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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Grandparents day at school as flu season kicks off

92 replies

Pleidiolwyfimgwlad73 · 08/10/2023 08:00

It was grandparents day at primary school last week and all the grandparents that could come were invited into school for a celebration.

Right at the start of flu season & just as covid cases were rising.

Aibu to think it’s a teensy bit irresponsible to invite elderly and vulnerable people into the germ pit that is a school in autumn?! 🫣🤦‍♀️

Both my kids have been off with terrible colds this last 2 week’

OP posts:
BrightYellowDaffodil · 08/10/2023 08:02

Presumably the grandparents are sentient adults who can make their own decisions? Life is for living, not hiding away from in case you get ill.

Original poster
Pleidiolwyfimgwlad73 · 08/10/2023 08:03

@BrightYellowDaffodil well yea I would normally agree but honestly, I did think this was a bloody stupid idea! Half the kids in school have been off with something in the last 2 weeks!

OP posts:
KajsaKavat · 08/10/2023 08:04

Grandparents have been around for a fair old time and shouldn’t be seen as “vulnerable” and put away never to be brought out into life again.

Pottedpalm · 08/10/2023 08:04

YABVU

YukoandHiro · 08/10/2023 08:05

Grandparents at our school range in age from about 39 to 85. So you're being totally unreasonable.

TulipsTulipTulips · 08/10/2023 08:05

I really wouldn’t have a problem with this. People can weigh up their own risk, and having grandparents close to their grandchildren is one of the most important things I can imagine.

Original poster
Pleidiolwyfimgwlad73 · 08/10/2023 08:05

I mean- the weather has been nice too but they chose to do it inside too. Could have been outside in the playground!

OP posts:
FrenchandSaunders · 08/10/2023 08:06

Their choice.

OhBeAFineGuyKissMe · 08/10/2023 08:06

As adults they can make their own decision. Plus not all grandparents are vulnerable- many would object to that term.

Primary aged kids the grandparents could range in age from 40s to 80s. So a huge range of ages and possible health conditions.

BelindaBears · 08/10/2023 08:07

Presumably the “elderly and vulnerable” get to decide for themselves if they attend this kind of thing? E.g. my disabled parent in their 70s undergoing chemotherapy would probably not go but my marathon-running, full-time working FIL in his 50s might.

Riverlee · 08/10/2023 08:07

I’m fairly sure most grandparents don’t hibernate for the month of October.

Original poster
Pleidiolwyfimgwlad73 · 08/10/2023 08:08

I guess so @OhBeAFineGuyKissMe - I still think It was a kind of super spreader event! Kids coughing everywhere!

OP posts:
AllProperTeaIsTheft · 08/10/2023 08:09

YABVU. I'm a teacher. Some of my colleagues are grandparents and are spending all day every day in school with kids. These people are adults and capable of deciding whether to go or not.

Almondmum · 08/10/2023 08:09

Oh I'm going to have fun with this idea with my sister who is a grandparent of a school aged child in her early 40s 😂

As others have said, grandparents aren't feeble minded doddery old souls who can't make these decisions for themselves.

Smartiepants79 · 08/10/2023 08:10

God these kinds of threads depress me.
School has gone out of it’s way to have this kind of lovely event. Having a school full of visiting adults requires time and planning and can be quite stressful.
Grandparents of primary age children are mostly just people in their 50s or 60s. No particular reason why most of them are any more vulnerable. Lots od them still work themselves. They can also make their own choices. Just let them go in and enjoys seeing their precious grandchildren.

OhBeAFineGuyKissMe · 08/10/2023 08:10

Pleidiolwyfimgwlad73 · 08/10/2023 08:08

I guess so @OhBeAFineGuyKissMe - I still think It was a kind of super spreader event! Kids coughing everywhere!

At what age do you think people are no longer capable of making their own decisions?

Lots of things we do carry risk, attending a primary school social isn't high up there. Probably more risk from driving there than being in the hall.

MyGooseisTotallyLoose · 08/10/2023 08:11

Was this an unusual event for some of these grandparents? Have they not been out in public like supermarket etc still?
(Every time I hear super spreader I hear it to tune of Super Trouper)

Original poster
Pleidiolwyfimgwlad73 · 08/10/2023 08:13

Not sure I have said that people aren’t capable of making their own decisions. I’m not making comments about peoples liberty.

More that I thought it was a bloody stupid idea generally. Attendance at school at the moment is terrible - loads of sick kids! A lot of covid too.

OP posts:
PuttingDownRoots · 08/10/2023 08:13

There are likely members of staff older than many grandparents.

gotomomo · 08/10/2023 08:14

When my kids were at primary my mum was younger than I am now, not all grandparents are old and infirm!

AvengedQuince · 08/10/2023 08:14

Most grandparents would not be elderly and vulnerable. My own grandmother has only been vulnerable the last few years and my DS is almost an adult. I'm pretty sure she would still visit younger great grandchildren's schools if someone could take her.

QuillBill · 08/10/2023 08:15

This is madness. People can't lock themselves away from ordinary life from autumn onwards.

Grandparents are working in schools, hospitals, supermarkets.

Yourebeingtooloud · 08/10/2023 08:16

At our school loads of grandparents regularly do childcare anyway so are at the school all the time. Neither are they particularly decrepit. It sounds like a nice event to me. YABU.

gotomomo · 08/10/2023 08:17

And by the way my parents (grandkids now adults) we're out with us in a packed pub dancing last night - I don't think they would blink at sitting in a school hall when the great grandkids arrive, though not expecting any in the foreseeable future

sparklefresh · 08/10/2023 08:17

How old do you think these grandparents are?! Primary school age kids' grandparents are hardly likely to be octogenarians, are they?

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