The losses of 10 day isolation...and the what if of Christmas.

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Disclaimer - this is a purely selfish rant and an overly panicky panic for Christmas.

Ds is on day 10 today and can leave isolation tomorrow. The rest of the house haven't caught it. He's been totally asymptomatic in terms of covid. In terms of emotional state - he's been severely affected.

It couldn't have come at a worse time. If only it had been at a 'normal week'. This has been the impact:

• birthday in home isolation - can't get the day back etc
• cancelled birthday party - can't rebook date until after Xmas due to Xmas bookings and people's plans
• cancelled birthday meals with family, some not in the area again until next year. Others all booked up in the run up to Xmas.
• missed a much waited for event - can't get tickets again, only refund
• missed the school show which lots of practice has been had, obviously it went ahead without him.

He's actually really sad and disillusioned with looking forward to anything anymore. We were in lockdown last birthday as well.

This brings my thoughts to Xmas. None of the rest of the house has had covid (or the people we are spending it with) so there's just as good a chance of infection.

In the 10 days leading up to Xmas, we have family meals, events, panto etc and usual Xmas with family. A lot of things to miss. A lot of things you can't just 'redo'. He's saying 'just cancel it all, there's no point looking forward to it' (we won't, it's just a demonstration of how it's affecting him)

Nothing can be done, just a rant. Covid is shit.

How old is he?

In terms of the Christmas season, in any normal year there are always loads of illnesses circulating. It's quite common for school events to be missed and for family occasions to be cancelled. It's just how life is.

Your not being selfish at all. And I'm sure you're not the only one worrying about whether you'll get a normal Christmas.

What a shame for your DS. What rubbish timing.

There are still so many blanket rules that affect some people much more than others. The 10 day isolation for a symptomatic cases is one of them if you ask me. Total overkill.

Looking on the bright side, your DS doesn't have to test again for a while. Does your area have a high level of cases? The more people who become infected now, the fewer available people for the virus to transit to as time goes on. The booster is supposed to confer greater immunity than 3 weeks after the first two, so that should reduce transmission and it might be that people choose to reduce their contacts in the run up to Christmas which should help a bit with transmission too.

Hopefully this last day of isolation is the darkness before the dawn for your DS. Once he's out and about again he'll probably feel more positive about life in general.

As far as he's concerned he's not going to miss anything because he won't be PCR tested for 90 days.

Last Christmas 31,000 people tested positive on Christmas Eve
81,000 tested positive on 29th December

People just didn't test until Christmas was over

Yes that's the reality these days isn't it? With other bugs you don't have to shut yourself away for 10 days. We are in the same boat..3 kids in 3 different settings and cases rising..its a matter of when not if..I'm being careful with the things I book and plan for the Xmas holidays.

He's 10 with some SEN. I know he won't be tested now but if any one in the family is positive, he doesn't go anywhere or does anything without us so the affect is largely the same in his eyes.

We've had Christmases where lots of us have had colds etc but it has never created a 10 day isolation where everything over Xmas has to be cancelled - I'm not sure it's the same.

With other bugs you used to have to go into isolation for fourteen or twenty-one days. If you got diphtheria, measles, mumps, and the other "notifiable diseases" you were definitely kept off school, and sometimes taken into an isolation ward to make sure you didn't spread your disease to other people.

It's just that vaccines have made those diseases a lot less prevalent and a lot less likely to kill children than they used to be two or three generations ago. Thank goodness for science and vaccines, say I -- I nearly died of measles when I was nine and it messed up my eyes for the rest of my life, and I am so glad children now can be free of it.

Oh I see the problem. Sorry.

So hard for the little ones.

Things will get better. Maybe in March 2022 we won't have to isolate if Covid positive according to this:-

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10199325/No-self-isolation-test-positive-Covid-legal-powers-expire-March.html

@Coconut49

Things will get better. Maybe in March 2022 we won't have to isolate if Covid positive according to this:-

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10199325/No-self-isolation-test-positive-Covid-legal-powers-expire-March.html

I'm not sure that everyone being free to spread the disease as much as they like is "better" exactly. Doesn't that depend on whether you are able to have the vaccine or not? It won't be better for anyone immunosuppressed who catches it and dies.

Yes it's shit, more so for children. You have to take the positive lead here though, sorry. Model resilience.

@RuleWithAWoodenFoot

Yes it's shit, more so for children. You have to take the positive lead here though, sorry. Model resilience.

