Anonymous wrote:We are pretty much used to our new normal. Our kids have been playing outdoor sports for over a year. We are middle of road with covid. We have done driving trips where we rent a private house. We play sports outside. I hosted a masked outdoor party in our backyard in the spring without serving food. Did a few park and backyard play dates. Just recently started indoor play dates.

Anonymous wrote:My grandmother as a young woman lived through WWII, my mother as a kid lived through post WWII poverty, hardships and then Soviet regime.

My kid has to wear a mask for a couple of years and the education may not be optimal.

This is nothing, nothing comparing to others. Also, it’s nothing comparing to what is waiting for them ahead- climate change catastrophes and natural resources scarcity. They need to toughen up.

Anonymous wrote:I live in the Midwest. I do feel sorry for DC area kids, they have had a terrible time. My kids were back in school in-person August 2020, we started hanging out with friends, eating in restaurants, etc. May 2020. Their lives have been pretty much normal for over a year (except wearing masks but they adapted fine to that).

The people arguing that that COVID decisions are a personal choice are right, sort of, but if your entire community has chosen to lock down, who would your kids hang out with even if you wanted to be more open? When I tell my DC friends the pandemic basically ended for my area a year ago, they act like I have 2 heads. Ang guess what, our numbers are on par to slightly better than DC area. What was it all for?

In hindsight, I do feel bad for you!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The educational harm from the school closures will be generational. It's good to be realistic about this. Similarly, it's likely the health impact of covid will continue for many years, probably for our lifetimes. In other words, what your kids had before is not coming back. I don't see why you should have to pretend otherwise. Mourn it, yes, but move on. The world has irrevocably changed.

Also, climate change impact is going to make people nostalgic for covid, so consider that your kids are lucky to not have the worst of that.

No. SImply no, the harm to education will not be generational. You are delusional and have no idea what causes a generational impact on anything. You are not "realistic" about anything, you simply are a person that thrives on tragedy and sees tragedy in everything. I hate to break it to you, but our American kids are not any worse than 3 years ago.

NP and I completely disagree PP. Do you even have kids? The isolation and lack of community based activities resulting from the pandemic have been harmful to the development of our kids. For younger children and adolescents, exposure to all types of people teaches essential skills such as communication, tolerance, conflict management, and community. Simply put, healthy individuals need to learn how to interact successfully with others, and the level of interaction necessary for healthy development has not been easy to replace for most families.

Anonymous wrote:My grandmother as a young woman lived through WWII, my mother as a kid lived through post WWII poverty, hardships and then Soviet regime.

My kid has to wear a mask for a couple of years and the education may not be optimal.

This is nothing, nothing comparing to others. Also, it’s nothing comparing to what is waiting for them ahead- climate change catastrophes and natural resources scarcity. They need to toughen up.

Anonymous wrote:I live in the Midwest. I do feel sorry for DC area kids, they have had a terrible time. My kids were back in school in-person August 2020, we started hanging out with friends, eating in restaurants, etc. May 2020. Their lives have been pretty much normal for over a year (except wearing masks but they adapted fine to that).

The people arguing that that COVID decisions are a personal choice are right, sort of, but if your entire community has chosen to lock down, who would your kids hang out with even if you wanted to be more open? When I tell my DC friends the pandemic basically ended for my area a year ago, they act like I have 2 heads. Ang guess what, our numbers are on par to slightly better than DC area. What was it all for?

In hindsight, I do feel bad for you!

Monday morning quarterbacking. Everyone forgets that we DIDN’T KNOW how seriously this was going to affect kids and frankly we still don’t. If ever a situation called for an abundance of caution it would be during a pandemic. Yeah looking back we probably could have had more schools open but that’s all hindsight. As we see more children being hospitalized with Delta it makes sense that there is a lingering concern. The places that kept schools open took a risk and did so out of an ideological devotion to Trump - not because they were concerned about kids well being.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Covid sucks for all of us, but I'm really struggling with what it is taking away from kids. My kids have given up more than a year of early elementary school and all of the learning and socialization and guided activities and play. Their parents have been super stressed out having them home while working full-time to make ends meet, and it has changed our relationship. We have good times together, but a lot of the time we are just maxed out and don't parent well. They have to deal with so much worry about illness. One parent got asymptomatic covid and they worried the parent was going to die... but they also covered their mouths and held their breath when they were safely inside and saw the parent outside the back door (masked) coming up to get food left outside for them during a 10-day isolation. They have had to miss camp due to covid exposure. Through all of this, they have lost their sense of safety and a carefree childhood. And this is just the kids who haven't lost a loved one.

