Skip to main content

Breaking the rules

Raspberry Bomb
Izzy's favourite but she didn't come so we ate hers!
Ugh - back to school tomorrow and while I would normally be keen to see the kids back into a normal routine, of course nothing is normal right now. Both have said to me today that they are not looking forward to it - not least Mondays are not their favourite day but also there's nothing inspiring about another 6 weeks of online lessons to get through. I wish I could tell them it's all about to end, but it clearly isn't and so they'll just have to bear down and get through it.

The rules of lockdown are easing slightly, not because we are seeing a dramatic improvement in infection rates and deaths, although it is improving day on day, but because the economy is tanking and we have to do something to stop the free fall. It's all got a bit confusing, In England up to 6 people from different households can meet outside in a garden or pubic space, but only from Monday. In Wales it's any number of people but don't travel more than 5 miles and you can do it straight away, in Scotland its up to 8 from 2 households(again straight away) and for all of these it's all dependent on you being able to keep your distance. The advice is variously that your risk of getting it is very low, particularly if you are outside and the weather is good, to very high so you must stay alert. Some people are up in arms that the lockdown is being relaxed 'too early' others are pointing out that we cannot stay locked inside forever. Who knows but what I do know is that I just want there to be a sensible and sustainable option for the kids to be back in school by September - beyond that and the whole thing becomes a farce. I get that people have died and I know that's tragic, but the data doesn't stack up for me. Over 4m have been tested (and supposedly the majority of tests were for those displaying symptoms), yet only 271,000 have tested positive which is less than 7% - that's a lot of key workers we must also be testing for the sake of it.

Given all the misinformation and misunderstanding, I suspect we are not alone in beginning to freestyle it a bit. For us this doesn't mean rushing out and standing next to every stranger we meet (who wants to do that regardless of a circulating virus?!), but we did bend the rule slightly and Abi and I set off to see Mum and Dad on Friday for lunch. We sat in the garden and mainly stayed within the guidelines (I did use the bathroom but didn't anti-bac it afterwards) and it was SOOOO worthwhile. It's been way too long and I can't tell you how nice it was for us to catch up and be able to see them properly rather than make do with phone calls. We also had the rare treat of passing Stonehenge at 40mph on both journeys - an undisputed upside of lockdown! It won't happen again - the traffic is definitely heading back to pre-pandemic proportions and it's noticeably busier on the roads.

The kids are also beginning to feel the urge to get out a bit more. Luckily the one friend they want to see they share and so both have been over to Mia's on various afternoons during half term. They've mostly stayed outside and both families have been pretty good at keeping away from others so I think the risk is low. I also think we need to start making our own judgement about the risks we can take. For us it's statistically pretty low that the virus would be severe, for others it isn't. Life isn't an even playing field. I sound very grumpy and in reality I am. I've always been far more worried about the impact this will have on the life chances of next generation and every week that goes by without us starting to think about recovery is another debt burden to bear.

In the meantime I will relish the good weather (it has been glorious), the garden (it's looking fabulous) and the time we have together, particularly as it can now be supplemented with seeing family and close friends again.

Sweat Peas from Mum & Dad's garden

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome Albert James!

So this week has been full of new things - Jess and Chris have welcomed Albert James Wilkinson Rayner to the family, a tad early but all doing well apparently (and so cute!!), I started my new job, Abi has her new shed and Dad got sorted on a phone that wasn't invented before the kids were born!! I always knew this week was going to be full on and it certainly has been. The first thing I had to do was try and sort out my diary which had been filled from dawn to dusk by my predecessor with meetings. I decided to set out as I mean to go on and immediately took out those that started before 9am. While I can get into  the office for 8am , it's a pain and requires me to be on the 6:30am train which is just a bit much every day (stating the obvious). I then made it clear that we don't need to be joined at the hip for the next 4 weeks which is a sensitive process - even though he is retiring it's hard to let go and he is understandably keen that the team are looked after. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Diary management!

This part of the summer is definitely typified by me trying to remember who is supposed to be where and when. Abi likes to be off doing something with someone while Izzy is happier to know she's close to home and so for the last week they've gone their separate ways. Abi has been down in Somerset making the most of Ben and Laurie being about. From what I can tell she's having a lovely time. Apart from the covert phone call one evening to tell me she was 'starving'  (Mum was cooking for the hordes and so it had been delayed), I've barely heard from her. The few calls I have had have very quickly ended in "can I go now" like I'm making her speak to me! Today she switches from Mum and Dads to a night or two with Kerrie - not sure who is more excited! Izzy didn't want to be away for that long so she opted not to go. She's very conscious that Abi and Laurie are joined at the hip when together and Ben has his own things he wants to do so she ...
Post a Comment
Read more

All about Izzy

This weekend has mainly been about Izzy, mostly because Abi has been off riding again and so we've hardly seen her. This has its pros and cons - on the one hand Izzy gets lots of attention and the choice of what to do. On the other she misses Abi and when big sister arrives home we have the inevitable few hours of resettling which seems to involve tears as a matter of course. I did have a moment of despair this evening when I looked across to the table just before Sunday dinner - normally a happy time - to see both of them, heads on arms, holding back tears. Luckily a bit of food and a game of 20 questions to share what everybody had enjoyed about their weekend and we kind of managed to get back on track by dessert. When asked what she wanted to do, Izzy immediately shouted "Jo Jo" so my task was to sort out a visit with Jo, the boys and Ellie. No matter how much time passes they still love to see each other and the first task is always the same. Edward and Izzy have t...
Post a Comment
Read more