Spoken to by the police

[Foldinthecheese]

This morning my husband and I took our three children on a long walk/scoot to a local park that is probably two miles away. We had seen the recent police guidance that said stopping for a snack during a long period of exercise is allowed, so we packed some crisps, fruit and our water bottles, intending to have them in the park before heading back home. We have twin DSes, four, and a one year old DD.

While sitting in the park (in a green space, far from any paths, with no one nearby) two police officers approached and said we needed to move on because what we were doing was against guidelines and someone had called to report us. It wasn’t a problem to leave, but I was a little annoyed by the situation. I mentioned the guidelines regarding a snack during long exercise and they seemed unaware of this, and asked to see it on my phone. They then said that it was an issue of public perception, which I understand, but I’m not sure why that would impact the legality of our actions. One officer suggested that we should have gone to a park closer to our house, but the space isn’t really comparable and it’s more of a play park: lots of equipment that is currently covered in caution tape.

I don’t know really why I’m writing this, except I feel frustrated. We’ve followed all the guidelines for the past month and it’s annoying that the police seem unaware of the guidance that has been made publicly available that says what we did was acceptable. It was also just really nice to go slightly further than the one mile radius around our house and enjoy seeing the flowers in the park, and it feels like it put a dampener on the morning.

I keep reading that people take snacks with then when they go for a walk? Why? I take my kid out for a long walk I don't even take a bottle of water. Surely people can wait until they get home? I don't get this constant need to have food on you at all times.

I do get that little kids might need a rest though. Little legs.

@cheeseandpickledonions I guess we could do it that way, but...why? On a normal day my husband is working from home, so I usually take all three out together by myself because he’s unlikely to have time to go out. He’d booked the day off yesterday, so it seemed reasonable to take advantage of us all being able to go out as a family.

In fact, family time has been the one redeeming feature of all this for me. My husband usually works away and was actually supposed to be spending much of January, February and March in China and the US. He was due to fly to the States for three weeks on the Sunday after Trump announced the U.K. travel ban. We’re all happy to have him around and want to take advantage of that. I know a pandemic isn’t supposed to be fun, but it seems a little extreme to deliberately make it more miserable than it already is.

Do people think snacks and a bottle of water are magic Corona virus magnets?

I know a pandemic isn’t supposed to be fun, but it seems a little extreme to deliberately make it more miserable than it already is.

Yes. Maintaining social distancing is likely to be needed for a long time, so finding ways of doing it more happily (but without negatively impacting others,of course) is a bloody good thing. Especially for little kids.

OP followed the guidelines

Other posters are following the guidelines

Some of the other posters are being very strict with themselves as to how they follow the guidelines, which could be considered commendable

Some of those other posters have no right to decide that the way THEY follow the guidelines should be the ONLY way EVERYONE should follow the guidelines

Check out the gestapo on this thread! Hilarious.

@rosiepony hahaa gestapo, love it! You’re absolutely right :-)

Well, glad you are finding it funny but it's also not the gestapo. In real life if I'd witnessed the OPs family out I wouldn't have given them a 2nd glance or reported them. but might have had a thought about whether what they were doing was necessary. Wouldn't be checking out where they'd come from or followed them home..

OP however seems to want to take issue with being called out on something that's not really in the principle but is okay as she's researched the guidelines.

Except it doesn't really fit with "stay at Home" or "We are all in this together", as it's more about stay at home unless I fancy a family trip and we are all in this together except for when that doesn't really suit.

I couldn't give a shite about what you do or don't do. We've had it and I don't have any vulnerable relatives. I'm still doing my bit though for everyone else. You're welcome...

We haven't seen any police here and there have been people driving from 10+ miles away to walk their dogs and picnic in the fields. The police must be focusing on towns.

If you’re so unhappy with it, @WaxOnFeckOff , why don’t you write to the college if policing and tell them what you think about their guidelines allowing people to sit, walk and eat outside? They’re the ones who wrote them

Yanbu

Well it's because so many folk protesting the legality of the previous guidelines rather than just getting on with it that as has them have to come out with more. Folk couldn't accept that some things weren't a good idea and weren't exactly prohibited which has caused this in the first place. So folk just then push to the edge of those. Because, you know, they are special and their poor DC haven't seen a flower for two weeks. It's pathetic.

no, I wont be talking to the police as i'm not in England and we are still following the principle as well as the law until we are told otherwise.

It just boils down to the question
Why, in the midst of a pandemic, would you WANT to go for a full family outing and sit down having snacks. Just why?!

For fresh air, for exercise, for vitamin D, to help children develop normally.

I would take the twins for a scoot round the block/local park and later in the day DH would take the baby in the stroller for a stroll.

I would feel worried if my children and especially my baby was getting so little outdoor time (a "scoot round the block" sounds like next to nothing and I am assuming the baby is getting something similar?). I am quite concerned about the cohort of current infants who are spending several months in their first year (= crucial window period) getting hardly any exposure to daylight or to the normal microbes found in their outdoor environment-I would be surprised if we do not see a rise in things like autoimmune disorders. Also, why does it make things safer if both parents go at different times-what does that have to do with anything?

