We are now at week twelve of this lockdown, there have been shifts recently, including an announcement of all year groups returning to school by the 15th June. My initial instinct of this is that it is too soon. I feel we need to observe and monitor the impact of the other year groups going back first. I receive an e-mail from the happy little people’s school advising that their year groups are hoping to return over the coming weeks, confirming the government’s announcement, but it won’t be on a full time basis. The girl’s school are proposing half of the class go in Monday and Tuesday, the classroom is deep cleaned Wednesday and the other half of the class go in Thursday and Friday. I think this is a pretty good suggestion. I know the school has space and as much as you can expect children to social distance, this plan seems possible. Although the government is driving this, they have left the decision to parents as to whether you actually send your children in. There will be no fines issued if you choose not to. This choice is a real dilemma and everyone has a different viewpoint on this. My happy little people would love to see some of their school friends and I would benefit from some respite. However, I am not trying to return to work, even though I am exhausted I can have them home with me. I don’t want my happy little people to be human lab rats at what feels like very early days of a pandemic of a new virus, which has taken 40,000 lives just in England. If I did send them back, they would be in contact with fourteen other children each who technically raises our exposure as a family to forty-two other families. Having stayed in a family bubble for this long, this feels too much. My preference would be to meet cousins and friends for picnics and play dates outside.
In order to engage the girls in some form of schoolwork I bribe them by agreeing to crimp their hair if they oblige me. We use some of the BBC bite size lessons online, but this means I lose my computer in order to do so. We don’t have enough technology in the house for all of the happy little people to work on laptops at the same time. Child One has lost his English reading book, Treasure Island. The only way I can get him to understand the importance of looking after his belongings is to put him on a PlayStation ban until it is found. He is not thrilled and makes a male like effort to find it, but no luck yet.
McDonalds has reopened, but rather than spend an hour sat in the car in the queue for the drive through we cook burgers and chips at home. Happy little people are delighted.
As promised I crimp the girl’s hair, they resemble the 1980’s group Bananarama. Child One’s hair is so long, I could actually crimp his as well, but he’s having none of it.
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