I went to the park today with my toddler and ended up leaving after a very quick push on the swings.
Group of eight mums, all gossiping away, had come to meet up in the park because ‘no one can prove we didn’t all just bump into each other’. I know this because one was on the phone to another mum-friend loudly trying to convince her to also come to the park, and was saying ‘we will be here a few hours yet, you can come and join our park bubble’
Park bubble.
Between them there must have been fifteen or so small kids running around, climbing all over each other, several with runny noses and coughing all over the playground equipment.
And in the same conversation, she let on that three of them have their older kids in school under a ‘Keyworker’ place. She seemed very proud of the fact they’d all
managed to get these places and said the school ‘knows better than to argue with her’.
If you are hanging out in the park for the morning, I’m not sure why you need a keyworker place today. Doesn’t that kind of behaviour just increase the risk of transmission for ACTUAL key workers who may then have to self isolate, taking them out of the NHS staff levels or other keyworker organisations?! They have no choice but to send their kids in, alongside yours who have been in a household that is mixing with how many others in a ‘park bubble’ because you want to socially meet up with your mates and have your kids all play together.
I’m aware that I will probably just be flamed for caring what other people do. And maybe it IS wrong to expect kids not to play together in a park and have a lovely time. But it made me so uncomfortable that schools are closed, kids education is being withheld from them, we are being told the NHS is now about to be critically overwhelmed...and people are just insisting on gathering all their kids together regardless. What’s the point? It being outside makes little difference if you are going to let them play that closely together for a long period, with a new more infectious strain.
Felt really awkward leaving as I didn’t want them to think I was hysterical and it was probably obvious why I left so sharply. Though she was so loud that it felt like she wanted everyone in the U.K. to hear her conversation and think she was such a bad ass.
Maybe I am hysterical. Half of MN seems to think it IS hysterical to think people should actually be bothered anymore.
Am also aware they probably aren’t breaking any rules or laws or whatever.
It still felt shitty to me though.