People saying ‘we’ve had a year of this’ - what did you do last summer?

[Bubbinsmakesthree]

I keep seeing people saying things like “my child hasn’t played with anyone else in a year” or “I’ve not seen any friends in a year”. I know some people have been shielding or live in areas that have had tougher restrictions for longer...but if not, what were you doing last summer?

I think I’ve been fairly cautious but we still managed holidays/trips away in the UK, lots of (socially distanced) meet ups with friends and family and my children saw lots of their friends. We’ve been to museums, meals out, swimming etc. Other than children not social distancing with each other I don’t we broke any rules. It certainly wasn’t a normal summer but in comparison with the current (really miserable) lockdown things were pretty decent.

Lots of people I know were regularly in bars, making cinema trips, foreign holidays and taking the children soft play (i drew the line well before it got to soft play myself!)

Are people forgetting what actually happened or did some people remain in voluntary lockdown all year?

were we unusual in that we let children socialise a bit within their school bubbles?

Yes. Of course you were. It is this thinking of "well, it doesn't matter if were ignore the bits of the rules we don't like" that has a lot to do with the ongoing problems, and over 100 000 deaths. Not just a number, every one of them a person.

Oh, and schools weren't open until September here, except for certain groups.

were we unusual in that we let children socialise a bit within their school bubbles?

You weren't unusual but massively taking the piss when there were kids not allowed to go back to school or too young to be at school and deprived of playing with peers.

Both dh and I are CV. After the initial 22 week working at home, the government decreed it was safe for me to return to work (in a school). That was enough of a risk for me to take - at least I knew that our school was doing what it could to reduce risk.
I have not seen my DM in almost a year now - she is elderly and vulnerable by virtue of that. Other family members are also CV and CEV so we have not seen each other. We did see our dcs when the rule of six was in place, but that was it.
I can't wait until restrictions can be eased, I am desperate to see my family, my dcs and dgs. It's been a long year.

Flat out working.

There's a little thing called harvest that keeps a lot of us farmers busy in July/Aug/sept.

It's been a year of missing out.
We missed 2 weddings, download, gigs,
2 festivals, 4 rallies, two holidays abroad, numerous parties and other events and couldn't see friends and some family because of shielding.
Even the bits we were allowed to do were marred by a fuck ton of queuing and people screaming orders at us. Not exactly fun.

My summer wasn't too bad either OP. DH and I had days out walking with a picnic , we had some nice lunches out, and had a few UK breaks.

We also saw a couple of friends occasionally and adult DS and his GF weekly . We went on holiday with them in September and pretty much did what we would normally have done on a UK holiday , just wearing a mask .

I appreciate that for some people they lived in an area where restrictions were barely lifted , but that was not the majority of the UK.

In many areas cases were really low , and it would have been most unlikely that Someone would have caught Covid because they are out in a restaurant, cases being low meaning it unlikely that the person next to you would have it.

There really is no need for the snide comments from people against others who were meeting in the agreed groups of 6, particularly given most people did outdoor meets while the weather was nice .

Also its not just the people shielding, but also the people who live / bubbled with those CEV or vulnerable.

Theoretically I could have seen friends or a meal during the summer, however I'm bubbled with someone CEV. If I had gone out then would have to avoided seeing them for 2 weeks. Given they had been completely alone for 4 months since March, and not even able to go out for walks, it felt wrong to deprive them of their only human company just to go to the office / pub / shops / see friends. I felt guilty enough going for walks and getting fresh air and sunlight knowing that they were strongly advised not to go out at all.

Last summer I politely listened to many colleagues and friends talking about their trips to shops, pubs, restuarants, hotels and gyms and tried to be happy for them. Wasn't always easy. But some people had to keep the economy going and I don't think I'd have found it any easier or been any happier everyone had been locked down all summer either.

Hoping this summer will be better

That's a lovely way to look at it @fluffi and a refreshing change from the rest of the thread. It's certainly been tough for the CEV and their families.

Some aspects of society had to keep going, where possible, to maintain the economy, jobs, charity fundraising and support so opening up hospitality, holidays and family activities when cases were low over the summer was absolutely the right thing to do. I feel very sorry for all those who were shielding and have definitely "had a year of it" but for those who weren't, if you decided to stay home and not do things that you could have done, because you didn't fancy it, that's on you. Its not my fault you didn't make the most of safe opportunities to socialise, have a break from work and try to claw back a bit of normality. Let's hope it's a bit easier to that this year.

@fluffi

But if these were your colleagues, to all intents and purposes, you might as well have done those activities in terms of risk of getting covid.

