Day 59

Day 59...

And we had another lockdown birthday today, and this time it was Simon's.

So we have had a very relaxed day that started with presents and cards; I had done another piece of artwork in lieu of a card and made Simon a low carb birthday cake - a peanut butter & jelly cake. The sponge was made with peanut butter and sandwiched with homemade raspberry chia jam and fresh cream!

My birthday artwork - The Mandalorian & The Child (Baby Yoda)

Low carb peanut butter & jelly cake

Simon also managed to sell a helmet today so we were able to send that out in the post as well before having our afternoon walk. We took one of our longer routes today, just over 4 miles which we completed in about 1 hour 30 minutes and were surprised by the amount of people who were out and about. I guess as it's the weekend people must be looking for something to do and so going for a walk in the countryside must fit that bill. Most people were considerate and smiled or spoke but yet again we had a couple of instances where we moved over to one side of the path and walked single file and others just carried on and made no effort to show any consideration whatsoever - so annoying!

Even the cows in this field were socially distancing from each other

And while having a lovely day there is still this virus hanging over us and in particular the return of schools early next month. Listening to the government today I have never heard anything so patronising and quite frankly ridiculous. Of course teachers want children back at school, of course teachers want to see their children again and get those children back into school life BUT it MUST be safe for everyone - children, parents and all staff. 

Very young children cannot socially distance; they are naturally tactile beings who like to 'get into everything', to get mucky, to have a cuddle and who have little, if any, regard for hygiene so how the powers that be think that these very young children can adhere to the guidelines and experience school in a proper manner is beyond me. Going to school under these circumstances will not be like going to school normally and that maybe as traumatising for some as being at home. Teachers will not be teaching they will need to reintegrate these children and help them cope with a new way of schooling, one where they cannot sit with their best friend or even be in the same room as their friends, they may even end up with a different teacher. There are so many factors to take into account and I fear that those making these decisions have no real idea of what teaching young children is actually all about.

Just today it was announced that 2 schools in my local education authority have had confirmed cases of COVID-19 resulting in both schools having to close and staff and children having to self isolate. These schools were only open for key worker's children which will be a much smaller number than when schools open for the recommended year groups, and one of these schools is about 4 miles away from me. Prove to staff and parents that it is safe to open and we will do, but at the moment there seems to be a lack of scientific evidence that will put our minds at ease.

Take care out there,

xx