I'm really sad and scared because we don't know when this is going to be over. I was relieved when thought this school year might be semi-normal for them, but now we have delta. I don't know how to make this better for my kids when I'm overtaxed from work + parenting (quarantine) and burned out physically and emotionally from the last year plus. How do you work through these emotions and make the best of the situation?

Boo hoo hoo. This is nothing compared to kids who lived through wars, threat of nuclear annihilation (“duck! And cover!), previous pandemics (polio), etc. Your previous snowflakes will be just fine.

Anonymous wrote:If your snowflakes are so damaged by the pandemic and shutdown they could never have survived the slings and arrows of life.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in the Midwest. I do feel sorry for DC area kids, they have had a terrible time. My kids were back in school in-person August 2020, we started hanging out with friends, eating in restaurants, etc. May 2020. Their lives have been pretty normal for over a year (except wearing masks but adapted fine to that).

The people arguing that that COVID decisions are a personal choice are right, sort of, but if your entire community has chosen to lock down, who would your kids hang out with even if you wanted to be more open? When I tell my DC friends the pandemic basically ended for my area a year ago, they act like I have 2 heads. Ang guess what, our numbers are on par to slightly better than DC area. What was it all for?

In hindsight, I do feel bad for you!

This is the thing that OP and a couple of others are refusing to accept. That there was no need for no school and activities to happen in the DMV. It was a choice and, in my opinion, a very poor choice by people in charge and no outrage from parents. Nor was there any need to close the libraries other than librarians being spoiled snowflakes.
The fact that restaurants opened, bars opened, stores opened, but schools were kept closed for in-person never made any sense to me. Food factories were opened, car sales were open, and everything was open, and it did not cause spikes. If Indiana-based schools can manage the pandemic, this tells how our expensive budget school counties completely failed our kids. They are here to serve the kids, not the teachers but serve teachers' unfounded wishes they did at the expense of our kids.

In MoCo, that means saving the nasty grandma that flips you off every turn in traffic, yells at you at stores, but not our kids. The private schools were open too! I think this is what people in MCPS and FCPS are refusing to see, that it was not the pandemic. It was them.
And in OP's case and some other pp's case, not only did school administration fail our kids, but their parents failed their kids too! By locking them up inside. Remember, child cares were open.
Some parents found a way. In a subdivision next to mine, it is one of those close with parks and houses closer together, kids player together every day. It is a very diverse area, so you saw Indian parents sitting in nice chairs in driveways and their kids running the area and biking, you saw groups of parents of all backgrounds hanging out together too, and their kids playing football altogether. Kids signed up for childcare for kindergarten. I hate to say it, but there are cultures that put kids first. Sadly many in MoCo of all backgrounds did not put the kids first. Look at how many posts we had that a parent was half vaccinated and decided to lock everyone inside for 3 weeks before the second shot, just to be safe! And not just lock them up, as in no even going out biking! And similar insanities.
It allowed some parents with mental illness that was previously in check to let it run rampant! And they still think they did it for their kids' best interest! Look how it changed from saving the elderly to nothing is acceptable bcs now kids are not vaxed! Normal people were able to logically determine risks and were not debating the "plume" infection at the gas station and buying car funnels to pee during a short road trip!

Monday morning quarterbacking. Everyone forgets that we DIDN’T KNOW how seriously this was going to affect kids and frankly we still don’t. If ever a situation called for an abundance of caution it would be during a pandemic. Yeah looking back we probably could have had more schools open but that’s all hindsight. As we see more children being hospitalized with Delta it makes sense that there is a lingering concern. The places that kept schools open took a risk and did so out of an ideological devotion to Trump - not because they were concerned about kids well being.

Could not disagree more. Schools were OPEN all over the DMV, US, and world. We kept them closed here because we prioritized adults over kids; and because the system has always expected that families (mainly women) can absorb the costs of caregiving with minimal support. School closures were a brutal combination of bad politics.

