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