My son thinks that children were evacuated during the pandemic

Jourdain11 · 2023-01-27T21:06:44+00:00

Today my DS7 was learning about World War 2 in 'topic' and they covered evacuees. Apparently he stuck his hand up, "Oh, so they were sent away from London to the country to keep them safe? Just like we were in the lockdown?" The teacher said that, no, children were not evacuated during lockdown. And he was quite incredulous that neither his teacher, nor any of his classmates, could remember this mass evacuation. I have explained that he was not evacuated - he stayed with his grandparents for around a month (not in the country). But he is sure in his own mind that he was in fact evacuated for the duration. "Maybe for about a year." I suppose he was only 4 at the time. But it got me to thinking that a lot of youngish children must have some fairly weird memories of Lockdown Britain!

Hawkins001 · 27/01/2023 21:08

Seems odd, actually seeing hardly any cars.

Dartmoorcheffy · 27/01/2023 21:12

It actually seems so long ago now. Hard to believe how different life was in lockdown as everything is back to normal now where I live in Devon.

I remember driving on the A30 with DP as he was a breakdown recovery driver and what is usually a crazy busy road in summer was completely empty.

Original poster

Jourdain11 · 27/01/2023 21:17

Remember how empty the streets were after dark? Especially in the first few weeks? I remember going out at about 8 or 9 on a desperate toilet roll hunt the first weekend or so, and it was like zombie-town.

I remember the week before, collecting a load of stuff from work as we were closing campus, walking back through Covent Garden - and it was empty! There was no one, anywhere!

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MoleyAndGeorge · 27/01/2023 21:20

For some reason it came up in conversation with DD3 this week. She was about 8 weeks old when lockdown started, and she looked amazed asked a million questions with me saying ‘no, we couldn’t see granny, no we couldn’t see aunty Sue, no we couldn’t go to a cafe’.

Im very glad she doesn’t remember it!

OnlyFannys · 27/01/2023 21:23

It all feels like a bad dream now

Abasnada · 27/01/2023 21:26

Yeah it seems like it never happened now. So weird! There’s not a lot to remember from it though, not seeing anyone or doing anything was just boring and painful.

XenoBitch · 27/01/2023 21:30

Looking back, it does seem like a weird dream.

FictionalCharacter · 27/01/2023 21:32

That’s a bit worrying though, that he continues to insist he’s right. Will he grow up believing it happened and that his family and teachers tried to gaslight him into believing it didn’t?

Tummytroubles22 · 27/01/2023 21:33

I seems so long ago but in actual fact a year ago DH was 40 and we were still in lockdown messures as we went out and had to be in a maximum number for dinner and couldn’t stand up to order a drink.

I sometimes worked a half shift at the hospital and driving home at 1 am the only other car I would see would be police.

whojamaflip · 27/01/2023 21:36

I can remember dropping my lad into work one morning and him shouting down the high street to one of his work colleagues and I swear it echoed!! Was really strange seeing a normally bustling market town completely devoid of people.

Chesneyhawkes1 · 27/01/2023 21:38

I went upstairs to Gatwick airport for a nose as I was on my break at work - it was empty - was so strange!

Original poster

Jourdain11 · 27/01/2023 21:38

I think it's just the lack of time-awareness at that age. They were away but it has obviously stretched into much longer in his memory. DD2 is 2 years older and when I asked her if she remembered how long they were there for, she said "about a month" which is correct.

DD1, who would have been the same age he is now (Year 3) was doing WW2 topic and I'm certain she said they were "like evacuees". Maybe that really stuck in his mind!

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TiaraBoo · 27/01/2023 21:40

I remember the gorgeous weather we had and the absolute stillness outside with no traffic (I live in a large town).

Itisbetter · 27/01/2023 21:40

It was so quiet. Every day the numbers of dead. Really heartbreaking stories of desperation. Vaccine being made and who will get it and who won’t. Trying to keep my parents in and then at the end trying to get them out.

Eatentoomanyroses · 27/01/2023 21:43

it was awful. I must ask dd what she remembers of it. I was pregnant so spent most it either being sick or lying on the sofa recovering from being sick. Bad times.

FettleOfKish · 27/01/2023 21:46

Chesneyhawkes1 · 27/01/2023 21:38

I went upstairs to Gatwick airport for a nose as I was on my break at work - it was empty - was so strange!

I remember getting the train into Gatwick and having to go to North Terminal, passing through a completely shuttered and empty South Terminal was weird!

