Coronavirus: Why I sent my child back to kindergarten after Denmark's lockdown lifted

OPINION: “Did she just say what I think she said?” I asked The Dane, my partner and the father of our four-year-old child.

We were in our Copenhagen apartment listening to the Danish Prime Minister’s press conference and I was struggling to understand the Danish.

It had been four weeks since the first bombshell that Denmark was shutting down. That had taken our breath away, we were shocked and responded like most others by running to buy toilet paper, flour and yeast.

“Is she saying the little kids are going back to school?” I yelled again while furiously opening Google Translate.

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“Yes. 0-11 year olds are returning to school” he confirmed.

My social media feeds began to light up with shocked and angry parents and teachers. None of us expected this to be the first step after lockdown.

Schools and kindergartens had less than a week to prepare and adhere to a long list of seemingly impossible requirements including:

• Recommended floor area of 6m2 per child for 0-3 year olds and 4m2 per child for 3-6 year olds
• Children to play with the same small groups of 3-5, mainly outside.
• Children to sit two metres apart at tables.
• Food not to be shared
• Staff to supervise washing of hands at least every two hours, including after coughing or sneezing, before and after food.
• Drop off and collection to be done at staggered times and if possible outside school grounds

I was numb and shocked. Wouldn’t she be safer at home with me?

A part of me hoped her kindergarten would just say there was no room due to the new floor area requirement and that would be that.

But that didn’t happen, and we were offered a place.

During that time, behind the scenes the Danish education sector rose to the challenge like men sent to war, putting on a calm front and achieving the impossible.

During this time, I came to a few realisations of my own:

• We can run but we can’t hide from corona. Not in Denmark, not in New Zealand, not anywhere.
• Corona will remain, lurking like an uninvited guest in the background until a vaccine is invented.
• It is impossible to sit in a bubble indefinitely. We must find a new normal, return to work and school while minimising the risks

Slowly I felt a change in attitude from the parents around me. We were still nervous, but acceptance began to grow that this was the way forward. We just hoped the schools would get it right.

It’s an interesting journey we’ve had to make to realise who the actual rock stars are. Health workers, emergency workers, supermarket workers, cleaners and teachers. Those are my top five.

"At first we thought the new health guidelines were ridiculous, overkill, and impossible to implement but after the first day teaching with the new rules I actually feel safer than I thought I would, I’m basically only exposed to my students and grade level colleagues.

"I am, however, exhausted of all the handwashing....it takes my class of ten, 30 minutes to wash their hands” said Jessica Blatter, a teacher of 7-year olds in Copenhagen.

The day before returning to Kindergarten my daughter had a Skype play date with her friend who reminded her "Eva….tomorrow at school we can’t hug each other ok?".

My kid was ready for this, even if I wasn’t.

I had to drop my daughter off at 8.30am and we needed to be on time as staff were rostered on to meet us. She talked the whole way and I tried to match her happy mood.

In the end it was like pulling off a plaster, best done quickly. We walked around the outside of the building to the back entrance, and up the fire exit steps.

Her classroom had minimal furniture and toys. We cleaned our hands and then one of the teachers met us at the door and my daughter ran off into the barren classroom with more excitement than I’d seen in the last four weeks.

I was left standing at the doorway (I am not allowed to enter the building) wondering what I’d been worried about.

Was it weird? Yes, but it was the best-case scenario I could have hoped for her.

Fantastic systems, and communication, but most importantly those teachers, who were no doubt fighting their own wave of emotions, from shock, anger right through to acceptance, were now there with the biggest smiles on their faces making it a great first day back in this new world for the children.

The kids spend most of the day playing outside trying to keep a two metre distance but I know that doesn’t always happen, they’re four-year olds after all.

However, she now has a kindergarten bubble, and washes her hands on auto pilot, which helps us all move forward.

One last thought from a Copenhagen teacher who is adapting to her new emergency teaching role:

“I still fluctuate with how I feel. When I first heard the news about remote teaching it was like a grieving cycle (denial, anger, sadness, acceptance, etc). And that’s how I felt again when they announced we were reopening the schools, I felt angry for quite a while.But when I showed up at work and saw that it’s possible to teach this way, it got better. I don’t mind going into work now as I know I will only be interacting with my group of students.” – Jessica Blatter, teacher of 7-year olds in Copenhagen.

Thank you to all the teachers, education support staff and government officials who are helping us navigate forward as we continue the ongoing fight with corona. You are bloody rock stars.

 Keri Bloomfield lis a Kiwi living in Copenhagen with her partner and four-year-old daughter. You can follow her journey on Facebook and Instagram.