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Original poster

My 5 year olds future

204 replies

JuneMoonstone · 22/01/2021 21:15

I'm really worried about what the future might be for my 5 Yr old daughter due to coronavirus. Is she ever going to be able to go to dance classes with more than 6 pupils allowed per class, each standing on a circle that they can't move from? Will she ever be able to go swimming without me having to book weeks on advance and without strict, complex rules? Will she be able to complete a whole year of school without school closures? Will she ever be able to go on a school trip? Will she ever be able to go to the theatre or to see a pantomime at Christmas? I'm seriously worried about what her future will be like. Life has changed beyond recognition. Is life going to be this shit from now on, or maybe not this bad but nowhere near like it was pre covid?

OP posts:
DigitalGhost · 22/01/2021 21:43

To a 5 year old a dance class will be a much bigger deal to them.
My three year old loves to play with her football team on a Saturday and it's done loads for her confidence.
Every single one of these threads always gets twisted and the op called selfish. People are allowed to feel shit and worry about their kids.

OverTheRubicon · 22/01/2021 21:45

While I disagree with the OP about whole futures being blighted, given her perspective I don't think her concerns are selfish or unreasonable. She's not worried about her child missing starring role the the nursery nativity, she's anxious about the next 80 years of her child's life.

As for moi and the others, this is tragic for those who have lost loved ones, but that doesn't mean others aren't allowed big concerns. These types of posts are often pooh poohed like this, it's not fair and it's also remarkable how many posters on MN have lost so many relatives and close friends, often at young ages, when the overall covid death rate - while too high and very sad - is about 1 in 660 people, and a majority of those were already in very poor health, though of course a sizeable minority were not.

midgebabe · 22/01/2021 21:45

Ffs how over dramatic

If a child doesn't learn to swim this year they can learn next year

Mist children will grow up with no recollection of their childhood activities

The biggest risk to children is growing up damaged and unable to cope because that's what their parents are telling them is their fate

Sunsetsaddict80 · 22/01/2021 21:46

Also remember it’s not just your child, it’s a whole generation. Honestly o don’t think life will ever be quite the same and that makes me devastated for my children, but also (sadly) they won’t know any different and it’s an experience they will share.

ThursdayLastWeek · 22/01/2021 21:46

I feel very sad for my 5yo as he simply does not learn with us the way he did at school.

I have a very real fear that he will not be able to read by the time he hits year one. That’s really fucking bad.

Maybesomethingmaybenothing · 22/01/2021 21:47

@MoiJeJous

This week alone, I know of 5 people who have died. Thank your lucky stars that the biggest worry about all of this is being able to go to the pantomime.
I really don’t think this is fair. The pantomime isn’t the only aspect of her child’s life she’s about. I think you know she was giving examples.

Were these people close friends of yours? If so I am sorry for your loss. I buried my aunt this week (COVID). I still have sympathy for the OP and her child, and Chileans teenagers generally.
They are making a huge sacrifice.

Isadora2007 · 22/01/2021 21:47

Hmmmm. It is shit and I do get that. But I think some people do need a bit of perspective. A year without dance classes is nothing compared to others losing their jobs. And some children grow up with no clean water and no access to medical care just due to the bad luck of where they are born. So maybe the silver lining of all of this is we will feel and recognise the real privilege many of us have in the UK and appreciate it when we do get a semblance of the old
Life back again.

RuleWithAWoodenFoot · 22/01/2021 21:47

What do you remember of being 5?

I don't really remember anything. I liked playing in my sand pit and having stories read to me by my mum and dad. Don't remember that though, just the warmth and simplicity of it all. Keep going to the park so she can play. Summer is coming.

Brunt0n · 22/01/2021 21:48

I honestly think in 6 months we’ll be in a much different place

Maybesomethingmaybenothing · 22/01/2021 21:48

Not just Chilean teenagers😂 in fact not just South American teenagers but teenagers the world over.

Atrixie · 22/01/2021 21:52

I understand-
I have a 3 yo and a baby born in April 2020. I feel awful for both. And this is all my baby has ever known sad she’s never even met most of her extended family

To be fair, she’s a baby. She won’t have a clue

mamaduckbone · 22/01/2021 21:52

It is really hard at the moment. I've been feeling the same, although my dcs are older and I hate that they are missing all the fun that being a teenager and having that freedom should bring.
If it's any consolation, my dcs can barely remember being 5 - we were talking to ds2 about our absolute favourite family holiday when he was 5 and he could hardly remember anything. Once this is over, which it will be, it will very quickly become a dim and distant memory.

smoothchange · 22/01/2021 21:53

@Northernsoullover

Nah, I'm with Moi on this one. I'm not denying its tough and horrible at the moment but I really find it quite selfish when all people can think about their poor child being inconvenienced at dance class. I've got two teens who should be enjoying life, I quite enjoyed my life too. I think your post is quite selfish. My friend lost her mother this week to covid. I can assure you she isn't thinking about the fucking pantomime.

