Did anyone take their LO to the park today ?

[iwantitalltobenormal]

We went to a local HUGE open park with a duck pond and a kids park , and had only planned to be far away from the physical park and planted ourselves on a section of grass - but further down there were cars and people and kids just evryehere I mean there were staff policing cars in telling them where to park .. we have a 2 yo and I feel like a shite mother withholding him from the park.. but for fuck sakes the place was like a festival. Before people say why did you go .. we literally had planned to go and play on some grass and run around with a coffee and some snacks As we need to get out due to no garden at home . I just cannot believe how many germs and sneezes and coughs have landed on the park equipment. And hundreds of people are happy to go and take their kids ..

As per your username. Everyone else does too. If you stop people going to pubs or parks for 3 months you can't then be surprised they're all excited to be able to return

Yes I went today with my 4 year old and my friend and her child. We had a lovely time and it was fine not too busy atall. All the children were over the moon to be having fun. I think unless you have a serious health condition it's time to weigh up children's mental health against the small chance of getting ill.

I’m just shocked at the fact every other place has social distancing measures but parks don’t. How do you even manage or police that ?

I don't worry much when it's outdoors. Keep a one metre distance and use sanitiser regularly on my child's hands.

I really don't think we can expect children to SD. They don't in nursery. Won't be in school from September. I guess you decide whether to take your kid or not

I took my 3 yr old to the park today. Most of the time it was only us and another 2 families. Antibacterial gel before and after and hand washing at home. I didn't see it as any more risky than going to the shops or the pub. For me it was totally worth any small risk. We have really missed the playground.

So you took your kids to the park, but where shocked lots of other people wanted to go to the park too?

Was at the park today. Didn’t see any coughing or sneezing. A lot of people need to get a serious grip of themselves.

Yes I did. Yesterday too. There was only us and a couple of other families there today - I avoided “destination” playgrounds. We gelled before and after and otherwise they played fairly normally. I told them to step back from other kids a few times at the top of slides etc, but more from a generally respecting people’s space perspective than anything to do with covid. They instigated a mad game of racing each other and inventing new ways to go down the slide, laughing away with a couple of other children who were complete strangers. It was lovely, I almost cried. One of the other parents actually did. Everyone was perfectly happy with the situation.

We went yesterday, a different family wore masks and gloves and carefully avoided being within 10 metres of us - also very possible if you choose a quiet park and entirely up to them. I told my kids to respect their space and they did.

None of this stuff is really that hard if you use gel, don’t lick stuff and use basic social skills. And ultimately if it’s something you’re not comfortable with, you can always leave and come another time when it’s quieter.

@milkysmum totally. OP - I went to the park and was shocked that other people went to the park too 😂🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️

I didn't go to the park, because I knew it would be busy.

Yep, we went to all 3 in our village yesterday 😂 but it was raining & we were the only ones in any of them!

Yes, we went to the park. Everyone was social distancing no problem. The playground wasn't open, though.

I figure, if you go to a play area on the weekend they re-open, you have accepted the risk as they are bound to be busy! We went twice on Saturday and twice on Sunday and this week, we are going to a different park every day.

We love our local park and typically go for an early walk at 7am, then sometimes a second walk at 8.30am (if we can't be bothered to go for a longer bike ride) and then return later in the day for a longer run around and play. Adding the playground into this, I expect we will be there several times a day in the summer!

I believe my family has had covid19 already - can't be certain but seems pretty likely based on symptoms we had. We are all in excellent health and I'm not too worried about catching the virus. I'm more worried that my kids aren't getting enough exercise and my toddler's immune system will be crap because he hasn't seen anyone in months - I WANT him to encounter some germs!

So, we will go to the playgrounds, attempt to respect the rules, wash our hands, and not worry too much if the social distancing fails. I'm truly not concerned at all about germs on play equipment! My kids and everyone in the neighbourhood has sat on one single metal bench in our park, and we are still ok.

I never understood why it was apparently lethal to go on a swing or slide, yet every old person and parent with their kids would pause on this metal bench, often to have a snack or a drink, and NOT ONCE did I see anyone use hand gel when they got up. Totally stupid.

@iwantitalltobenormal

I’m just shocked at the fact every other place has social distancing measures but parks don’t. How do you even manage or police that ?

That's WHY the parks were shut. So that there wasn't contact with high frequency surfaces. Now that there are so few cases it is much less likely that there are viable not alive as viruses are not living organisms viruses on the swings/slides/roundabouts etc so therefore are much safer to touch. They don't need policing. Just keep your distance from others and wash your hands after you've used the equipment.

Oh yawn, another post dissing people for doing the exact same thing as you, OP. You went to the park and were annoyed that others did too. Do you not see the irony in that?!

But it wasn’t the exact same thing. I said that we sat on a large area of open grass as we don’t have a garden at home and I don’t feel quite confident yet going to the equipment etc , I didn’t want to take my LO on the equipment as I just couldn’t believe the sheer amount of people and kids on it , i mean there was not a chance of social distancing in site . I just worry I guess !

I took my one year old. We had a lovely time

P.S. I took my DS to an outdoor adventure assault course (with friends) and had an amazing time. Did us all the world of good.

We went only ones there for awhile when a few other families arrived we left to give them space. Young Children have grown so used to SD I think they were cautious of others anyway ( Which is another story from all this) from what we could see after leaving to play on the grass. Lots of hand gel before and we took soap and water for after.

We were the only people in our local village one. Well apart from the friends we invited to join us. It was great.