Covid-19 House Arrest Strategies

Were working from home but not easy with a 3 year old.

I went to art/hobby style shop + let him pick out some stuff.

He has spent today playing in garden with bubbles, drawing on blackboard + playing with his garage/ transformers. Actually went better then I thought as we are trying to work so loads of arts/crafts hard as we have to help him while trying to work.

The bribe of a little bit of tv at end of day also helped!

scarepanda wrote: »

We have a 3yr old and 11mth old here. I'm a stay at home parent so ive to entertain them for half the day everyday anyways. But there will be lots of painting going on here. We also make playdough so a lock of that will be made, the making of the playdough is also part of the fun. We'll go for short walks up the road, possibly more than once a day if the weather allows. Playing out in the garden. A bit of baking. Jigsaws are a big hit here as well as books. There will be a bit of TV to allow me to do the few bits around the house. Outside of that there will be a lot of free play, just generally letting the 3 yr old potter about with whatever is keeping her entertained and she's usually pretty good at including the 11mth old as well. Meals can be dragged out a bit as well. Include them in the prep and tidy up.

I stay at home too, we have a 16 mth old, 3 and 6 yr old. The hardest part about this is keeping them away from my husband who’s trying to work. He has worked remotely in the past but usually the 3 and 6yr old are in school for part of the day so it’s easier to manage just the baby! They’re finding it hard to understand Dad is working.

I have got the older two in wellies and rain suits and out the back, they’ve been making mud cakes for a while. They will be spending a lot of time outside. We’ll bake, probably go for a daily walk around the area, paint, colouring books. I did a bit of a stock up in Mr Price for arts and crafts and bits. The older girls teacher sent home a nice list of activities they can do daily. I have absolutely zero issue with TV use, we have a good few movies downloaded they can watch.

It’s an unprecedented time. Hard to know what to do. My 6 yr old is finding it hard to understand why she can’t see her friends when right outside our window there are so many kids running about on the road. I really wish other parents would heed the instructions about keeping kids apart.

We're actually lucky on the front as the kids are used to my husband working from home. He works a minimum of 3 days here, sometimes 5 days and then most Saturdays are spent with him working on videos for his side hobby and we just say he's working when he's at that aswell.

We also live in the countryside so meeting up with the local kids is usually done via parents. She's only 3 so obviously not allowed out the front/road on her own.

9 months pregnant with a 2 year old here. The two of us are climbing the walls and husband is working from home now so have to keep him away from that room too. And no wine!

Lots of painting, baking, books, singing songs etc. A few days ago he wanted to go out to dig stones with his shovel but the weather has been chronic here so I threw his Duplo on the floor and told him they were rocks. This has become a daily activity.

Youngest is 11 and she will be on school schedule. Schools have sent plenty of stuff for them to be working on with more promised for next week. No technology access during the day so it’s
Something for the evening. She has no online contact with friends from school.

Elder girl is 17 and she is studying to her school timetable. Teachers have all set work in google drive where they can do work and upload it for the teacher.

They love baking and have a list of things they want to try when they are off.

Evenings will be odd because both swim competitive and will miss training. Two early mornings and three evenings a week.

We live on our farm so lots of open spaces even if we had full lockdown.

kippy wrote: »

Kids are 'allowed' outside and to play with other kids within the restrictions announced yesterday.
It's not a lockdown or house arrest type situation.

https://twitter.com/SamanthaLibreri/status/1238466895680077825?s=20

cant26 wrote: »

Nobody is saying it’s lockdown or house arrest but there have been numerous healthcare professionals come out in the last 24 hours urging parents to act responsibly and keep children away from each other.
Personally I just think it’s lazy on parents parts, especially of young children who haven’t a clue about social distancing to just open the front door and let them off.
It’s not the midterm break or the Easter holidays it’s an unprecedented event that we should all take seriously.

It is not in any way feasible to do this to children for 5 plus weeks.
Do you have Children?

It is something that parents and most of the population are taking seriously.
It's just a pity it hadn't been taken seriously a few weeks ago by placing restrictions on those returning from or going to areas where the disease had taken holdor indeed those 200k racegoers over the past few days.
Restricting kids from playing in small groups outdoors for 5 weeks isn't an achievable target when the weather is good and there is an open space in front of the window

I have a 2 year old and an 8 month old and am only back in work a week after maternity leave. I was so ready to go back to work so this feels like it will be groundhog day! Going to fill the mornings with long forest walks or puddle jumping on the beach. I usually bring the toddler on a ramble at about 6pm anyway. I let him walk and basically follow him around our estate. I have started following a lot of Instagram and Facebook accounts that have great ideas for toddlers so hope to incorporate a bit of that into our day. My next plan is to dye grains of rice and bury things in it for him to dig through.

5 and 8 years old here. I raided Mr. Price yesterday of beads, pipe cleansers, glue, glitter, lollipop sticks etc. which I plan to drip feed to them over the next few weeks.
I'm hoping for the weather to get better so they can go out on their bikes and help me in the garden.
I won't lie there will also be a certain amount off TV and tablet watching too. My 8 year old has some school work to keep him occupied aswell.

New born and two capable kids under 8.

