Try in-home daycares.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are masks optional in Northern VA? The state is under a K-12 mask mandate until Youngkin is inaugurated. As far as I can tell, APS is bound by the Arlington health department (not CDC or VA Dept. of Health). Arlington health department is unlikely to go mask optional. The preschools/daycares are tripping over themselves to say they follow Arlington health department, so there we are.

Note that I was referring to daycares only. For them, the State guidance and Fairfax guidance (the only two I could find) say that masks are "recommended" but not required for children under 5. Anecdotally, I've heard from many people who say that this translates to optional masking for children under 5 at their centers.

State: https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/VADOE/2021/07/22/file_attachments/1886344/COVID-19%20Guidelines%20and%20Info%20for%20Child%20Care%20%28July%20-%20Final%29.pdf

Fairfax: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/office-for-children/sites/office-for-children/files/assets/news/pdfs/covid%20guidance%20for%20childcare-summer%202021%20.pdf

That’s good if you can find them. I’m only familiar with Arlington and I don’t know of any daycares that don’t require them over age 2. I hope they’re out there.

OP, I completely agree with you as well.
For many reasons, we ended up leaving DC and moving to South Florida.
Many will poke fun and insert FLoriduh man/Desantis joke here, but we are thriving and have never been happier.
Many many wear masks indoors but there is no mandate. Vaccines, boosters, and monoclonal antibody treatments- no issues obtaining.
Our toddler's preschool does not mandates masks for children, but some parents choose to send them, and that decision is supported. All teachers and staff wear masks the whole day.
I am very grateful that we can choose- whether to wear a mask indoors (of course, if a business requires it, we happily wear it), whether our 3 year old has to wear it, if we want to dine indoors or attend an event, etc.

Living in DC (and subsequent visits back) felt suffocating and much more about virtue signaling than following common sense and science. I chuckled at signs for restaurants and bars in logan circle that said "proof of vax required, and masks must be worn when not actively eating or drinking."

What? If you can eat indoors then the jig is up. Asking for vax proof and masks to be put on in between bites is beyond absurd.
The trump years pushed me so far left, but the DC-area response and anxiety + moving to Florida has pushed me a bit right of center.

I hope you find what you are looking for and that your (and everyone's!) families are healthy and happy!

Anonymous wrote:Where are masks optional in Northern VA? The state is under a K-12 mask mandate until Youngkin is inaugurated. As far as I can tell, APS is bound by the Arlington health department (not CDC or VA Dept. of Health). Arlington health department is unlikely to go mask optional. The preschools/daycares are tripping over themselves to say they follow Arlington health department, so there we are.

Note that I was referring to daycares only. For them, the State guidance and Fairfax guidance (the only two I could find) say that masks are "recommended" but not required for children under 5. Anecdotally, I've heard from many people who say that this translates to optional masking for children under 5 at their centers.

State: https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/VADOE/2021/07/22/file_attachments/1886344/COVID-19%20Guidelines%20and%20Info%20for%20Child%20Care%20%28July%20-%20Final%29.pdf

Fairfax: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/office-for-children/sites/office-for-children/files/assets/news/pdfs/covid%20guidance%20for%20childcare-summer%202021%20.pdf

the time it took you to write this post you could have googled no?

Where are masks optional in Northern VA? The state is under a K-12 mask mandate until Youngkin is inaugurated. As far as I can tell, APS is bound by the Arlington health department (not CDC or VA Dept. of Health). Arlington health department is unlikely to go mask optional. The preschools/daycares are tripping over themselves to say they follow Arlington health department, so there we are.

Following and I completely agree, OP. I hear that masks are optional in Northern Virginia and that many daycares there do not require them. But would also love to find somewhere in MoCo or DC.

Also, if you're interested in getting involved to help change this, a group of us is working on it. Advocacy guides and petition below; please use and share.

Montgomery County daycare advocacy guide: https://tinyurl.com/yd2jr5pu

DC daycare advocacy guide: https://tinyurl.com/57sapzjy

Petition: https://chng.it/vTzRTQKGHf

Our daycare in VA doesn't require masks for kids. And
have had zero Covid closures since June 2020.

Anonymous wrote:Dallas was not requiring masks, but they've had a 2100% increase in cases in the last few weeks and now have reinstated masks at school for the next 3 weeks.

OP- This post is exactly my point- Dallas is doing it right. Cases go up you on a mandate. When cases go down you take it off- can you believe MoCo had 10 cases per 100,000 last summer and still requires mask in camps/ schools in try fall. MoCo is so strict it’s not science based. When numbers spike everyone is exhausted and they can’t get people to do more. People can’t cope with extreme measures with no stop- especially kids!

MoCo has the same restrictions with 80 daily cases and 3000 daily cases- something isn’t right here.

Anonymous wrote:We are a pro-science, pro-public health, liberal family and believe that masks are not a good idea for our young kids. My husband is from the UK and young kids don’t wear masks there. The WHO says masks are not appropriate for young children.

I do believe now is a good time for everyone to be wearing masks- however when COVID numbers. One back down to where we were last summer I want the masks off.

I am looking for a school district that puts kids first and follows the science. I am SICK of living in Montgomery county and seeing vaccinated parents wearing masks outside- this is virtue signaling/ political statement and not science based.

We have all gone mad. Is there anywhere we can move that isn’t too Trumpie?

Such a contradiction here. But at least, OP, you recognize that you are the one who has gone mad, and not the so-called "Trumpies." We are living life quite peacefully, thank you very much.

Dallas was not requiring masks, but they've had a 2100% increase in cases in the last few weeks and now have reinstated masks at school for the next 3 weeks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with you, OP. I’m also in MoCo. We found a preschool that recommends but does not require masks on kids under age 5. Once your kids are 5+, I’m not sure there are any that allow kids to unmask?

I often fantasize about moving somewhere else… the level of anxiety here is just off the charts. It’s so unhealthy for children.

Which pre-school is it? I am really struggling with the same thing.

Would you be willing to share? We are looking for a non- mask preschool as well. We go to the Audubon outdoor preschool and they say they will be keeping masks even outside for the foreseeable future. We love the school but it’s not good for our kid with speech delay.

Anonymous wrote:I agree with you, OP. I’m also in MoCo. We found a preschool that recommends but does not require masks on kids under age 5. Once your kids are 5+, I’m not sure there are any that allow kids to unmask?

I often fantasize about moving somewhere else… the level of anxiety here is just off the charts. It’s so unhealthy for children.

Which pre-school is it? I am really struggling with the same thing.

I agree with you, OP. I’m also in MoCo. We found a preschool that recommends but does not require masks on kids under age 5. Once your kids are 5+, I’m not sure there are any that allow kids to unmask?

I often fantasize about moving somewhere else… the level of anxiety here is just off the charts. It’s so unhealthy for children.

We are a pro-science, pro-public health, liberal family and believe that masks are not a good idea for our young kids. My husband is from the UK and young kids don’t wear masks there. The WHO says masks are not appropriate for young children.

I do believe now is a good time for everyone to be wearing masks- however when COVID numbers. One back down to where we were last summer I want the masks off.

I am looking for a school district that puts kids first and follows the science. I am SICK of living in Montgomery county and seeing vaccinated parents wearing masks outside- this is virtue signaling/ political statement and not science based.

We have all gone mad. Is there anywhere we can move that isn’t too Trumpie?