How do you know I'm not? I've come on here so I can have a quiet rant. Bugger off with your holier than thou advice, you don't know anything about me 🙄

I understand OP, its shit. DD is positive now. She feels fine, but she has missed children in need costume at school, her a school dance show (which she has been practising for since Sept), non uniform day, the school christmas fair, the local town christmas light switch on, the local christmas fair and her friends birthday party. Shit timing to miss all of those things 😢

It’s crap for kids who have missed out on so much in the last 20 months 😢

I totally get how you feel. My DH caught Covid at the beginning of July. I was so worried that our DS would catch it really late and would miss all his end of year 6 celebrations. 'Luckily' he caught it shortly after DH and was back at school for the end of year disco/ last day at school. I have made lots of plans this December with lots of outings. I would be really sad to miss them.

Your poor ds. It's shit for these poor children. Two birthdays missed. I'm sorry. The mental health impact is really real...I'm not sure why some people here don't have more empathy! Obvs OP is being resilient towards her family...she's clearly come on here for support. Hugs to you OP. I am also mum to two SEN children.

I think I wouldn't get the ds too excited about the planned Christmas things in case they are cancelled. Try and big up the things that can be done as a family at home...I know these are limited but good to have in contingency in case Covid hits one of the other family members. Good luck x

I really feel for you, it is crap. This generation of kids have really been through a lot (as have the parents and rest of the world - which makes it even more difficult for us to collectively model resilience and all that). I do hope you have a good Christmas. Hopefully there are things you can plan even if one of you has to isolate. I think Netflix has a film coming out on Christmas eve for example (not terribly exciting I realise, but at least its something)...

This is why I’m not testing anymore. No lateral flows, no PCRs, nothing! The world didn’t care when I was vulnerable. The children were forced to go back to school and risk bringing it back to me, people wore masks under their chins etc. It’s turned me into a person who doesn’t give a fuck. I want my children to live life normally now. Everyone I care about has had boosters so we are as protected as we can be. We wear FFP2 masks in busy places to protect ourselves a bit but that’s it for us. The children will live life normally now.

I get it. We missed all the Secondary school open days due to isolation. One child was completely asymptomatic, the other had a headache (at school, which then asked her to test).

My 8yo doesn't trust plans. She doesn't trust school. They just get taken away.

Yes it's rubbish. I'm more concerned about isolation at the moment and missing things than covid itself.

I'm also not testing anymore, I'm telling my young adult children not to either.
If someone amongst us has symptoms indicative of covid they can test but this random constant testing just in case is ridiculous.
We don't test every week to see if we have influenza or norovirus. We don't keep asymptomatic or even symptomatic children home from school if they have other common winter viruses...

I completely get where you are coming from. I have made plans but it’s stressful and all the joy out of everything is just taken out of doing anything.

Being forced to stay at home when you are either mildly ill or have no symptoms at all makes no sense when you are a young child/ have SEN.

Huge sympathies OP. It’s been so hard for these children and they’ve missed so much.
I have a completely asymptomatic DS at home with Covid now. Timing awful. He’d been looking forward to a very special outing for his best friends birthday. A real treat that had been planned for a long time. And another party he’d been looking forward to.

DH and I seem to have escaped it so far. My view on it is this puts us in a better position for Christmas now. He’s had it. His older brother has had one vaccination and despite being exposed quite a bit at school hasn’t picked it up.

So I’m hopeful Christmas plans will go ahead.

I think I heard testing will be dropped in April. So a few more months of this shit for kids.

As is irritatingly helpfully pointed out to the highly immune compromised CEV, you could be in the same situation any year from any other infectious disease

I know it's hard for a young one, but I think you can look at any week of your life and there's things you wouldn't want to miss out on. It seems a shame to miss out on things you've got planned just in case. If you don't do those things are you all going to isolate, or would some of you have to do food shopping, go to school, go to work which carries a risk?

I have two very high contact jobs and don't know how I've avoided it so far and I'll be working until 21 Dec in the one I'm more likely to get it. However, thinking about other people, we're spreading socialising out in the hope we have a few days to display symptoms/positive test before seeing another group.

It's a shit show and you have my sympathy.
Mine are teens and have both caught Covid on two different occasions, then me.

One spent 70 days at home due to isolation last winter, the other 50.

So many cancelled events and plans. Currently worrying that it will impact their mocks now.

But at least they are 15 and understand. At ten and with SEN, it must be so hard.

Maybe plan a couple of nice things in advance, like a belated birthday meal at a restaurant, or a cinema trip, but don't tell him. That way, if you have to cancel last minute, it's not a disappointment.

That is so hard about his birthday

I think you’ll be ok for Christmas don’t cancel it and I hope he feels a bit better

It’s very tough on him