Lockdown Children.

My grandsons actually made progress during lockdown. The 10 year old got ahead with the work for year 5 and started on year 6 work so that his teacher called to say that he was ahead of his year (one to one attention) and the middle DGS who suffered from delayed speech suddenly caught up and got the hang of potty training while the baby learned to walk. We didn’t do anything amazing just gave them time and attention and this was as well as me working from home and his mum studying for a course. It is definitely possible

Elusivebutterfly I do wonder if the introduction of disposeble nappies has a lot to do with it. Years ago we had a bucket of dirty nappies, they had to be boiled to get rid of 'waste' and to keep them white. Then of course there was the issue of getting them dry in bad weather. It was a great incentive to potty train a child as early as possible. Now they just use a wipe to clean and throw the whole lot in the bin.

Callistemon

He is 15 so will stay at home.They live very close to us so any
problems he will ring us.My daughter wouldn’t bring him to us even through normally he would be here as he is in our bubble,we are both under the old and vulnerable type so we were told we can’t have him.Not that we see much of when he is here school holidays etc. as he goes straight up to his room
and is either on that dreadful XBox playing a football game with his friends or on his phone talking to his girlfriend ?

I think this is a fairly judgemental thread. People will parent differently. Lots of the examples given on this thread sound awful to me, boys doing woodwork, girls doing sewing, I would much prefer my children to have learnt managing money, IT skills etc, things that will help prepare them for the world of work etc. So whilst you are judging other peoples parenting it's perfectly possible that someone will be judging yours.

I agree with Travelsofar. When I had my children disposal nappies weren’t invented. My daughter was potty trained at two years old and son at eighteen months. As there was only a year between them and we had no hot water so nappies were boiled on the gas stove they had to be trained.
My great granddaughter was nearly five. Mum at work and househusband found it easier to change disposal nappy.

I don’t agree about disposable nappies! All my children had these and were potty trained well before school as have my grandchildren, we all worked and boiling dirty nappies and line drying them as someone mentioned would have been a hideous waste of time that could have been spent interacting with the children!

Thank you, Galaxy.

Why potty training later than before? Because now the rule has changed and it is recomended to wait for the kid to give signs vs forcing the kid to abandon the diapers

My oldest daughter was in cloth diapers and potty trained at 3. My youngest is still in cloth diapers and stating to give signs at 2.5 years old.

Going to school in pandemic-
My family's health comes first and education can be made compatible some other way.
What's the point of education now if there is a risk they wont go to school next year.

We all regressed, not just kids
Our house rules have changed to accommodate the pandemic
We have adapted to our current circumstances - kids will catch if needed when our new normal is established.
Try having two working parents in very demanding jobs and juggling online school and a toddler - finger food and chasing a toddler all day to potty train at 2 or 1.5 years old takes the back seat big time. It is called priorities.

The funniest of all is that if this generation of parents (as many of you stereotyped here) are lazy and dont know how to parent, look at the generation that raised them.

Good point about us all regressing hithere. I am frequently in my pyjamas by 5 in the afternoon

It is definitely the job of the parents. My two youngest grandchildren are five and they haven't regressed nor have the two eight year olds. Some parents seem to expect teachers to bring bring their children up for them

A little boy in my GDs class is still in nappies, aged 5. His mother says she has tried to train him but it's 'too much hassle' and he'll eventually train himself when he's ready. When I wonder! As far as I know he has no health issues related to toilet training, his mother just can't be bothered with it.
He's a nice little lad but is often not invited to birthday parties etc because other Mums don't want to be changing nappies for someone else's 5 year old. I can't say I blame them! My GD says some of the children call him Stinky. His mother really isn't doing him any favours.

'As far as I know' is a worrying phrase. All of the children I work with have additional needs, many need support with toileting. Strangely enough the other parents in the settings dont know the details of their needs because it's nothing to do with them. If a setting is tolerating children calling a child names then they are a poor setting.

We know that many children have regressed, but I don't think we can be certain at this stage the cause of the regression. The parents are blamed immediately, but I know my own GC have been far more emotional and wanted lots of cuddles and reassurance. I think it's possible that a return to babyhood was /is some children's coping strategy to get through the trauma of this time.

Sorry, I don’t think austerity has much to do with not using a knife and fork. I took a group of very middle class children on a trip abroad and was appalled at their poor table manners: eating with their fingers, mouths open and taking food off other people’s plates without asking. They were 16-17 year olds. Few sat down to family meals, but simply grazed at home.