Cycling to the beach, frisbee, ball play, kite flying during the day. I'm working at night from home to free up the day. (With help from St. Emillion) We've relaxed (increased) screen time with strict start and stop times. They can choose between two 30 minute gaps or one hour per day. TV is ok, but they're not that interested. Schoolwork is fed online and takes about 30 minutes a day.

Other activities include car washing and general chores around the house. Cooking has become a big thing with them choosing from recipe books and taking control with me doing the sous chef stuff (dangerous stuff).

Mum is with new born. (not called Corrona)

Good call on the planting seeds, we've packs lying around from enthusiastic Lidl shopping that never came to fruition.

tempnam wrote: »

Family of 5 here. Myself, wife and 3 kids - 2, 4 & 6 years old.

House is a small 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom.

Say my wife or I develop a cough or a temperature etc... what do we do?

One od us could self-isolate in a bedroom but the kids wouldn't last too long keeping away from mammy or daddy.

If one of us has to self-isolate, can the other one still go out in public or what's the advice?

I've looked up the HSE website but they don't cover what to do as a primary care giver who might have to self-isolate.

Any advice?

They talked a lot about self isolation on the late late last night, and how to do it in a house with others. If you’re doing it properly, there’s no reason the other person can’t go out.
In terms of being a primary carer, I suppose you would be expected to get your other half to mind the kids and keep them away from you, just as they would have to mind them if you were in hospital or something

I know they’re saying to self isolate if you have symptoms but shouldn’t you also contact your gp/a&e by phone to get their advice on whether you need to be hospitalised? Obviously there will reach a critical level where people will have to be treated at home but surely they’d give you advice over the phone as to how to approach it? I read a piece on how It affected some Chinese people and it basically said they kept themselves in one bedroom with phone, charger, books. Other family members left food etc at the bedroom door and they were given specific times to use the bathroom where the others knew to stay clear. Then they had to clean down the bathroom thoroughly before returning to their room. I guess that’s one way!

tempnam wrote: »

I watched the piece.... what i don't understand though is that if 1 person in a household has to self isolate, how are other members of the family OK to still interact with others?

What I got from it is that if the person showing symptoms self isolates correctly they shouldn’t pass the virus on (using their own plates, cutlery, washing bathroom thoroughly after use) therefore the rest of the household is ok to carry on normally (well the new normal). If they then start to show symptoms they must self isolate too. Logistically it does blow my mind.

My brother has started to show symptoms. He rang his GP who told him it was just a “normal virus” and to carry on as usual. We’ve told him to ring the HSE ASAP. He has a 4yr old, 17 mth old and 5 day old baby. Along with a wife recovering from a csection. We can’t even turn up like normal to give them a hand.

Edit to clarify. The GP wasn’t referring to Covid-19 as a normal virus, he maintains what my brother has is just a “normal” virus.

tempnam wrote: »

My wife has a slight cough, but no other symptoms. She got it about a week ago - before there were any confirmed cases in the country. Reckons it's just a poorly-timed 'ordinary' cough.

She doesn't work outside the home and looks after the kids while I go to work. She wouldn't have had much interaction (if any) with people over the past few days - like her daily mid-week routine consists of walking to the supermarket while kids are at school and then collecting kids from school and going home. It's highly unlikely that she was in contact with any people affected or anyone who had come from any of the affected areas. She hasn't been outside the house since Thursday.

Wondering what we're to do next week.... do I stay off work, does she have to self-isolate in the house? - the youngest child would be heartbroken as he's extremely attached. Crazy times!

We're all staying home anyway and not going anywhere. Will call the doc on Monday and see what they have to say.

I think the standard answer in this scenario is that your wife should self isolate now, call her gp on Monday morning, and hopefully get tested asap.

jlm29 wrote: »

Isn’t that so aggravating. People are being amazingly socially responsible, and doing their best to fight this, and then doctors are saying crazy things like that.

Exactly. He wouldn’t be one for a GP anyway but was worried. Fever, chills, cough etc
HSE have referred him for testing and he’s isolating. His poor wife, 5 days post section and 3 kids to mind.

shesty wrote: »

Nuts, it is really starting to be very hard on them.I am beginning to get irritated to be honest, there is only so long you can corral perfectly healthy kids in a house, and keep them out of school and their routine indefinitely.

It’s only day 4! I feel like crying when I think of the coming weeks!

Loveinapril wrote: »

My two year old spoke with my mam today on the phone. He would usually see her a few times a week. He kept saying "nana house? Go nana's house?". It is so terrible for the little ones. My husband doesn't want us going further than the back garden but I would be okay with the local beach or park for a walk.

I’m definitely going to be hitting beaches, forest recreation areas etc over the next few weeks. I don’t know if this is going to affect my kids or my mam more

Going to be very difficult to keep young kids in the house all the time. Fine for a week or so but after a while people need to get back to a routine.

Given how mild some of the symptoms are you would wonder if the right approach is being taken. Should we be having such a work lockdown when it is only the very old and the medically vulnerable that are liable to be in trouble. Put all resources into ensuring that they are isolated and have their needs met - food, medicines, etc.

Instead we have people in their 70s and 80s going into town to do their weekly shop, mass, etc.

Schools, preschools and creches are closed yet employers are asking people to go back to work. It is a huge problem for parents once the school system is closed.