I feel like a lot of people have a similar dilemma to OP. If daycares are open, most people will send their kid. If they closed daycares and set up certain ones to take kids of emergency personnel it would be so much better for society and help flatten the curve.

I’d send for a shortened day 2 or 3 days a week.

Keep him hom and put him in front of the TV as much as you can. It won't kill him.

Unless you are essential personnel, particularly hospital, stay home with your children.

I would only send if you literally had no other option.

Anonymous wrote:I would keep sending to daycare as long as it’s open. It’s going to be very stressful for you otherwise.

Schools closing are to stop/slow the spread of the virus. Yes, op, you are lucky. You have telework open to you. So you should have your kid at home with you.

Anonymous wrote:We are a two parent working family with a 5 yo. DH is a first responder and will need to work. I am a fed with good telework in place already. My coworkers are mostly child free, and my supervisor is older with one grown child. Since we are already mostly remote, the expectation is productivity. Not necessarily 8 hard core hours, but results are expected.
For now, my child’s daycare is open. But is it irresponsible to send him when I could keep him home and do a gliding schedule/split hours, work early, work late etc as others are doing? What are you doing if your daycare is open?

Send him as you need. When your husband is working, your situation is exactly the type of situation that is ok and should have the option available.

I would keep sending to daycare as long as it’s open. It’s going to be very stressful for you otherwise.

Anonymous wrote:There are situations where it is not irresponsible, like if both you and your husband were first responders/medical personnel and had no other options. But you do have other (albeit unpleasant) options. So yes, I think it would be irresponsible for you.

This. Yes, this will be hard, but you have ONE child. A 5 year old, who isn’t in school, so there are no expectations about school work. There are tons of schedules floating around for this. Find one, and alter it to your situation. Yes, you will need to work 12+ hours most days to get your 8 hours in. I’ve done it and it sucks. But we are in a pandemic.

Do you have an option to use daycare as something of a drop in? We may do that, trying to wfh with DD around but bringing her in for a few hours if I'm on a big call or something. Our daycare is <10min walk away though. I don't know, but I feel like reduced hours still offers an overall benefit to society. But with things changing so quickly we may keep her home entirely (or daycare may close, leaving us with no choice).

My daycare is closed until April 20th. Yes I think it’s irresponsible to send your kid

There are situations where it is not irresponsible, like if both you and your husband were first responders/medical personnel and had no other options. But you do have other (albeit unpleasant) options. So yes, I think it would be irresponsible for you.

I would keep home if possible. Part of this is to also try not to overwhelm health system with other things. Imagine your child catching RSV right now or getting croup? Even just having to go to the pediatrician for a rash. And if they get a normal kid cold of cough and fever you will be super worried. I am teacher whose school is doing virtual school for kids. I am expected to teach my normal schedule while kids dial in to class. I can’t split shift because I have to teach when kids are online. But I am going to try really hard to keep my 18 month old home. I am higher risk (pregnant) and have a mother in law who lives with us. Trying to limit exposure to as many germs as possible.

It is not ideal and is going to be insane (and also trying to teach 5 year old when her school sent almost NOTHING home for 6 weeks of closure). But hearing stories of people having to keep dead bodies in their homes or going to the hospital knowing there are no beds feels like it is worth it to be over cautious

Send him. You can keep a sliding schedule up for months. Reality must be accepted, even if social distancing would be better for public health.

We are a two parent working family with a 5 yo. DH is a first responder and will need to work. I am a fed with good telework in place already. My coworkers are mostly child free, and my supervisor is older with one grown child. Since we are already mostly remote, the expectation is productivity. Not necessarily 8 hard core hours, but results are expected.
For now, my child’s daycare is open. But is it irresponsible to send him when I could keep him home and do a gliding schedule/split hours, work early, work late etc as others are doing? What are you doing if your daycare is open?