School went back last week. Y3 DC and reception DC. DC1 day before yesterday started showing cold symptoms, but nothing on the list of Covid symptoms and so went to school. Last night, the coughing started. This morning, I realised the coughing was increasing, called the school to inform them, stayed at home.
School won't let them back without a negative test or until 14 days is up. There are no tests available anywhere. Both me and DH are constantly refreshing, and the nearest is 136 miles away. No postal tests either. What are we supposed to do? This is probably just a cold (younger DC has now started sniffing but not coughing yet) but who knows? And understandably rules have to be followed. My kids have numerous colds and coughs over winter, how are we supposed to deal with months of this? A post-cold cough usually lasts for weeks in my youngest. We have jobs, the kids need education! I feel so bad that my youngest hasn't even been in reception for a full week. This is the time they need to make friends and get used to school. They've had a shitty spring and summer being pushed from TV to games console to garden while we worked.
And to top it all off, I now can't go and see my mum. She's elderly, I've not seen her since December, she's been completely on her own.
I cannot cope if this continues. I think I've been on the edge of my own sanity since March, and another few disrupted months might just send me over the edge. I won't have a job if I constantly need to be at home supervising the kids, for what most of the time will be nothing more than a cold. I know there are reasons for it, and I know we're all suffering hardships in some way, but I'm struggling to see how I'll manage. I almost wish I'd never had my family. I feel so guilty that I brought them into this world.
Sorry for the rant, I just needed to offload. I'm not even looking for advice or solutions. Unless anybody knows exactly when tests in my area go live so we can try and get back to normal.