Anybody still looking after Grandchildren ?

Our children live quite a long way away (but still in UK) and we won’t be seeing them or GC for weeks/months now. We were going to see them at Easter. I’ve already bought the Easter eggs and don’t know how Ill get them to them now! DH says that’s trivial!

Yes we are, we are in our 60s we will be looking after them tomorrow. I agree with little ones it's it's impossible to keep them at a distance.
I veer from feeling panicked to feeling OK. Very unsettling and scary times

Nannatopsy -
I hope and pray that things will work out good for you and your family.

We have to be very careful, so no family visits at all for quite a while.Such a shame, as they all live locally and we see them quite a bit normally.
Will keep in touch via email, messaging and phone, also facetime.

Yes, I am carrying on as usual too. I look after my 3 year old grandson 2 days a week and will carry on doing it until told otherwise. My daughter relies on me.

My Gc are staying away too as their school it is massive the family have agreed to keep away but have offered help when it is needed , we are ok for now , but have planned one or two outdoor projects and have bought all the materials to do them.

However we still intend to go walking when possible.

Our 18 month old grandson lives with us, so we have no choice. I’ve already caught a cold from him.

Its been good to read the posts on this thread, thank you everyone. It provides a sense of proportion, I’m afraid I’ve structured my life around seeing my grandchildren at least once a week; it’s important to me as they are already 9 & 10 & I want to enjoy their company as long as I possibly can. I have been a volunteer for 3 years in their primary school hearing Years 1 & 2 read. I will have to be guided by the school, re whether I should continue with that?

Today I visited my great nephew aged 6. We played for a couple of hours. I go monthly & will miss him so much. The train home was empty even in rush hour, strange & very scary times.

I know I have to be sensible & I will be but it’s going to be hard not interacting with my family. I’m am over 70 with some health issues but am fit& well with my meds & plenty of fresh air & exercise.

Please keep well & stay sane. I can’t bear too much TV & will have to read instead...

Nannatopsey, hope all is well for you and your family.

We see two of our in-town GC once a week, but will seriously think about isolating ourselves from them since DH has COPD and a heart condition. Right now my priority is my husband.
There are no cases in our area as far as we know, but it is spreading quickly and our province has taken measures to severely restrict social contact. DH is early retirement at 59, but I still work, in a 24 hr industry where my desk is shared. I need to be diligent with keeping the virus out of my home.

Praying for this to be over, though i think we are in for a long slog.

DS called to say GC will not be coming over. I know our best interest is in his heart, but I will miss them. I realize common sense is our biggest tool in the box, but tonight I am just sad. Tomorrow will be brighter I hope.

We have our GD (17 months) each week and was due to have her Thurs through to Fri this week, parents are self employed and NHS, so not easy for them but they agree it’s best for now. Luckily our other grandchildren are at home with their mum who is currently on mat leave. I spoke with both sets of parents last night and we will no longer have/see the children for at least the next month, Mother’s Day & Easter get togethers are now cancelled. DH has underlying condition and is due to have tests early next month. So terribly sad not the see Grandchildren but we know it’s not forever and DH has to be the priority at this stage. Difficult times.

I suppose its only a matter of time before the schools etc do close.
It may be ok for parents that are teachers themselves but what happens to all those parents who have other types of jobs.how on earth will they manage.

One example my DD.
Single parent works full time at Local Hopital.

One grandson 13 at secondary his brother 5 at other junior school..
5 year old goes childminders she then takes him school.

If childminders start to refuse taking children. then what do we do.
Where are the children going to go when dd has to go to work. So many different scenarios.

Only in my 50’s and still working (obviously).
I am lucky enough to be able to work from home. But I had cancer and severe sepsis in 2018 and my DH has COPD. DD’s are saying he should stay in and just me go out, but as he is currently visiting eldest DD and SIL, it will still mean tons of child care for him for DD (she has an 8 and 6 year old)
Youngest DD is a single parent and a type 1 Diabetic to boot, so high risk!
All 3 DD lean very very heavily on us daily for child care duties for the 6 DGC aged between 1 and 9 and middle DD also uses us for twice daily school run as DGD school is not near her home.
I really don’t see how I can self isolate as all AC rely heavily on me and despite the previous health issues will just have to soldier on.

We had a family conference yesterday evening and have decided, reluctantly, to stop having the GC for now.
DIL has already offered to get shopping online for us as she has pre-booked slots.
Will see how things go...

I agree bikergran . Such a worry .

Our grandchildren are mostly teenagers now.
I was thinking, how do you explain the virus situation to a young child, (maybe below 10).
How much can they understand, at different ages?
It could be frightening for children , as it is for us. So do you pretend it's not all that serious?

Similar situation here jenpax My DS and DDiL work in industry . They have 3 school aged children and rely on me to do school runs for the youngest. My DD with a baby works in a coffee shop in the city . She relies on me 2 days /overnight every week . My DH is 68 but has a lot of health problems . I am 58 and have health issues myself but I still need to run our small business . My dad is in his 80’s and relies on me for everything. I feeling distraught thinking about it all .

We have no choice but to watch our grandchild. Both parents are in jobs that will be required during this time. They will not be working from home at all. My husband will do most of the looking after as I have a health condition. We make sure our grandchild washes hands as soon as they comes in. Like others I clean before and after they have gone. There is nothing else for it. We take precautions and hope for the best. Hoping and praying the situation does not get any worse.

We have withdrawn our 12 year old grandchildren from school as they are living with us at the moment so that we can all isolate because of our underlying health problems. The schools were very supportive and are only partially open anyway because of staff shortages, and with the announcement of pregnancy being included amongst the issues,that can only get worse.

We are at my daughters for what will be the last time at the moment waiting for our grandson to come home from school. He will come in and distance himself from us until his parents come home. This is what we have been agreed between us. I am being mega careful around their house and around him, so hopefully all will be well, but the thought of not helping out is breaking my heart.

We are still planning to have two of ours for 10 days over easter. I am in a high risk group but the chances of getting C-19 are vanishingly small and worth the risk. We are partially self isolating but not really stressed about it. I have survived cancer, pancreatitis, liver infection., two recent ops. Life goes on.

Dear dancingfeet,
Please, please don’t risk your health in this way. Your children will have to cope and should not be allowing you to take these risks. At least one parent is likely to be working from home soon and they will have to manage. If they do lose their job, they may be poorer but they won’t starve to death and you would be at very high risk should you be infected.
If you (and others in similar positions) won’t do it for yourselves, then do it because the ventilator you are likely need in the event you catch Covid-19, may be denied the next patient in line.
I know you are being the opposite of selfish, I’m just scratching around for reasons that might persuade you to take better care of yourself.
We are used to making sacrifices for our children, but this is not your life for theirs; this is risking your precious life to make your adult children’s lives easier and economically better.
Would you have made that choice for your own mother in the same circumstances? To risk her life to help with your children?

DD phoned me today and said that a GP friend of hers had told her that on no account should she there be any contact between me and my grandchildren. I warned my son last week that I would be unavailable for child care if the school and nursery closed [although if it was a case of someone being ill with the virus I'd do anything that was needed].

We have a relative who is insisting on still doing the school run for his grandchildren. This is despite his wife having several health problems, including a lung condition. He has unstable blood pressure.

He says his family can’t manage without him, they might have to yet!

I normally pick younger DGD up from school twice a week, but DS has put a stop to that and is keeping both girls away, as he doesn't want to risk me catching anything from them. They are also making other arrangements for the Easter holidays.