Anonymous
Post 03/19/2020 23:03     Subject: My 3 year old is starting to realize things are weird and it's so sad ...
Anonymous wrote:I think these little ones will start to struggle more and more as this goes on. They're out of their routine, away from their friends ... it's just really difficult for them.

I don't care how much you try to "reframe" it. It's scary for them nonetheless. They don't understand it.



That is what I am seeing. Mine have been fine up until today. Asking a lot of questions, which we have answered honestly but an age appropriate level. But they miss their friends and can’t understand why everything is closed.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2020 21:54     Subject: My 3 year old is starting to realize things are weird and it's so sad ...
I think these little ones will start to struggle more and more as this goes on. They're out of their routine, away from their friends ... it's just really difficult for them.

I don't care how much you try to "reframe" it. It's scary for them nonetheless. They don't understand it.

Anonymous
Post 03/19/2020 20:46     Subject: My 3 year old is starting to realize things are weird and it's so sad ...
Anonymous wrote:At first I thought my almost 3 year old was just rolling with it. When she’d ask to go somewhere and I’d say it was closed she’d list off all the other places that she knows to be closed (like a PP said about their kid) but didn’t seem particularly upset. She did briefly freak on day 2 when she thought grandma’s house might be closed but once I told her it was still open* she seemed to relax and be fine with playing at our house, grandma’s and the backyard. But the last few days she’s had random potty accidents and has been an unusual handful so I think the strangeness of it all is getting to her.



*to avoid commentary: we mutually agreed to self-quarantine WITH grandma (my mom) who is under 65, healthy, lives just a few miles away and would otherwise be all alone for what I’m thinking will be at least several months


Ahh! My 3.5 year old has been potty trained for 2 years and has had 2 pee accidents this week. One at a nap and one at bed. I didn't think anything of it, but I think you're right that it's because she's feeling anxious and new routine. Yikes. I hadn't thought of that before regarding her pee accidents.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2020 20:43     Subject: My 3 year old is starting to realize things are weird and it's so sad ...
At first I thought my almost 3 year old was just rolling with it. When she’d ask to go somewhere and I’d say it was closed she’d list off all the other places that she knows to be closed (like a PP said about their kid) but didn’t seem particularly upset. She did briefly freak on day 2 when she thought grandma’s house might be closed but once I told her it was still open* she seemed to relax and be fine with playing at our house, grandma’s and the backyard. But the last few days she’s had random potty accidents and has been an unusual handful so I think the strangeness of it all is getting to her.



*to avoid commentary: we mutually agreed to self-quarantine WITH grandma (my mom) who is under 65, healthy, lives just a few miles away and would otherwise be all alone for what I’m thinking will be at least several months
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2020 20:20     Subject: My 3 year old is starting to realize things are weird and it's so sad ...
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Meh I have two three year olds and it’s not that sad unless you project your sadness and anxiety into them. I’ve mentally prepared mine for this since the end of January and I’m making it fun and talking about how great it is that we get to spend more time together. We are Skype by grandparents rather than visiting, crafts at home rather than at school, learning more about how germs spread and the importance of not wasting food. Embrace it and reframe it.


Please just don’t chime in if you’re going to be so insensitive. Reframing an experience doesn’t make a kid’s strong feelings go away. I’m glad your kids are adapting well and have each other to play with and local family to spend time with during these challenging times. My three year old is an only child so no siblings to play with, we have no local family (but we do have grandparents who were going to visit this spring and who had to cancel planned trips) and extremely sensitive to any change or disruption in routine. It’s incredibly rude to dismiss other people’s kids feelings about this whole situation and to blame parents for not doing a better job to reframe it or make it fun. Do you regularly minimize or dismiss your own kid’s feelings? Just give them another week and I promise they won’t think all the crafts at home or learning not to waste food are so awesome.


They aren’t spending time with family. That’s the point. They don’t get to do all the thin gas we had planned or see who they wanted to see. This is hard for everyone. But it’s up to you as the parent not to bring your kid down.


No sh*t, Sherlock. But you know what, my kid is sad about this stuff. She was looking forward to grandparents visiting. You can’t reframe the fact that this coming weekend, Grandma isn’t coming. She’s been looking forward to it for weeks. To imply that somehow as a parent I am bringing my sensitive kid down because they are experiencing legitimate sadness over the loss of routines, planned visits with family, and in person time with friends and teachers is insulting. Some kids are really perceptive and sensitive to the world outside them. Others are largely not and unaffected. If you’re blessed to have the latter, good for you. But don’t imply that somehow us parents with kids who are having a harder tome dealing with this than other kids are the problem. That is rude AF.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2020 19:56     Subject: Re:My 3 year old is starting to realize things are weird and it's so sad ...
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:But you can go out. Go through a drive for a happy meal. Go on a walk or bike ride on a trial. Fly a kite in an open field. Have your child FaceTime with a friend. They can talk and virtually play together.


you must not have a 3 year old. what 3 year old would actually play with a friend via facetime?


I have a 3 and 4 year old. They show off their toys to one another and watch each other transform their transformers. You must not have a 3 year old that likes watching videos of others opening and playing with toys. It’s the new norm, try it....


NP. I have a 2 and 4 year old and no one in my cohort does this. I actually think that's profoundly sad that they watch videos of other kids playing with toys for enjoyment.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2020 19:55     Subject: My 3 year old is starting to realize things are weird and it's so sad ...
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Meh I have two three year olds and it’s not that sad unless you project your sadness and anxiety into them. I’ve mentally prepared mine for this since the end of January and I’m making it fun and talking about how great it is that we get to spend more time together. We are Skype by grandparents rather than visiting, crafts at home rather than at school, learning more about how germs spread and the importance of not wasting food. Embrace it and reframe it.