To look back at what we did. In mid-2021 DH and I were visiting my family in a UK city, and 3 hours after we arrived our home (Jersey) turned that city 'red' which meant 10 days isolation on return. We had to check out of our hotel, losing all our money, and hop on the train to a city 20 minutes ago which was 'green' where we paid double to stay in a hotel there instead. We could go back to my home city all day every day, but if we'd slept there, isolation.

I can't believe we actually did it, given there was no real checking in place at this end. Madness.

CatSoupKitchen · 27/01/2023 21:47

Itisbetter · 27/01/2023 21:40

It was so quiet. Every day the numbers of dead. Really heartbreaking stories of desperation. Vaccine being made and who will get it and who won’t. Trying to keep my parents in and then at the end trying to get them out.

Gosh, yes, the daily death numbers were horrific.

It seems almost unreal now.

Catlady2021 · 27/01/2023 21:50

The spring and summer of 2020 was fabulous!

But I think the lockdown will
be forgotten about as time goes on.

Thecat19342 · 27/01/2023 21:52

Aww bless your son - it must of been such a strange time for them. :(

My eldest was 5 he remembers the parks all tapped up and the big fences around them / plastic signs with huge warning labels - he's still very much germ conscious and very nervous about becoming sick or spreading sickness...he remembers the coloured circles they had to stay in at break time and the special path around school so not to spread the germs. I do worry how it's shaped him as a person and I try to tell him not to worry so much but it seems ingrained now. My younger two were too little too remember - one born in March 20 and the other was only 18 months!

Original poster

Jourdain11 · 27/01/2023 21:53

The 6 or 10 o'clock news the day lockdown "proper" was announced. The BBC beeps went slower and they announced (with bullet points): "You must STAY AT HOME... You must not meet people ... You must not go to work unless you CANNOT WORK FROM HOME... You must not leave your home unless it is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY... And now we will cross to Westminster where Laura Kuenssberg is standing around outside pointlessly and for no discernible reason."

It felt very claustrophobic. Like the world got smaller and further away at the same time. I remember thinking there must have been a lot of people who felt absolutely desperate when that announcement was made. I just felt numb! It does seem very unreal now.

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AuditAngel · 27/01/2023 21:54

DD1 and I had our birthdays in the second week of the first lockdown. We had a. BBQ in the garden, beautiful weather

i remember my employer put a lot of people on furlough, the rest of us “volunteered” (for that read we were forced) to accept a 20% pay cut for 3 months whilst working our arses off(working 12 hour days) and trying to homeschool 3 kids while colleagues were having a whale of a time enjoying the weather.

but I’m not bitter…..

Original poster

Jourdain11 · 27/01/2023 21:56

Thecat19342 · 27/01/2023 21:52

Aww bless your son - it must of been such a strange time for them. :(

My eldest was 5 he remembers the parks all tapped up and the big fences around them / plastic signs with huge warning labels - he's still very much germ conscious and very nervous about becoming sick or spreading sickness...he remembers the coloured circles they had to stay in at break time and the special path around school so not to spread the germs. I do worry how it's shaped him as a person and I try to tell him not to worry so much but it seems ingrained now. My younger two were too little too remember - one born in March 20 and the other was only 18 months!

My eldest was 7 and she's the same - very anxious about spreading germs, getting sick, etc. My younger two don't seem to have that. Your youngest was born that March? That must have been a really tough time!

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HotPotInASpot · 27/01/2023 21:56

I live in a place that is about 2/3s second homes and dozens of families came down from London in the first few weeks. It was on the news quite a bit about the outrage from locals as it would put so much extra strain on our single hospital. Could it be he remembered something like that?

Mañanarama · 27/01/2023 21:57

It was awful in many ways but I have some nice memories. Sitting in the garden and it being sooo quiet - no cars, no planes, empty streets. The air felt really clean and the weather was glorious. Being excited to see actual real people even if it was on a doorstep. A sense of community and solidarity for a few months, before that concept went in the exact opposite direction.

Now look at us. The damage it has done to the world - economically and socially - will take years to recover.

DonutsAreNotLunch · 27/01/2023 21:57

My kids seem to have forgotten all about lockdown. The older 2 remember there being no school for a while. My 5 year old remembers nothing about lockdown but every time he has a cough he asks fearfully if he will have to get a covid test. He still has memories of being forcefully pinned into his car seat and having a swab stuck up his nose numerous times over lockdown (after every possible method of bribery and coercion had failed to convince him that letting mummy stick a swab up your nose was a bad idea).

In fact when he had to have his preschool eye TEST at nursery the teacher phoned me to tell me he was inconsolable with tears before the test and they couldn’t work out why.. it turned out he though eye test was the same as a covid test but they would stick a swab in his eye instead 😭