Keep masking, which is easy enough and pretty effective. Try to keep social things outdoors for as long as possible. Not going to stress over it too much, and I would actually love to start seeing people again. I might even start seeing certain people indoors over the winter as long as they are comfortable with it. Kids are in school now.

The biggest conflicting thing is family - particularly what to do with grandparents. And what to do with the holidays. Now that the kids are in school, I feel we have to be more cautious about contact with grandparents.

Anonymous wrote:If there is not a reasonable pathway back to school next fall, or even in January, I'll move somewhere that kids can go in person, or find a private school.
Otherwise we are doing everything we can with precautions and wearing masks.

You will need to move. Most taxpayers will.

If there is not a reasonable pathway back to school next fall, or even in January, I'll move somewhere that kids can go in person, or find a private school.
Otherwise we are doing everything we can with precautions and wearing masks.

Anonymous wrote:Living life as best we can. Also moving out of the DC area and enrolling kids in private schooL that are back full time.

My kids have been seeing friends since June. We haven’t done many indoor events. No way will we quarantine. We will take recommended precautions but we will live life as best we can.

+1. Also moving. The protests and lack of school this fall showed me that my priorities don’t align with those of the local government. I prioritize safety and education for my family. DC cant offer me that.

Mostly living a normal life except no parties or events with a large number of people. Also only traveling via car for vacations.

Living life as best we can. Also moving out of the DC area and enrolling kids in private schooL that are back full time.

My kids have been seeing friends since June. We haven’t done many indoor events. No way will we quarantine. We will take recommended precautions but we will live life as best we can.

OP, I don't have quite as gloomy a forecast as you do on vaccines, but I think it will be about a year before they're widely available.

We'll keep doing what we're doing: masks, staying outdoors, hand-washing. Those are easy to adapt to. Our elementary kids are doing a learning hub through their aftercare provider and we'll ride that train as long as we can; ditto for the youngest, who's in daycare. We know there will be disruptions to care, and we'll use leave when we need to, knowing that we're very lucky to have that opportunity (and have stable jobs). There's one other family we're seeing inside; their youngest is at daycare with our youngest, and our older kids all get along well. It would be great if we could expand that circle to one other family, but we really like these friends, thankfully. We'll see a few other families outdoors only, too.

Our plan is to enjoy seeing our friends and family outdoors while the weather is good and we are able to. Mitigate risks, where masks, wash our hands. Stay away from crowded areas. Outdoor dining, outdoor visits to friends and family. In person school when they begin, and outdoor team sports. I am not holding my breath for a vaccine as we won't be taking it for a few years anyway.

Living life with modifications like wearing masks and avoiding indoor social events is my basic plan. I don't think it's fair to force my children to isolate completely for years on end for a virus that objectively poses very little risk to them.

Just making the best of it day to day. My kids are doing a lot better academically since being home; my older child actually liked hving several puberty milestones ( acne, ceratin physical developments ) happen at home versus in front of some of the peers that can be very cruel

Take a look at the NYT graphs of infections and deaths. You don't have to be a great genuis to clearly see that we have gotten much better at treating Covid. At this point, much of the hysteria regarding children is purely political. Nothing to do with facts.

Staying at home, quarantining and podding. You are absolutely right about the vaccine turnaround and that doesn't even account for if/when it mutates again.

We are assuming up to 4y from now before it's really safe to be out without distancing and masks.

I have easy access to experts in this area so we are taking it very seriously and intend to rely more on PPE than a vaccine for quite a while. There have been a number of incidents where they've rushed a vaccine and killed hundreds to thousands of people.

You would also be horrified if you knew what was actually happening behind the scenes and that a lot of universities, etc, are more interested in generating good PR than actually creating things that work.

You adapt and find ways to enjoy your life, while understanding there is a chance of infection and doing what you can to mitigate the risk of spread.

For us, kids are back in school and team sports. We don't visit other's homes, and probably won't for the foreseeable future, but the weather isn't bad enough here that I foresee that being a huge issue. We'll continue to meet up with friends and family at outdoor venues. We bought a fire pit and some comfy patio furniture. Also bought a lot of new legos, puzzles, games, and kept my disney+ subscription.

If we want to travel to see elderly family, we plan it out waaayy in advance, and isolate at home and/or get tested before visiting. That is my biggest concern, how to keep relationships with my parents active, because while I'm personally comfortable with our level of risk for us, I'm not comfortable with it for my parents, and so we've made the sacrifice not to visit them, which sucks and is not sustainable long term.

Considering investing in a river or beach house since we probably won't take vacations that involve air or hotels for the next couple of years. Making sure we have masks that are comfortable. Taking pleasure in small things.

These are some of my plans.

Cases are down more than 90% in my city, so outside of mask use things are mostly "normal". So I guess I'm in the "live life" category.

Anonymous wrote:I have no hope right now that a reliable, safe, effective vaccine will be coming out anytime in the next year or so. So lets say there isn't a safe vaccine for another 1-3 years (which would be one of the fastest turn arounds for a vaccine in modern history) what is your end game? Stay at home? Quarantine? Pod? Just living your life and hoping for the best? I seriously don't have any idea what the end game is for this.

I have 3 kids and the thought of being stuck at home with them until their is a safe vaccine for them seems daunting. Right now since the weather is nice we have been going out for bike rides, playground, playing in our yard, etc. But I don't know what we will do once it gets cold out. We aren't going into other peoples houses right now and doubt we will in the future. Its all just so depressing!

So you realize they weren't starting from scratch with the vaccines, right? I think the virus will slow down a lot next spring and the vaccine will be out next summer. (I think this is possible if we have an administration change. Without that, I think we will have even more of a disaster than we have now.)

My husband was laid off so if he hasn't found something else before next summer we will have to sell our house and move. That is mostly what I am worried about. I will deal with that if it happens but that is my biggest worry now.

I have no hope right now that a reliable, safe, effective vaccine will be coming out anytime in the next year or so. So lets say there isn't a safe vaccine for another 1-3 years (which would be one of the fastest turn arounds for a vaccine in modern history) what is your end game? Stay at home? Quarantine? Pod? Just living your life and hoping for the best? I seriously don't have any idea what the end game is for this.

I have 3 kids and the thought of being stuck at home with them until their is a safe vaccine for them seems daunting. Right now since the weather is nice we have been going out for bike rides, playground, playing in our yard, etc. But I don't know what we will do once it gets cold out. We aren't going into other peoples houses right now and doubt we will in the future. Its all just so depressing!