Chat about Novel Coronavirus - 2019-nCoV - COVID-19

It's just impossible to work effectively in this environment. We're lucky to have a large house and space but nothing cuts through like your baby crying. It's literally impossible to ignore.

I flit between resenting the loud noises that make it hard to do my job, to resenting the fact that I have to do my job so I can't spend more time with Ayla.

Just a constant feeling of missing out. Finding it tough to compartmentalise.

More time at home was nice, I’ll admit.
But nearing 8 months and not having been able to socialise with the wider family, go to the funky baby groups (wriggle and rhyme, sensory) and a sudden realisation a couple of weeks ago that compared to #1 he doesn’t have friends in his direct age group is starting to give me massive guilty feelings.
We’re privileged to be as secure as you can be work-wise, have close family nearby, all healthy and have a lot to be thankful for, but above all it feels like a shit time to have introduced someone to the world.
Edit - I know this sounds really self-obsessed. We’ll make it up to the little guy! I’m also all too aware some couples would give anything to be in this position- so forgive me!

I became an uncle for the first time in June and haven’t seen my nephew too much, he lives less than a mile away.

Problem has been less working from home, more nowhere for mum or dad to take toddler and interact with other humans for sanity purposes so the other can get some shit done.

Fortunately toddler has discovered YouTube videos

Hilariously, I am now in trouble because I had no idea what our 12 month old's birthday is.

Yeah this! In fact, even my baby name is similar!

If you'll forgive the rant, it's been a bit of a nightmare since the start for us: not being able to visit my partner in hospital when she was taken in early before the baby was born, then kicked out immediately after a very stressful birth and not allowed to visit for all the time they were kept in afterwards, no homevisits for the first couple of months from any of the usual midwives etc meaning medical issues missed, only one of us allowed into hospital when we've had to dash to A&E in the night etc etc.

Once back at work, like you say, very hard to work with the constant interruption and crying - has just meant I've not been able to work to even 50% of normal productivity, while also being no help at all with the baby.

For my partner, loads of the NCT group events have been cancelled, 'sing n sign' cancelled, swimming cancelled, general ability to go anywhere/do anything compromised, one set of grandparents only meeting their granddaughter once so far.

Has caused a unpleasant breakdown of hitherto rock solid mental health, and we've only been saved by a family member staging an intervention essentially, and bubbling up with us.

So yeah, I'm all for the bubble.

Bozza can still do one mind.

Fortunately toddler has discovered YouTube videos

pls shield him from GCN

What's the story with '16 or 17 living with others of the same age and without any adults'?
Strangely specific. This must be an indirect way to describe a particular kind of institution or living arrangement that people enter at the age of 16 and leave at the age of 18?

Boarding school? Army?

Young people in care

If you have a secure job and WFH, it might have been nice to have more time at home I suppose

Very much this here. Don't mean to rub it in anyone's face, but we moved out of Forest Gate to the Hertfordshire countryside in Spring '19 and had little one. So to have all this time of no commuting, no late nights home, going for walks in the country around the lakes, watching him grow as I tap away behind a laptop...
I know I'm in a VERY fortunate position and lots of my friends have been struggling.

He is #3 for me though, I can remember hardly ever seeing my eldest as I was out the house for work 12hours a day, having to work extra days and never getting any AL authorised...

I just wish i could get some parents here (again) for some free child care while i ride my bike/be in the pub.

I dont mind paying for childcare but nursery has been flaky. Parents never fail otherwise i will rate them like 2 out of 5 stars.

Once the magical phase is over, children are quite boring.

I mean i am getting no benefits of first world and no benefits of outsourced labour.

We both have been WFH, saves commuting time for my partner and I.

But even so you don't feel you have much time to really replace school. Guilt isn't the right word but it's not ideal.

My 11 year old did ok and did his homework, no problems with intermediate tests last month, still doesn't feel "better", like you should spend time but in reality you are chained at your desk to work.

I will WFH more often but my partner prefers to go to work to annoy people irl (project management face to face works better with some people)

We have no family nearby, we do share care with my ex (50/50) and parks nearby so don't want to complain too much.

It's nor super heaven nor super hell I guess.

Once the magical phase is over, children are quite boring.

It's cyclical.

Mine is in a useful phase as she can fetch beer and snacks from the kitchen but hasn't yet got to the point where she just hides in her bedroom all day.

a useful phase as she can fetch beer and snacks

Tell me more about this phase

Got mine (nearly 3yr old) to do up a screw on some flat pack furniture with a power drill and it nearly floored him when the screw bottomed out. Good times.

How old is yours? 43?

Doctor in the family working in Glasgow has reported lots more cases in her relatively low-population area. Forecasting huge spike by February and hospitals will be emergency only soon. She’s thinking of us in London.

Not great news.

Ive recevied an NHS notification to self isolate. Only outdoors activity has been shops (brief visits). Figure likely trigger is downstairs neighbours who have come down with Covid (was planning on acting as their personal shopper) but have avoided contact with them (we are on good terms) given potential for infection. Does anyone know if same building different floor is likely to trigger false NHS alert?

It's Bluetooth-based isn't it, so it's just line of sight distance? My OH gets lots of pings from the app - we think it's because her WFH desk is in the bay window of our front room, so her phone picks up anyone walking past on the street.

The app has no concept of direction or walls, only estimated distance from Bluetooth signal strength, so someone living downstairs could certainly trigger it.

One of the things it also relies on is how long you've been in contact with the same device/person, so if there's no one else that could apply to it's a reasonable bet it's them.

This support bubble stuff is bollocks for most people. Another benefit that is either designed to or ‘unfortunately’ excludes the working classes.

e.g. Mum and Dad can’t work from home because Dad is a mechanic and Mum works in Sainsbury’s. Grandparents both still work. albeit less, but live 3 bus rides away and don’t have a car to come and get baby. Even if they did it would be hard with Grandads poor health from 45years on the tools as a builder. So mum and dad do their best to cope but Mum is about to lose her job because she can’t keep missing days when the supermarket is so busy but has to stay home because school/nursery is shut and who will look after the kids all day? Dad’s not having a great time at work either as there’s less cars to fix with everyone at home and all his weekend overtime has gone so there’s less money about and the small savings they had made for a holiday to centerparks will instead be spent on getting through this.

This virus and the governments response to it are pushing the vulnerable closer and closer to the edge every day. It’s heartbreaking.

Money is being hosed around and hitting nothing.

I can’t afford centerparcs. Shit, am I working class?

Gov; you want us to STOP people from leaving Tiers 4??

France; block border