New school term, risks for grandparents

I still see my teenage grandkids have a cuddle and don’t think about it
I think we cannot go on living this awful solo existence so unless you live in a highly contagious area I feel we need to get back to normal and take what chance you feel happy to take
If I lived in a lockdown area I would act differently

If so many of you will not be seeing your grandchildren from September are you feeling that it is not safe for schools to re start then ?

Marydoll get the head teacher to send information about behaviour at the school gates.Crowding is unacceptable.The staggered times seems to be working well for our school and my other GD 's class is being let out of a side door onto a quiet street where parents can distance until the children make their way across to them . It just needs guidance from the school so parents behave themselves !

So much is unknown about this virus that I have adopted the cross that bridge when we come to it attitude. There is still another two weeks before term starts for my DGC so I will reassess the situation when the time comes. I trust the schools to have the safety measures in place as best they can.

Small children have always been covered in germs for such things as influenza, colds, D&V, shingles. etc - always have This is why new teachers can spend so much of their first year or two in the classroom, actually out of it as they are poorly.
Do you all avoid all your g.children because of these illnesses - and some of them can be very serious and lead to life long problems?
Like others on here, I accept that I have only a few years left (if I am lucky) and am most definitely not going to lock myself away for however long I have left.
Good hygiene, lots of hand washing and I will carry on with my nearly normal life.

Taliya

Children are asymptomatic and also they don't seem to pass the virus on. Its children who are teenagers that are more likely to pass the virus on to others not children under 11 apparently.

There's still a lot of doubt about that. Children can be asymptomatic, but not always. Some research in Chicago suggested that they also shed the virus.

I am of the view that each family must decide for themselves as to how much risk they are prepared to take. This virus is not going anywhere for the foreseeable future so we have to learn to live with our own new normal.
I am going to stay with DD1 and 3 of my granddaughters tomorrow for 5 days. I haven't seen them for 6 months and I doubt I will see them again before Christmas.
I have seen DD2 and my other 2 granddaughters twice in the last 6 months.
DH and I are being sensible, have seen his daughters and grandchildren a few times, usually in the garden but life has to go on and we cannot stay isolated for ever.
Let us all hope that there isn't a second wave this winter.

Not all children are asymptomatic.

SillyNanny321

I have decided that at 75 there is something ‘out there’ with my name on it. Whether it be the virus or something else I cannot just sit hidden away going not very slowly nuts! I have no hope of going back to the Volunteering that I did for 26 years before Lockdown but I am not spending my last few years not seeing my DGC! I have missed so much through Lockdown so will carry on being careful ( social distancing most people & masks) but will see & hug my family while I can! If this sounds selfish it is not it is my decision to see my DGC as much as possible before something with my name on grabs me!

Totally with you on that Silly Nan. I thought it all over very seriously, and decided that for me, seeing my family including little greatgrandsons was more important to me; it quality of life over quantity.

Children are asymptomatic and also they don't seem to pass the virus on. Its children who are teenagers that are more likely to pass the virus on to others not children under 11 apparently.

One of my grandchildren is a ferry and 100 mile drive away and we have not seen him since December. He has just started school. I'm so conflicted about going to see them. We would be staying separately as they dont have room for us, and were we stay has plenty of outside space and is near beaches and forest walks. The other problem is the unpredictable weather! Our other grandchild is only 15 months and we see him indoors.

Thisismyname1953

I’ve been having my dgd for 4 weeks of the summer holidays and I will also be having her as and when needed after her return to school . I have type 2 diabetes so should be shielding but life goes on. I’m at just as much risk by living with my daughter who is a nurse working with covid patients. Saying that there are less than 10 of them in the hospital at the moment .

I'm a Type 2 diabetic with a history of heart disease and I was never told to shield - I was never on any official government list. Nevertheless, I chose to keep social contact to an absolute minimum (and still do).

EllanVannin

It means that I won't be seeing my GGC---again. They'll be forgetting who I am !
Not only that, how long do ministers think we who are " older " are going to live ? I'm not saying I'm on borrowed time but you never know the minute.

I don't take that much notice of what the government "tells" me to do.

