Play dates? Playgrounds?

[Anonymous]

DD is an only child. Will lose her mind if she goes weeks without other kid contact. No school, activities, no library, no church, no indoor play spaces (despite cries for trampoline park), birthday parties are a given.

What level of seeing other kids (or people in general) are you going to do with your kid?

I.e. can I let her bike ride with neighbor kids? Do a play date with 1 other friend? Go to neighborhood playground?

Or should we be on (mostly) lock down mode?

I’m high risk as are her grandparents who she sees a few times a week. It’s more others than her that I’m worried about. But, kid mental health is important too...

[Anonymous]

I'm planning to let mine go to the park a lot. Plus nature walks, walking to dog, etc.

[Anonymous]

I think the playground is fine. The weather will be nicer

[Anonymous]

Are you just trying to bailout from taking care of the kid at home? Yes ? It’s okay to say..

[Anonymous]

Op here - not bailing out. My 5 yr old kid will be going crazy stuck at home 24/7 for weeks without kid contact. She needs a few hours a week or an hour day of other contact with a human under 40.

[Anonymous]

Stay away from playgrounds, please. You may as well be in school if you do that. I'd say parks with open space for bike riding and such are okay. Limit playdates. Really, you'll be okay.

[Anonymous]

We also have an only child. She's 3 and her preschool is open for now, but if/when it closes, we'll still take her to the playground behind our house.

We are likely still taking her to her gymnastics class because they only hold one class at a time, so it will be her and her 2 friends. For now, I'm comfortable with that level of contact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We also have an only child. She's 3 and her preschool is open for now, but if/when it closes, we'll still take her to the playground behind our house.

We are likely still taking her to her gymnastics class because they only hold one class at a time, so it will be her and her 2 friends. For now, I'm comfortable with that level of contact.

If you were immunocompromised or 70 would you feel that way? If not, you should think about others and not go. I wouldn't be okay with that and my guess is they'll cancel classes anyway to keep people like you from not doing the right thing.

[Anonymous]

I think the goal is to lengthen the curve of infection, not to stop it in its tracks, right?

If so, then what makes sense is cancelling all large gatherings.

We're planning on trying to make a mini community with a couple other families in the neighborhood, and just accepting that there's some risk associated with that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the goal is to lengthen the curve of infection, not to stop it in its tracks, right?

If so, then what makes sense is cancelling all large gatherings.

We're planning on trying to make a mini community with a couple other families in the neighborhood, and just accepting that there's some risk associated with that.

As long as everyone understands the risks and they won't be coming into contact with outside people who may die because of this. So many people are downplaying it, but then you look at the mortality rate in those countries with effective testing and it's still alarming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the goal is to lengthen the curve of infection, not to stop it in its tracks, right?

If so, then what makes sense is cancelling all large gatherings.

We're planning on trying to make a mini community with a couple other families in the neighborhood, and just accepting that there's some risk associated with that.

As long as everyone understands the risks and they won't be coming into contact with outside people who may die because of this. So many people are downplaying it, but then you look at the mortality rate in those countries with effective testing and it's still alarming.

I know a bunch of people who were sick recently and are all convinced they had covid19. Um, no they didn't. It's amazing how people are trying so desperately to believe this "isn't that bad".

[Anonymous]

Playground = germs. Better off at a park or the woods.

[Anonymous]

We are playing in the backyard only for now.

I discussed with a couple other moms and we said in a week if things seem not horrible we might meet at a playground.

But if this goes on for a long time, it will be because it was bad, in which case you will feel good about just staying home entirely. If it doesn't go on for a long time, then it won't have been that long that you're kid will have been without friends to play with. So for now I think the safest bet is to stay home and not interact with people outside your immediate family.

I mean, for heaven's sake, they're building mass graves in Iran and people are dying in hallways at hospitals in Italy (citation: Washington Post for the first and Newsweek for the second). This is real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here - not bailing out. My 5 yr old kid will be going crazy stuck at home 24/7 for weeks without kid contact. She needs a few hours a week or an hour day of other contact with a human under 40.

She really doesn't. I have a five-year-old girl as well. I promise, this won't kill her, and since you have risk factors, I would be very careful. Can she FaceTime some friends? Just consider that every person you come into contact with has been in contact with dozens of people you would not otherwise interact with. Also, the virus CAN LIVE UP TO NINE DAYS on surfaces, so I'd think twice about the playground. I am not an alarmist, but I'm also trying to be reasonable about the things our kids can live without for a while.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are playing in the backyard only for now.

I discussed with a couple other moms and we said in a week if things seem not horrible we might meet at a playground.

But if this goes on for a long time, it will be because it was bad, in which case you will feel good about just staying home entirely. If it doesn't go on for a long time, then it won't have been that long that you're kid will have been without friends to play with. So for now I think the safest bet is to stay home and not interact with people outside your immediate family.

I mean, for heaven's sake, they're building mass graves in Iran and people are dying in hallways at hospitals in Italy (citation: Washington Post for the first and Newsweek for the second). This is real.

This. Stop thinking that this would never happen in the US. We will be incredibly lucky if it doesn't.