Please just don’t chime in if you’re going to be so insensitive. Reframing an experience doesn’t make a kid’s strong feelings go away. I’m glad your kids are adapting well and have each other to play with and local family to spend time with during these challenging times. My three year old is an only child so no siblings to play with, we have no local family (but we do have grandparents who were going to visit this spring and who had to cancel planned trips) and extremely sensitive to any change or disruption in routine. It’s incredibly rude to dismiss other people’s kids feelings about this whole situation and to blame parents for not doing a better job to reframe it or make it fun. Do you regularly minimize or dismiss your own kid’s feelings? Just give them another week and I promise they won’t think all the crafts at home or learning not to waste food are so awesome.


They aren’t spending time with family. That’s the point. They don’t get to do all the thin gas we had planned or see who they wanted to see. This is hard for everyone. But it’s up to you as the parent not to bring your kid down.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2020 19:50     Subject: My 3 year old is starting to realize things are weird and it's so sad ...
Anonymous wrote:Meh I have two three year olds and it’s not that sad unless you project your sadness and anxiety into them. I’ve mentally prepared mine for this since the end of January and I’m making it fun and talking about how great it is that we get to spend more time together. We are Skype by grandparents rather than visiting, crafts at home rather than at school, learning more about how germs spread and the importance of not wasting food. Embrace it and reframe it.


Please just don’t chime in if you’re going to be so insensitive. Reframing an experience doesn’t make a kid’s strong feelings go away. I’m glad your kids are adapting well and have each other to play with and local family to spend time with during these challenging times. My three year old is an only child so no siblings to play with, we have no local family (but we do have grandparents who were going to visit this spring and who had to cancel planned trips) and extremely sensitive to any change or disruption in routine. It’s incredibly rude to dismiss other people’s kids feelings about this whole situation and to blame parents for not doing a better job to reframe it or make it fun. Do you regularly minimize or dismiss your own kid’s feelings? Just give them another week and I promise they won’t think all the crafts at home or learning not to waste food are so awesome.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2020 17:06     Subject: My 3 year old is starting to realize things are weird and it's so sad ...
Anonymous wrote:Meh I have two three year olds and it’s not that sad unless you project your sadness and anxiety into them. I’ve mentally prepared mine for this since the end of January and I’m making it fun and talking about how great it is that we get to spend more time together. We are Skype by grandparents rather than visiting, crafts at home rather than at school, learning more about how germs spread and the importance of not wasting food. Embrace it and reframe it.


That's great for you. I have to work, so I don't get to reframe it into this awesome, fun time with my kid.

Anonymous
Post 03/19/2020 14:33     Subject: My 3 year old is starting to realize things are weird and it's so sad ...
Meh I have two three year olds and it’s not that sad unless you project your sadness and anxiety into them. I’ve mentally prepared mine for this since the end of January and I’m making it fun and talking about how great it is that we get to spend more time together. We are Skype by grandparents rather than visiting, crafts at home rather than at school, learning more about how germs spread and the importance of not wasting food. Embrace it and reframe it.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2020 14:22     Subject: My 3 year old is starting to realize things are weird and it's so sad ...
Our 3 year old varies between happy to be at home and despondent and tearful that she misses her friends and teachers and depressed we can’t go to the playground, library, and other favorite places. We are dealing with multiple new tantrums every day that she didn’t have before.

It doesn’t matter how “fun” you make it, some kids are just more sensitive to a change in their routine and find it upsetting and unsettling to have their whole world change overnight. Temperaments are all different. You can support kids in learning to be resilient but it’s a learned skill and when a 3 year old can’t cognitively grasp what’s going on it’s normal for them to feel strong emotions of fear and sadness.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2020 14:22     Subject: My 3 year old is starting to realize things are weird and it's so sad ...
My tots have been so sad and today they just lost it. Why can't we see our favorite daycare teacher? Can we go grocery shopping (idk the kids love to grocery shop), playground, friend's house, library? They really think we're being mean to them by not allowing them to go out. Even playing outside is problematic because we're a block away from their favorite playground and they want to go so badly. Oh and we both have to telework full time.

We mentioned something about people getting sick and we don't want to get sick and my 3.5 year old went crazy over that. She was upset to think her friends or teacher could be sick. So we aren't mentioning that again.

We don't watch the news at home (just read it), which is good because I don't like the anxiety and urgency in the voice of the newscasters. I think kids just hear it and get worried during crises.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2020 14:16     Subject: My 3 year old is starting to realize things are weird and it's so sad ...
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:11,374 people have been confirmed to have this in the USA.

171 people have died.

shut the fk up with your "it's privileged to think this is sad" BS.


The point is, your kid is healthy and the library being closed isn't sad-- it's good because less people will get sick.


Can you show a little bit of compassion? This is a sad situation for a little kid who doesn't understand what's going on. Some kids are more sensitive than others and some are more anxiety-prone than others.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2020 14:16     Subject: My 3 year old is starting to realize things are weird and it's so sad ...
Anonymous wrote:11,374 people have been confirmed to have this in the USA.

171 people have died.

shut the fk up with your "it's privileged to think this is sad" BS.


The point is, your kid is healthy and the library being closed isn't sad-- it's good because less people will get sick.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2020 14:14     Subject: Re:My 3 year old is starting to realize things are weird and it's so sad ...
Anonymous wrote:Actually, new study came out yesterday that kids and young people are more vulnerable to getting pretty sick with virus than they initially thought. It’s still more dangerous with older people, but young people are no longer in clear


Do you mean the CDC study?

Those are very misleading statistics, given how few tests are happening in the USA. You can't take those numbers and extrapolate them out to the entirety of the population -- and especially to the under 5 years old crowd.