There is no need to all go out together - it's a pandemic, it's not meant to be fun!

The disease is not being caused by a vengeful god who will take pity on humanity and end the pestilence if we all make ourselves sufficiently miserable for a few months. It is being caused by a virus which neither knows nor cares if you are enjoying a responsible socially distanced walk in the sunshine versus sitting at home panicking while your kids develop rickets or whatever.

In a street near where I live the residents have taken to coming out and performing Abba hits together - in their their driveways, up and down the pavements and in the street with musical instruments, dressing up and dancing. Some of the driveways are right next to each other. A local TV news prog filmed them all out in the street singing and dancing with a reporter and cameraman who then interviewed some of the residents and joined in with it all - I was a bit taken aback but thought "meh what do I know?"
But then hearing these stories of people being accosted by police for sitting down in a park for a snack for a few mins with members of their own family when they are deliberately staying away from other members of the public it just seems totally unfair.

So it's okay to sing and dance in the street with a bunch of your neighbours but not to stop for a brief snack during your daily exercise with members of your own family. Seems it's one rule for some and another rule for others.

Do some people just like winding us up Aesop
You’ve given all the valid reasons for staying mentally and physically healthy
And I’ve done the same
I think it’s time we ignore for the sake of our own sanity
I’m going to have my lunch , get in the car, drive to the beach
No sod that . Im Going to take it with me And enjoy it while I watch the waves crash on the beach.

If everyone started having a little snack on their walk then social distancing would be out the window

I don't know where you're walking, but if everyone I saw on my walks sat down for ten minutes to eat a snack, it would not have any effect on social distancing. In fact it would be easier to avoid people because they're stationary. It the little dance of 'who's going to move over first and in which direction' when someone walks towards you that makes distancing inconvenient.

Can I ask, were some of you 'so concerned' about the amount of outdoor time your kids were getting when they were sat in a school classroom for 5 hours a day with less than one hour of outside time, going to after school clubs or childminders and being inside then coming home, having their dinner and going to their beds? Were you sitting their shaking in worry they weren't getting enough vitamin D or sunlight? Or were you just busy and didn't care but now you do because you've got time on your hands and YOU want to go outside more? Were you taking them for 4 mile hikes and stopping for snacks on normal weekdays before this happened? Unlikely.

Why, in the midst of a pandemic, would you WANT to go for a full family outing and sit down having snacks. Just why?!

Because it's lovely and sanity preserving to have happy family quality time going for a walk in the sunshine. I've loved seeing families enjoying time together, when I'm on my walks. Chatting, learning to ride their bikes, laughing, throwing a ball. It's life enhancing to observe it, never mind being part of it as those kids and parents.

Life is really tough at the moment, but the weather is being good to us, and time spent together outdoors is both physically and emotionally healthy for families.

@FurloughDebarcle20 at school kids were having outdoor time at breaks and lunch. And life was normal. They could be out all day at the weekends, they could see their friends, they could play sport.

Now the ONLY chance they have to be out is with their families for that daily walk. Your post makes no logical sense.

Furlough, some people were Working so hard to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table that their probably was zero time left for outdoor life, especially not in our temperate climate anyway

Do you really begrudge people a little bit of fun in the midst of a whole lot of misery?
They are already missing friends, education, extended family, financial security, normality..please don’t say a bit of fun is banned too.

Oh dear, some people these days would have been perfect Stasi recruits 🤮.
I don't think you were doing anything wrong. It's like the wannabe Stasi's don't want anyone to enjoy a bit of normal life these days even when it's not causing anyone any harm.

Jeez
The end of the world is nigh. We are all doomed.
You won’t find me and my dh cowering in our bunker.
We are going to suck the last bit of joy out of our lives....while we can.

We will wave to the hysterical ones Doing just that as we drive or walk past.

@saraclara it does make sense. I mentioned the 1 hour of outdoor time they get at school. This is not the weekend. Yesterday was not the weekend either. It's not a holiday. So on a normal school day before lockdown, was anyone on this post that is saying their child will fade away and seize to exist from the lack of vitamin D and outdoor time, actually taking their children for 4 mile walks and packing up snacks? Were they? I think it will be an overwhelming no. It's not a holiday, it's a lockdown. I think most people are using their kids as an excuse to do what they want to do. I think there will be some people on here that have always been active, perhaps mum's to young children of pre school age and they're used to hours of outdoor time but school aged children in this country are not used to hours of outdoor time on usual weekdays so I don't really see why it keeps being used as an excuse to go out for hours on end, taking snacks and generally just doing what you like instead of keeping them at home (like they would be indoors at school anyway) and using logic and common sense to get them the amount of outdoor time (as in away from the house) that they are usually accustomed to.

I don't begrudge anyone fun. Children going out for 3 hour walks doesn't bother me at all, it's good for them. What bothers me and seems ridiculous is the amount of people on here saying their children will suffer only getting a quick walk each day, on weekdays. Will they? They are used to limited time outdoors due to school. That's the part that is starting to get my goat a bit

They are used to limited time outdoors due to school

Youve got literally no idea whatsoever about how much outdoor time children of posters on here had