Lockdown (And Beyond) Hatchlings

[wendy james]

Sproglette is home and Elvis no longer needs me. I even got told by Sproglette that Elvis got the first cuddle when we met her off the bus.

I’m now being regaled by tales of her roommates who didn’t know how to make or strip a bed (they live on ‘planet my mum does everything for me’ apparently).

She had a wee cry on Wednesday because she missed Elvis and has gone off the deputy head who tried chivvying her out of it by saying she’d been ‘so good so far’. She rightly knows full well that it’s not bad to cry when she’s sad!

[Kleio]

Cube believes he was followed this evening. He said a van came down the road behind him and slowed down enough to make him feel uncomfortable. He crossed the road and turned into a housing estate and it followed. He then took a twisty turny route and it followed until he ducked down a cut and behind a car out of sight. It stopped for a moment then did a u-turn and drove off.

During all of this he was on the phone to me sounding so scared.

It could have just been someone trying to put the wind up up him or a massive coincidence but I’ve contacted the police and I’m downloading Hollieguard on his phone tonight.

[Cerise]

Oof, Kleio. That sounds really scary! How is he now?

[Kleio]

He’s ok but was very shaken. I obviously dashed straight out to meet him and he was only a few minutes from home so I think that helped.

We’ll see how he feels about going out again later in the week.

[smalex]

That's made me go all cold. I hope he/you are ok.

[wendy james]

I hope he’s ok.

[Kleio]

The police have been great. We’ve just had a call from the community one asking if Cube is ok and does he need any support.

[Squirrel]

Bloody hell! What a horrible experience, I bet you are both really shaken up. I’m glad he’s home safe.

[wendy james]

Sproglette has mixed feelings about her sleepover. She enjoyed seeing everyone (it ended up being L, her bestie, plus S, P and M from her former friend group and A who is L’s friend and in the other year group class) but said there was too much TikTok and not enough talking and she got a bit bored.

L picked up on it but then was getting stressed and upset that she was the host and Sproglette was the guest and isn’t into TikTok so it should have gone off, which made Sproglette feel bad so she said it was all fine.

She (Sproglette) was also a bit perplexed that she keeps hearing how unpleasant E is nowadays and how they’re not friends with her any more (and it was discussed ‘at length’ last night), but then somebody video called her for a (pleasant) chat. She’s not really come across that sort of dynamic before.

Coincidentally, they then watched Mean Girls, which I’d planned to watch with her at some point when similar themes emerged in RL so we could talk about it.

[Kleio]

Cube has gone down town with his mates and they’ve ended up riding their bikes on the beach.

He FaceTimed me, in front of his mates, to show me how beautiful the sea and the sky looked. It was so bloody cute.

[wendy james]

Aww, how nice.

[Little My]

My kids have turned into lazy slobs. For the last two weeks I have told them clearly they are to put dirty masks in the designated container by the entrance, and that water bottles and packed lunch bags need to be left on the kitchen counter when they get home. After a 3 day weekend they were still not forthcoming, so I refused to make them last-minute packed lunches this morning. (They did cobble something together themselves.) I find it so hard to stand back and let them sink, but can't go on like this and I want them to see there is a problem.

My kids are just being so awful about pretty much all responsibilities at the moment. I feel like I'm either in constant nag mode or doing everything for them.

Routine was obviously out the window for a long time, and they seem to have gotten used to a lot of free time, but getting back to normal is proving to be much harder than I expected. Anyone else feeling this? Maybe it's more a tween thing than a pandemic side-effect, or a horrible mix of the two.

[Pippedydeadeye]

My childminder has just sent a letter saying she’s closing her business on 12th November. It’s sent me into a bit of a tailspin, but I’ve suspected it was coming for a while.

I’m hoping I can get Chunk into the school’s wraparound care.

[Luce]

Little My, it is absolutely doing my head in too. It’s the repetition that is sending me doolally, not to mention the crossness about them not doing the simplest tasks.

[wendy james]

Good luck with the wraparound care Pip!

The girls were given the choice of spending a good chunk of the weekend cleaning or spreading it out over the week and opted for the latter, but as P usually forgets to remind them (I'm working when they get in from school), it often gets left. He seems to think they should remember that it's chores (homework, music practive, putting their clothes away and one cleaning task) before free time themselves, but even when they're super keen at the start, it never lasts long.

[Little My]

Thanks, it's good to know it's not just me. I feel cross too. Mostly about the time-sucking element.

B asked to make his own lunch today, with the help of me preparing some fruit and veg for him to easily incorporate. But then he faffed around so much he was running late for school. R is a lost cause at this point.

[Flora Poste]

Mine are awful at the moment - I think it is to do with them getting used to so much free time! A in particular is finding the jump from lockdown/ no clubs/ loads of screens to secondary homework expectations/ clubs/ new friends quite challenging.

The amount of huffing we have just to get basic things done is unbelievable (and that is all of them).

[Kleio]

So I don't rant all over the Covid thread I'm bringing it here.

Three of us in the house are positive and the boys are currently negative. I'm making the boys test at 7am every morning for the rest of this week (and during half term) just in case.

Both the secondary and the primary have insisted that the boys attend as they are negative and that is government guidance. That's fine, Cube can and does get himself to school every day so no changes there.

Elf needs to be taken to school (by foot or vehicle) and collected again. I can't do that. My sister could get him to school but can't bring him home. Other friends either are at work/taking children to different schools or don't want to be around a child from a covid positive household which in my mind is understandable!

So I rang the school this morning and explained my predicament. I was promised a call back and didn't get one so I called again before school was supposed to start and was informed that if I can't get Elf into school it would go down as an unauthorised absence! Then in the next breath she said that they'd ensure work got sent home! You don't get it both ways!

I argued about it of course even though I barely had the strength to talk on the phone. They said they have huge staff shortages at the moment due to covid so can't spare anyone to come and get him (fine) and as he's negative it's me refusing to get him to school (no it isn't) so after a bit of back and forth he's now off as an authorised absence. It shouldn't be this much of a fight!

[smalex]

Jesus christ. Your kid's primary has often sounded like a PITA if I'm being honest but this takes the biscuit.

[Kleio]

It never used to be this way. It was the best in the town and the staff (including the Head) were absolutely lovely and quite sensible. It went downhill a few years ago and I think the Head has had some kind of breakdown. I'm quite friendly with some staff who have left over the last couple of years and they agree - it had gone from one of the nicest schools to work in to a really toxic environment that made a couple of them leave teaching altogether.

Honestly though, unauthorised!

The worst thing about it is that the person who works in the office at the moment is SIXTEEN. He takes all the phone calls and deals with all parents and he's barely out of school himself. MY IWLTS earlier today was "can I speak to a grown up please?". I kept on at him until he gave up and passed me over to someone more senior.