2 households

[Rae36]

I'm a bit sad about the change to only 2 households meeting up. For the past few weeks since the kids have been back at school I've met 2 friends once a week to eat lunch. We're all working from home, we just take an hour off in a Monday, bring our lunch and eat it together in someone's garden. It's been so nice. And now we can't any more.
And I think this is us for the winter, isn't it?

Regarding playing footie, gatherings of over six people seem still to be allowed for education and training, so surely the boys need to just call their game a training session. Are the police seriously going to be stopping teens playing football in the park??!

I just don’t know katysun? I would hope not

Also curious if guidelines not law, as if not I won't be stopping DC from meeting up with a few other friends as long as no more than 6 - all friends who they see all day at school in enclosed classrooms.

Police came once to football playing fields in the summer and told the boys to stop playing as they weren't socially distancing. Seemed a bit embarrassed about it said DS.

I'm sure the police have better things to do than give teenagers a criminal record for playing football. But it is against the regulations, so who knows. Had a conversation with DS about it this morning on way into school, trying to encourage him to sign up for half term rugby sessions - more or less same bunch of DCs, same numbers, but sanctioned because run by the school . I suspect by half term it won't be running anyway so it's a moot point.

This has gone far too far. It’s cruel and disproportionate and I’m not going to be complying. I’m happy to exercise common sense, keep distance, etc but not this.

As someone said, it means you technically can’t have more than one adult child home from university at a time. Ridiculous

Law from Monday,I think
2 family rule is Scotland only

It will also make things even more difficult for restaurants and cafes who are trying so hard to stay afloat.

It would seem to be advice not law:

www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-phase-3-staying-safe-and-protecting-others/pages/seeing-friends-and-family/

Two other households for secondary age children...so 3 altogether?

young people aged 12 to 17 can meet up to 2 other households indoors at a time (in groups of up to 8 people in total), the same as adults. But there is no limit to the number of households that they can meet in one day. This means that young people can meet their friends indoors separately from meetings that other members of their household may be having

I understand how you feel OP. I’m sad too. It’s not like I meet more than six people very often and since the virus, have not been living it up. But the fact that it’s going backwards is sad. Also, my family is five (two adults, two teens, one 9 year old) which means we can only ever meet a family of two now. It would be better if it was two households, unlimited numbers. That way we could still meet with another family of four or five.

(Name changed, regular poster)
Just heard Jason Leitch confirm that kids cannot play in the park together after school from Monday. Under 12s still count as a ‘household’ apparently, so only two playing together at any one time.
Utter lunacy.
Also from what’s been said, this means children over 12 cannot walk home from school, for example, with more than one other person (household).

How can anyone not think that’s totally absurd?

That's utterly ridiculous.

It is completely absurd. I was following the rules with the hope that it would help us get out of all of this sooner. This has completely made me give up hope that anything I’ve done or am doing makes a difference. There’s no hope that these restrictions will end for us now, it will be continual nonsense.

The problem with such absurd rules is it makes people more likely to ignore and make up their own version.

I understand there does seem a need for greater restrictions but including under 18s in this - who are all in massive groups at school - is completely contradictory.

I have been really, really cautious and complied with all the rules. I kept my door and garden gate clean every day before the postie or any deliveries were due, I cleaned all shopping. DH had to put his work stuff in a box at the front door and his clothes got put straight into a washing machine while he went for a shower (and he didn't even work near others!). I didn't see family for months until DH broke down and I needed a lift to get the car towed home. We've also been to a supermarket a total of 3 times since lockdown.

(I had good reason. End stage cancer father I knew I will need to visit over 200 miles away)

And you know what? I'm done. I'll wear a mask, wash my hands constantly, stay over two metres away from everyone and stay home as much as possible but god, I just want to see someone! I want to have a damned cuppa with my two best friends. There are no cases here in our town. The kids are back at school getting far closer than me and two friends ever would (and our 3 x two primary kids each are in the same classes! All aged the same and two of us even have teenage daughters in high school together in the same classes)

When the rules were relaxed I spent a full day scrubbing the house and disinfecting everything from the doors to the sofas. I put sanitiser our, threw the windows and patio doors wide open, provided seating that was around the room as distanced as we could and we had cakes and coffee. And I will be doing it again, new rules or not!

I agree the rules are now so absurd no-one will follow them. For many they are actually practically impossible to follow in any case unless you studiously ignore neighbours on the walk to school / shops etc and work colleagues / school friends etc on the way in and out.

However the far greater risk is it leaves the way wide open for discriminatory enforcement and abuse. The only saving grace is there are very few police on the beat and all the usual jobsworths will be busily "working" from home.

I think the truly mad thing now is that even if everyone follows the new rules, cases won't go down unless they close down gyms, pubs, hotels, cinemas and dare I say it - schools ( please god no). It's strange how people can still congregate if they are paying money for it, but not so much in private.

Thing is rookie, most of us live where there are no cases in the first place🤷‍♀️

I followed the rules all along but this is a step too far for me. I can see four households in one day but no more than one other at one time. So I could be out and meet a friend for a cuppa after the school run, another friend for lunch, another friend for afternoon tea and another for dinner and do that every single day and that's ok. But instead of that my one time out a week to have a few gins with my two best friends on a Friday night is the problem. And both my friends work from home, I'm a stay at home mum. How is that a riskier situation than meeting four different people every single day.

Thanks for posting that link @ thereplycamefromanchorage.

It would certainly seem that the 2 household limit will only be guidance, which is somewhat of a relief- You are advised to meet people from no more than 1 other household at a time indoors or outdoors.

and Our advice is that no more than 6 people in total (from a maximum of 2 households) should meet at any time in such settings.

Hopefully the 2 household limit will remain as guidance only- it is certainly not proportionate to ban DC from playing outside with 3 friends they’ve been packed into a classroom with all day when we have 7 people in ICU!

Just heard Jason Leitch confirm that kids cannot play in the park together after school from Monday

I heard this too. This is just ridiculous. As everyone else has said, they can sit in a stuffy classroom all day together but can't play outside in the fresh air? No logic at all.

We as a family have tried so hard with all the rules up till now but this is really pissing me off.

@Rae36

I heard this too. This is just ridiculous. As everyone else has said, they can sit in a stuffy classroom all day together but can't play outside in the fresh air? No logic at all.

I genuinely don't think they've thought this through. And what constitutes a gathering? If one parent is wfh in a home office, do they get counted if the other parent is in the garden having coffee with their one other household guests? Or your anti-social teenager that barely leaves their bedroom?

@LizzieMacQueen

Luckily the bonkers 2 household limit seems to be guidance only, so I suspect it will rightly be ignored by most.

I suspect it had only been mentioned to placate Devi Sridhar.

That's good its not law,I was sure I heard John Swinney say on Radio Scotland this morning that it will be law on Monday,backed up by fines.He definitely mentioned fines ,can they fine you without law (probably)
To be fair I switched channels pretty much as soon as I heard his voice