Good for you. My dh has been out of work for almost a year with little sign of his industry coming back any time soon. My kids have had 1 term in school out of three and miss their friends. Haven’t seen elderly relatives properly for nearly a year 🤷‍♀️

In the summer, limited mixing was allowed, even indoors.

The infection rate did not increase due to this at all; and at Aug end there was hardly any Corona in the U.K. it increased when schools and universities went back in September.

I remember summer as quite pleasant, lots of walks with friends, meals out (sitting outdoors) and a week in Northerm France.

I think this thread exposes the perceived unfairness to those of us outside of london and the SE.

I saw a literary agent on Twitter wailing when london moved into Tier 2. About the sadness and how she would cope. I politely told her she would get used to it.

Since you asked the question and like almost everyone I know we had a rubbish summer. It was pissing down most of July and August and we weren't allowed to do lots of things. It feels pretty much that we have lost a year and it's hard going.

Kids and I had a few days out with our social bubble and did meet up with a couple of friends with dc outside. But mainly stuck with our social bubble.

And to add we were T2 so it was within guidelines.

We saw a friend at the park once over the summer. Our local park is the only green space within walking distance for children, and so it gets really crowded. The green spaces within definable distance closed their carparks, so we couldn't go on the weekends when my husband could drive us I miss the forest and wetlands desperately.

Our local home ed community started outdoor group meetups when that was allowed, but we chose not to go. We've seen them a couple of times when we have been doing nature walks in the park, and there was no social distancing to speak of. We miss these kind of groups.

Mostly we kept to ourselves. We wanted to use whatever opportunity we could have to see family who had been shielding. My children are really close to their grandparents and had been sleeping over regularly pre-covid. We weren't allowed to visit, because my FiL is CEV. We chose to prioritize seeing them, when that became possible in the summer. He has just had his first vaccine dose, which offers a real hope.

My DC did nothing last summer because holiday club and camp were shut. It would have been DS2's first time at camp.

I don't know what you are talking about.
My ds's were at home from March 20 until September. Then in school for a bit, then at home November 20 till feb 21.
That's 10 months.

And no we haven't done most of the things you've done. We haven't been to the cinema. Or had days out.

He hasn't met up with friends. 3 times when we were allowed he met with one friend who asked him to be their 'bubble'. We've seen no one else. No one at Christmas. We've stayed home. And obeyed the rules. Dh and I have worked throughout, harder even to cover other people.

What a shit year it's been.
I'm staggered by your post.
Makes me wonder why I'm bothering.

We didn’t do anything last summer. We walked around our local area and we stayed at home.

I'm confused. In which part of the country was cinema and museums ok?
Surely sitting in a cinema for an hour and a half, watching a film, with no/minimal ventilation is the most perfect covid breeding ground?

I'm not sure about the cinema but museums were open in the SW from July to November. I didn't go to any because we prefer to be outdoors in the summer if possible but they needed the revenue. I bought lots of xmas presents from local museum shops on line this year to support them.

[quote Hagotcha80]@fluffi

But if these were your colleagues, to all intents and purposes, you might as well have done those activities in terms of risk of getting covid.[/quote]
This demonstrates how little we understand of risk and how it pertains to social contact .

The poster has effectively used up the amount of risk she is exposed to by going to work and mixing with people who are in the community. Mixing in the community herself would not keep the risk the same because they are already exposed on a secondary basis it would multiply the risk further.

The only way to stop this virus is for each person to limit their individual contacts .

'Stay at home'.
Sounds like OP never did. She just continued on her merry way, with her normal days out, picnics, beaches.

All these posters going on holiday.
Northern France?

Good job you all 'stayed at home'.

@Oblomov21

'Stay at home'. Sounds like OP never did. She just continued on her merry way, with her normal days out, picnics, beaches.

All these posters going on holiday.
Northern France?

Good job you all 'stayed at home'.

Stay at home wasn't actually the advice over the summer - it was the meaningless 'stay alert'. I don't know why so many people think that the OP had a moral imperative to not use businesses and services that were legally open, or to keep following restrictions that had been lifted with great fanfare.

I stuck to the rules... which meant I had a few meals out in groups of 6, had friends over for BBQs, at some point DD went back to dance classes and swimming lessons, we visited family who lived a couple of hours away. Are we supposed to go over and above the rules? Are their secret Mumsnet rules?

Oblomov21 museums were open in London. You had to pre book tickets and arrive at a specific time and in some cases follow a specific route once inside. Initially masks weren't required, but soon mask wearing became compulsory in indoor public places.