Make Children's clothing stores an essential service.

Hello My name is Chanelle,

I am starting this petition to see if some of my family, friends, and I can possibly make a difference during this difficult time. Before I voice my concerns I'd just like to say that when Covid was first declared a global pandemic last year I was a nurses aid in a Hospital in England. I worked on a Covid ward and saw people with the virus first hand. Covid is very real and I believe in taking precautions in protecting ourselves and the vulnerable. That being said this current lockdown with the new restrictions on essential needs has me concerned enough to create this petition 

Children's clothes, however adorable they may be, are not something we parents buy for fun or for luxury. We by them out of necessity to keep our children clothed and covered from the elements. Keeping babies and children's clothing stores closed during the lockdown is nothing  short of outrageous and I will explain why I think so. 

First and foremost clothing is essential for ALL especially young children, because they grown rapidly. Every parent can vouch for that. As we are all aware this lockdown has now gone on for basically 2 months. Children did not stop growing just because there was a lockdown. My infant was wearing size 3 months when this started  and now she has grown, as all babies do. She is now wearing sizes 6 -9 months.  She is now down to one pair of pj's during this rapid growth spurt and can no longer fit into her sleep sacks, which help her to sleep. I suppose people may think, well there was warning before the lockdown why didn't you stock up? Well yes we had I believe two days warning, but I work full time from home and my husband goes away for 2 weeks at a time for his job. That wasn't enough time for us as I'm sure it wasn't enough for many other families. Also not every family had the funds to stock up on months of items within two days. The lockdown was only supposed to last three weeks we are at two months and clothing stores are still not to open until mid June supposedly. 

These are my concerns and yes, we have curbside pickup and yes there are online stores, but the point of this petition is to help whoever made these rules realise that babies and children's clothing are essential and its not right that parents aren't able to buy what they need for their children. Grocery stores and Walmart are all open and we are wearing our masks and continuing  social distancing and have hand sanitzers in place in all open stores. So why can we not still have clothing stores open for our kids with these same precautions? And this includes thrift stores for children to include low income families and families who can't necessarily afford a $15-$20 pair of pajams for their infant when they need to buy 7 for the whole week. 

I believe that's all I have to say for now and I know I'm not the only concerned parent in Ontario or in Canada . I just think its a foolish rule and should be reevaluated. Babies and children's clothing ARE ESSENTIAL. Please help me sign this petition if you agree.

Thank you for your time. 

Chanelle    Contact the author of the petition