However, I do take notice of real risks. If there's a chance I'm going to be in close contact with anybody if whatever age, I think very carefully about the chances that they could already be infected and be asymptomatic. I wouldn't trust all parents to check their children before school and not to send them, if it meant that they might have to lose a day's pay.

I’ve been having my dgd for 4 weeks of the summer holidays and I will also be having her as and when needed after her return to school . I have type 2 diabetes so should be shielding but life goes on. I’m at just as much risk by living with my daughter who is a nurse working with covid patients. Saying that there are less than 10 of them in the hospital at the moment .

Luckygirl and Maybee I don't have grandchildren, but if I did, I wouldn't go near them until we know how the situation works out and then I'd weigh up the risks. I did see one of the John Campbell videos about children. I've also watched the Independent Sage videos and read the DELVE report.

There are over 8 million school children who are due to go back to school in September. Up to now, they've been in limited circulation. Yes, I know some of them have been mixing, but not in groups of 30 cooped up together for five hours without social distancing in poorly ventilated rooms. Those are precisely the conditions people are told to avoid.

The test and track system is still not working efficiently, so there could be widespread transmission before anybody is even aware.

We just have no experience or accurate data on what will happen. It would be absolutely fantastic if transmission rates don't rise, but there are no guarantees.

I will continue to see my grandchildren as I look after them if mum is working in an evening, she is a single parent. I am in my '60's have worked full-time throughout the pandemic and am, fortunately, in good health.

It means that I won't be seeing my GGC---again. They'll be forgetting who I am !
Not only that, how long do ministers think we who are " older " are going to live ? I'm not saying I'm on borrowed time but you never know the minute.

We have two 4 year old GC and they totally accept that there are germs that can make granny and grandpa sick so they can’t get too near. We explained if they forget and get too near, we can just hold our hand up and that means “remember not to get too near”. They think it’s a great game seeing how near they can get before the hand goes up but they never sneak up.

Exactly my thoughts re exacerbation Lucky. Also, DD and GDs telling us they couldn’t live with the guilt, possibly asymptotic and passing it on to us. Both 70 and DH is high risk

Another factor is the importance of getting children back into full time education, a priority for all to consider.

I’m in the shielding category, and up until lockdown looked after 2 of my dgc at least once a week after school, and another 3 on an adhoc basis when regular childminder was on holiday. I’ve seen the first 2 on a fairly regular basis (I’ve big garden& they live locally) but my son has made it very clear that I’ve not to think about it now that they are back at school. Maybe very distant garden visit once they see how things are settling at school. Managed to get a wee cuddle from my first great grandchild at the weekend. They live a fair distance and I really appreciated them making the trip with a week old baby to allow that to happen. I’m content to stay put in order to stop my family any extra worry about me getting I’ll. I just wish they could find a vaccine soon. I’m 74, heart problems and, with cancer that has already metastasised from bowels, to liver, and gall bladder. All dealt with successfully with various ops, and very strong chemo but it’s possibly raised its ugly head again. Dealing with that is bad enough without Covid on top

this virus....

growstuff: DrJohn Campbell has done a couple of blogs re children and schools recently. His take on it is that children have always been spreaders of cold and flu and he sees no reason why their virus is any different. Also that under fives carry a huge viral load. What he did suggest is that, although children, thankfully don’t, in general suffer as bad with the virus they still, in many cases, show the same symptoms. So, in the morning before children go to school parents should take their temperature and also ask them to smell something eg coffee because children also get anosmia as a symptom. My daughter and her friends are driving their children to school because they don’t think the bus drivers will be able to police mask wearing on the buses. I still won’t be seeing any of my family indoors for the foreseeable future. However, if it was down to one of my children risking redundancy without my help then my maternal instinct would override concerns for my own personal safety. Thus far that hasn’t been the case.

It appears that it is a pupil who has the virus and a team has gone into school to test everyone.

I have not gone into a bubble with either of my local DDs precisely because their range of outside contacts is large. We see each other lots outside though.

I do think that the problem of spread will be exacerbated by the return to school and that it is wise for grandparents to be cautious in the family contacts once the children return.

Our main problem is not our four year old granddaughter, who has also been sheilding, but the selfish parents who crowd, push and shove at the school gates.

A primary school a couple of miles down the road has the first positive case in months here. That's very worrying.