Well straight from the off today has been all work related. Again sifting through government documents to try and make head or tail of what we could or should do and when that may happen depending on how things pan out over the next few weeks!
I have canvassed our parents to see who would like their child to return to pre-school in June and, to be honest, I have been surprised at how many would like their child to attend. I'm not sure if I was a parent of a school aged child, and could continue to look after my child at home, whether I would want them to return just yet.
Now don't get me wrong we have a very small number of parents who are key-workers and obviously need the care that we could provide for them, and equally the response from the majority of our parents has been that whilst they would love for their child to return they understand the complexities involved and are willing to be flexible. Attendance patterns are likely to have to change, along with start and finish times as well as the number of children we will be able to look after at any one time. So lots of planning ahead which may or may not come to fruition. If the easing of lockdown restrictions results in a spike in cases I can see there being a push back on schools re-opening. We also have teaching unions objecting to the current proposals arguing that there is insufficient time for schools to get prepared as well as concerns over safety for all the teaching staff. It will be interesting to see how this develops over the course of the next few days and weeks.
Simon and I took our usual walk out at lunchtime, this time going over the fields and taking a particularly hilly route! It was grey and windy and we only saw a handful of people out and about. Mid-afternoon Molly and I jumped in the car and took my dad a piece of Molly's birthday cake. We passed the cake through his living room window and spent a little while chatting with him at an appropriate social distance. It was the first time that Molly has seen her grandad since our lockdown began.
So there we are another day done in lockdown or whatever it is that we are calling it now...is it just me or is this whole easing of lockdown just a tad unclear? The previous message of 'Stay Home' was clear...it meant exactly what it said but with this new version of 'Stay Alert' what am I actually staying alert for? What should I be on the look out for? Do I need special glasses? OK so I know I am being a little facetious but I'm sure you get my point. I have this unnerving feeling that we are coming out of this lockdown too soon and too quickly, when the likes of Germany are reporting an increase in cases just after they've started easing out of lockdown says to me (and obviously I am no scientific expert, just someone with, I hope, an amount of common sense) that we should stop what we are doing, reinstate the 'Stay Home' message and just hold out a little longer!
Unfortunately, only time will tell and I hope that I am proved wrong.
Take care, and stay home!
xx