We prioritized adults not dying over kids going to school. What kind of crazy society values and cares for their elders?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in the Midwest. I do feel sorry for DC area kids, they have had a terrible time. My kids were back in school in-person August 2020, we started hanging out with friends, eating in restaurants, etc. May 2020. Their lives have been pretty normal for over a year (except wearing masks but adapted fine to that).

The people arguing that that COVID decisions are a personal choice are right, sort of, but if your entire community has chosen to lock down, who would your kids hang out with even if you wanted to be more open? When I tell my DC friends the pandemic basically ended for my area a year ago, they act like I have 2 heads. Ang guess what, our numbers are on par to slightly better than DC area. What was it all for?

In hindsight, I do feel bad for you!

This is the thing that OP and a couple of others are refusing to accept. That there was no need for no school and activities to happen in the DMV. It was a choice and, in my opinion, a very poor choice by people in charge and no outrage from parents. Nor was there any need to close the libraries other than librarians being spoiled snowflakes.
The fact that restaurants opened, bars opened, stores opened, but schools were kept closed for in-person never made any sense to me. Food factories were opened, car sales were open, and everything was open, and it did not cause spikes. If Indiana-based schools can manage the pandemic, this tells how our expensive budget school counties completely failed our kids. They are here to serve the kids, not the teachers but serve teachers' unfounded wishes they did at the expense of our kids.

In MoCo, that means saving the nasty grandma that flips you off every turn in traffic, yells at you at stores, but not our kids. The private schools were open too! I think this is what people in MCPS and FCPS are refusing to see, that it was not the pandemic. It was them.
And in OP's case and some other pp's case, not only did school administration fail our kids, but their parents failed their kids too! By locking them up inside. Remember, child cares were open.
Some parents found a way. In a subdivision next to mine, it is one of those close with parks and houses closer together, kids player together every day. It is a very diverse area, so you saw Indian parents sitting in nice chairs in driveways and their kids running the area and biking, you saw groups of parents of all backgrounds hanging out together too, and their kids playing football altogether. Kids signed up for childcare for kindergarten. I hate to say it, but there are cultures that put kids first. Sadly many in MoCo of all backgrounds did not put the kids first. Look at how many posts we had that a parent was half vaccinated and decided to lock everyone inside for 3 weeks before the second shot, just to be safe! And not just lock them up, as in no even going out biking! And similar insanities.
It allowed some parents with mental illness that was previously in check to let it run rampant! And they still think they did it for their kids' best interest! Look how it changed from saving the elderly to nothing is acceptable bcs now kids are not vaxed! Normal people were able to logically determine risks and were not debating the "plume" infection at the gas station and buying car funnels to pee during a short road trip!

Monday morning quarterbacking. Everyone forgets that we DIDN’T KNOW how seriously this was going to affect kids and frankly we still don’t. If ever a situation called for an abundance of caution it would be during a pandemic. Yeah looking back we probably could have had more schools open but that’s all hindsight. As we see more children being hospitalized with Delta it makes sense that there is a lingering concern. The places that kept schools open took a risk and did so out of an ideological devotion to Trump - not because they were concerned about kids well being.

Could not disagree more. Schools were OPEN all over the DMV, US, and world. We kept them closed here because we prioritized adults over kids; and because the system has always expected that families (mainly women) can absorb the costs of caregiving with minimal support. School closures were a brutal combination of bad politics.

Anonymous wrote:Covid sucks for all of us, but I'm really struggling with what it is taking away from kids. My kids have given up more than a year of early elementary school and all of the learning and socialization and guided activities and play. Their parents have been super stressed out having them home while working full-time to make ends meet, and it has changed our relationship. We have good times together, but a lot of the time we are just maxed out and don't parent well. They have to deal with so much worry about illness. One parent got asymptomatic covid and they worried the parent was going to die... but they also covered their mouths and held their breath when they were safely inside and saw the parent outside the back door (masked) coming up to get food left outside for them during a 10-day isolation. They have had to miss camp due to covid exposure. Through all of this, they have lost their sense of safety and a carefree childhood. And this is just the kids who haven't lost a loved one.

I'm really sad and scared because we don't know when this is going to be over. I was relieved when thought this school year might be semi-normal for them, but now we have delta. I don't know how to make this better for my kids when I'm overtaxed from work + parenting (quarantine) and burned out physically and emotionally from the last year plus. How do you work through these emotions and make the best of the situation?