Only children during quarantine- how is it going?

[Anonymous]

I cannot imagine how only children are doing during social quarantine right now. Especially younger ones who can’t be entertained with a device or themselves. My two are 3 and 5 and are playing together non-stop both inside and outside in the back yard. We are working and taking care of a newborn as well. I am not sure what I would do if I had to entertain them non stop as well.

[Anonymous]

My 10 year old is an introverted homebody and happy as a clam. He spends several hours per day gaming with his school friends, shrieking and laughing. Then he does his own thing. In the evenings, we snuggle up and watch television together. If it weren't for the fear and worry, we'd be having the most laid-back vacation ever.

Not a permanent plan, but we're getting along fine! Good luck with your trio.

[Anonymous]

Mine has been totally fine.She's six and pretty independent. We are both working at home but both take breaks to check in with her or do a little lesson with her or accompany her to "recess" outside. She has been pretty unbothered by the sequestering so far.

[Anonymous]

My 6 year old is loving it. She doesn't miss anybody -- we write some letters to friends but I've offered to set up video chats and she doesn't care. She'd rather do art or play in the yard. DH and I are able to split the day, so I get mornings with her and he gets afternoons. It's nice.

[Anonymous]

My 8 year old I can tell is getting sad. He finally made a best friend this year who won’t be going to his school next year and now he won’t see her. He stinks about playing by himself so I’ve been trying to homeschool him and play with him too.

[Anonymous]

I am only child who for some time lived a weird life without socialization due to my mother’s mental illness.

I read all day. I am now EXTREMELY well read!

[Anonymous]

Anyone who says it’s easier to have one kid than two is a fool.

[Anonymous]

My seven year old is a real extrovert. She’s been better than I expected. I let her play with neighbors a bit but am rethinking that now. I try to play with her, get her outside each day, we write letters and we do FaceTime calls. It’s going to be a long spring. At times she gets really ticked off and says “corona is taking away all the fun!!!”

I’m an extrovert too and miss going to work and seeing my students.

[Anonymous]

On Xbox with all the other kids chatting and playing games together.

[Anonymous]

My 7 year old is having a great time! She’s been doing a combination of crafts, playing outside, reading, watching some cartoons and baking with me. Thanks for your concern.

[Anonymous]

My 4.5 is doing well, settling into a routine and is loving being home to play with us and his toys (he's typically in full day preschool). We're facetiming everyone.
Our schedule has become the following:

6:30 I wake up, do yoga
7:00 DS wakes up, breakfast, watch a movie or shows/ I shower, start work
8:30 activity
9:30 zoom conference with preschool class
10:00 snack/ I take a break from work from 10 - 12
10:30 activity
12:00 lunch
1:00 - 3:00 nap/quiet time (he's thankfully been sleeping for 2 hrs so we can get work done!)
3:30 snack
4:00 educational app (Reading Eggs, Kiddopia)
5:00 play
6:30 dinner
7:30 bedtime

Finish up work after bed.

[Anonymous]

My 4 year old is an extrovert and also a super adaptable personality. She's been slightly more clingy, but comparable to what friends are reporting with their kids. She's happy to play on the ipad or color all day, but we're making an effort to "homeschool" for continuity and routine purposes. We chat with the neighbor kids over the fence and FaceTime with everyone we can think of. It's not ideal for any families of course, but I'm grateful I don't have to deal with sibling squabbles right now.

[Anonymous]

My 4 and a half year old is definitely missing her friends, she's a total extrovert. We've set up a lot of video chats with her buddies and I'm trying you play with her a lot but also encouraged her to play solo. I am currently 31 weeks pregnant and it's just rough because I'm exhausted and irritable all the time

[Anonymous]

9 year old extrovert. She's doing better than I thought. She gets to videochat with friends. Some of her friends already have phones and are unsupervised on snapchat and ticktok. I'm still not going to do that, but I think I will put facetime on her tablet. She's been making herself a schedule and doing pretty well sticking with it. Today we went to a big park for 1.5 hours-the hardest part was not going up to any dogs and petting them.

[Anonymous]

my dd is 13 and is doing fine. chatting with friends as they are putting together a video series. working on school assignments, doing research on viruses and sharing the info with me which is actually quite fascinating. a little bit of reading and watching tv. She is planning on making macarons this weekend to use up a bag of almond flour I bought. she is independent and quite motivated, opposite of me. she is thrilled to have this time to work on her projects.