Why is it selfish? OP hasn't said her child is the only person who is suffering here, she has simply expressed concern for her child. There is nothing selfish about loving and caring about your child.

Northernsoullover · 22/01/2021 21:53

@Maybesomethingmaybenothing

Not just Chilean teenagers😂 in fact not just South American teenagers but teenagers the world over.
That certainly lightened the mood Grin.
toocold54 · 22/01/2021 21:54

I have a very real fear that he will not be able to read by the time he hits year one. That’s really fucking bad.

The best way kids learn to read is by being read to so keep that up and remember that everyone is missing out on their education so he will be in the same boat as everyone else.

I think it is in Sweden where they don’t start school until they’re 7 so you don’t need to worry about missing out on education.

Baileysforchristmas · 22/01/2021 21:54

I think the press conference tonight was a wake up call, things will not get better for quite a while, I have been quite upbeat until then, more for my daughter who is 15, all her freedom taken away for god knows when 😢 no trips abroad for a while, theatre, cinema all out to who knows when 😢 what a future for the young. Then I have the oap’s who have had the jab, who come into work with no mask, don’t worry we’ve had the vaccine, the world has been turned upside down.

CaughtInTheCovid · 22/01/2021 21:58

I feel the same OP. I actually feel far more negative than I did in the first lockdown. It’s grim I don’t know what to say other than surely it must be better soon.

CountessFrog · 22/01/2021 21:59

I regret having had my children now.

december212 · 22/01/2021 21:59

I think at 5, there is a good chance that somewhere down the line they can go swimming, to dance classes and panto. Nobody knows when it'll be, but it won't not happen.

I'm more concerned about the financial impact on kids futures. All these financial aids, while necessary now, will cost for years to come. It could have a really heavy impact on them buying properties, getting jobs, pensions and savings. It was hard for alot of people pre-covid and it will be even harder for a long time to come.

IloveJKRowling · 22/01/2021 22:00

In recent years we've been so lucky in this country, we've come to assume that things like dance classes and theatre trips are the standard, but they're not. Even before covid, looking worldwide and across history our kids have been lucky on a fantastic scale, but we're human and shit happens. It can happen in normal times (sudden bereavements, accidents, illnesses, sudden poverty etc), more so now.

I think the adjustment is more difficult for us as adults, I actually think children are more resilient and willing to see the new normal as not necessarily worse than the old way. My daughter said that it was better now there were fewer kids in the lane in her swimming class - less chance to socialise but more chance to swim. I think it's important to try and have the mindset that things are not necessarily worse. Some things are clearly worse (the number of dead) but I think restrictions in numbers on a dance class could be seen either way, surely? More individual attention, for one?

Children in the past didn't have endless dance classes and entertainment and yet we don't think of them as deprived. In the past there was polio, there was TB. It's just all that's been forgotten.

I think even in terrible times we have to keep trying to be positive and just adjust and make the best of life - what's the alternative?

YouJustDoYou · 22/01/2021 22:01

#firstworldproblems

GoldenOmber · 22/01/2021 22:01

Yes she will get to do all those things, OP. This will end, normal life will come back, and one day in the future this pandemic will be the sort of thing we talk about and they roll their eyes at like Uncle Albert banging on about the war in Only Fools and Horses.

I know it feels bleak and endless now, but every pandemic ever has ended. This one will end faster and with less death than most now because we have vaccines. In this country, by late spring/summer we’ll have vaccinated enough people that death rates and hospitalisation rates and infection rates are all really, really low, and there’ll be no need for restrictions like this any more.

PurpleMustang · 22/01/2021 22:02

Really 5, 5 years old and you are taking like they will never have a childhood. What do you remember from being 5? I remember sod all really. Mine are in seniors, should be having a teenager time of their life. When they get independence and go off and have fantastic times with friends, times you don't forget. Instead the sport they play at national level they have played for almost a year, can't even train properly. One is in GCSE years, yr 10 coursework and exams already being changed. No idea what will happen next year for Yr 11. Their Dad has decided to leave. And one has a friend who is depressed and self harming who they are trying to help over their mobiles, to help them through but can barely meet face to face like they really want to. So yeah do I win?

jerriblank · 22/01/2021 22:02

@MoiJeJous

This week alone, I know of 5 people who have died. Thank your lucky stars that the biggest worry about all of this is being able to go to the pantomime.

There's always one...

lunapeace · 22/01/2021 22:03

I feel very sad OP, I have a 5 year old and a baby. Children aren't little for long, childhood goes by in a flash and they are being robbed right now. They might be happy at home with us but the memories we would make watching them in plays, birthday parties, sport and holidays aren't being made. I can meet with my 5 year olds friends mum for a walk, but we take the kids and it's fucking illegal. What the hell!

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