Age of kids comes into play here, too. I think seeing friends in person and not being all up on top of them is particularly challenging under age 5-6, and even harder under 4.

We're quite conservative on the whole, but with the BMJ study confirming that outdoor transmission is generally rare, I do allow playdates for my 7-year-old that are:

1) OUTDOORS
2) Masked
3) Mostly Distanced
4) Supervised
5) With kids whose families are being pretty conservative AND who are good about masking and distancing (as my kid is)

All of those things, together. So that means basically 3 specific friends (not all at once), with occasional tagalongs of another friend or sibling or two.

No way anyone is coming indoors, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes! Masked, playing outside. Sheesh, what are we doing to our kids? Let them see their friends, it's been 6 months. Have them sanitize their hands before and after playing.

"Sanitize their hands?" Have you been asleep since April? The predominant transmission risk has nothing to do with their hands.

NP, yes, this is true AND the time "fomite" transmission does come into play is when they touch their faces or eat something right after. With younger kids, especially, there's risk of them touching their faces (eyes/nose/mouths) more and not thoroughly washing hands before eating with them, etc. In terms of sanitizing or thoroughly washing before play-- lots of kids might have just eaten something or picked their noses or whatever before leaving the house.

Sanitizing hands really couldn't hurt, and could help *in a global pandemic*.

Anonymous wrote:My neighborhood looks like the school playground at the lunch break and all evening. I am not sure if the kids are only playing outside or inside too. Some are masked but the majority not.

My neighborhood has been like this since June. It's great!

He’s in half day preschool 5 days a week and sees neighborhood friends outside for bike/scooter rides and playing with chalk and bubbles and stuff. And we go to playgrounds. But we’ve only done indoor play dates with 2 families, both of whom work with my husband (job with security clearance requiring regular office work).

My neighborhood looks like the school playground at the lunch break and all evening. I am not sure if the kids are only playing outside or inside too. Some are masked but the majority not.

Yes outside too

Yes. Outside.

I don't but most of the neighbor kids are out playing with each other.

Anonymous wrote:Yes! Masked, playing outside. Sheesh, what are we doing to our kids? Let them see their friends, it's been 6 months. Have them sanitize their hands before and after playing.

"Sanitize their hands?" Have you been asleep since April? The predominant transmission risk has nothing to do with their hands.

Yes. Masked and outdoors only. Up to a total of 4 teens hanging out in the yard.

Yes gawd yes teenager with a raging social life. Skate boarding bike riding camping fishing hiking backyard bonfires working out in parks- so creative and social and sooo much energy I could never stifle it ever. He gets tested for COVID every week and - no virus. And now “school “ is only 3 hrs/day so not the big time suck we were expecting.

I friend each without distancing.

Yes.

Yes. And now, mainly at school. During the summer, he saw them at work.

No one I know is locked down. That ended in May.

Yes but mainly outdoors. We have seen a couple of friends indoors but mainly because we need childcare help sometimes and they both offered to help out.