How many teenagers go against the rules just to annoy people?
It is not uncommon and parents may have taught them how to use cutlery and eat properly.

My mother and l were talking about this yesterday. It IS the fault of the parents if children regress to wearing nappies and not using a knife and fork. I well remember being at Sunday dinner with a group of older relatives when my daughter was about fifteen months old. I felt we were both under scrutiny. My daughter sat on a raised seat at the table and behaved perfectly, eating her small portion with a spoon and fork completely independently.
As for toilet training, my generation with babies born in the 1990s were considered lax by our parents' generation as it was normal for girls to be trained around their second birthday and boys six months or so later. My mother said it was normal in her day for babies to be out of daytime nappies by eighteen months. This is a job for parents not nurseries or schools and a three year old without disabilities should not be in nappies, let alone a five year old. Once trained, why on earth would you put them back in nappies?
Hithere, l understand what you are saying but if you waited for readiness with many children they would never be out of nappies. There is also a window of opportunity, usually between the ages of two and three, when readiness is allied with the eagerness to try. Older children can be very stubborn and it is not doing them any favours to hold them back in this way.

This has to be one of the most judgmental threads I've ever read. Miserable, cold, judgemental and critical. What grannie could tell their adult child not to visit with a grandchild at mealtimes because the gran disapproves of their grandchild's table manners?!

Musicgirl

I disagree.
My oldest one day got up and said -"no diapers, potty".
She was done, done, done! Two accidents and potty trained in 2 days.
All done at home by parents, not teachers

Each kid is different.

Parents should teach their children basic life skills and manners, unfortunately the generation of parents with young children now were not taught them by their parents so the poor little ones don’t stand a chance- when childcare is encouraged to be child led, and letting them learn by experience, and not giving them boundaries, how are they ever going to be ready to learn anything academic unless they are particularly bright children?

This has to be one of the most judgmental threads I've ever read. Miserable, cold, judgemental and critical.

It's truly awful isn't it Iam64? So easy for grandparents to sit watching from their life experiences and cast their judgements. Not so easy, I suspect, if you're the family struggling to keep your lives on an even keel in a turbulent world. And likening today's problems with those in war time years is just absurd.

I am64, nobody told me not to visit with my baby at mealtimes; we were welcomed with open arms. The worry and relief as a young mother was all mine. I think we have all been there - that feeling of being on the spot with older relatives even when we are not in all reality. The occasion was when my grandmother, who lived some distance from us, was dying and we went to visit her to say goodbye in hospital after the Sunday dinner in question. Our daughter lifted the sombre mood for our relatives and cheered up all the elderly ladies in the ward as well as my grandmother.

I also agree this is a most judgmental thread and some of the comments are so ready to point the finger to bad parenting.

I heard the talk about how many children have regressed in this pandemic and many of us grandparents should be aware that todays young children have not been brought up as children were after the war. I think it is sad to hear that the children have regressed in toilet training, using a knife and fork, simple social skills and reading and writing.
Just a quick mention to FRITHERDOG: the people they interviewed for some of the results were not parents and children from some of the less academic areas but were indeed some of the more affluent parents, which goes to show that all of the children have been affected by this pandemic and the lack of open schools.

I really really don't want to sound smug but... During lockdown I looked after my 3 grandchildren at home (7,7 and 4)as well as teaching my own students using Zoom for part of each day. It was b*****y hard work but I don't think anyone regressed. For 2 hours each morning the gc's did activities at the kitchen table (little one played) while I did my lessons. We had a break followed by an hour of literacy or numeracy. Then we made lunch together. Afternoon s we played outside or read stories.
Hard work for me but any gran would do the same I'm sure.

fritherdog Pointing the finger of blame at my generation of parents (the ones who brought up today’s young parents) is counter productive! after all it was your generation that brought us up! Where will your buck stop I wonder!

I agree to disagree...

Nanny27 Same here! I did morning school for the 10 year old who was then in year 5 while daughter played with the 2.5 year old and the baby then in the afternoon she did crafts and baking, cycling etc with them and I got on with work after bed time she studied and I did more work.
I downloaded the national curriculum to make sure I covered the work the eldest needed and I made use of lots of free resources provided by museums and art galleries and others which helped.