help now, or change all the things we as parents and our children have missed out on.

the NHS existing after it is more important than a nativity

Weird NHS deification.

The NHS existing is not, and never should be, the ultimate goal.

@IncessantNameChanger

I'm dreading this. Its something in life you cant ever get back. My dd has lost nearly all of her infant schooling and failed her phonics screening. Cant read or write at 7 in year 1. It's so beyound shit. I am really struggling to cope suddenly as all that we have missed / lost hits me. I cant even view her potential junior schools. I just feel unable to process this constant never ending crappy feeling.

I dont think I can take much more. I'm just praying each day that this weeks stuff doessnt get cancelled etc until school breaks up. Right now I would trade not seeing my family or friends for a year just to keep my kids lives normal. In fact if I could go back and this never happened or not see my family for five years I would trade that. But there is no trade off. It's this shit or this shit with no choice. But I'm finding it very hard to care about anything any more except getting through the week.

Big hug. I’m in a similar position (and my DD also has some delays and so was already at a disadvantage). It feels incredibly cruel and we are al powerless to do anything about it.

Nightclubbers are probably vaccinated. Primary kids aren’t. Ours is going ahead but just to one class’s parents. Last year we filmed it on a iPad and shared with parents. No need for professional company.

Totally agree OP, as usual though you will get the usual types here who no doubt don’t have to work/ or can just work from home if things shut down repeating crap about the NHS and ‘you wouldn’t like it on a ventilator’ or some other jargon shit they like to parrot.

Seriously couldn’t give a fuck about it and nor do most working people now. I’ll no doubt get called selfish but I really don’t care. It seems a concern of the privileged now to be honest. Time to live with it and remember there a million more pressing illnesses being totally neglected and that children aren’t living a normal childhood.

I get your point. We have had 4 off with Covid and so rehearsal is hard. Every year there is someone off and with covid it’s worse. Very hard to put a show together in these times.