We have a couple families who we sort of "podded" with during COVID. We are always together anyway, but even more now. So those kids see each other and even do some classes together.

DC is also in an outdoor sport. They've implemented social distancing measures, which are easy to implement for the most part for this sport (games are a bit harder but there really haven't been many, just practices, and attendance is strictly limited, masks required). Zero cases of COVID.

We play with neighborhood friends a few times a week. The mental health pay off for my kids has been huge. They needed kids to play with.

I do keep it outside. My DH and I WFH, the kids are in virtual school, and we don't socialize other than that. We've completely prioritized the kids socialization.

We will try to keep it outdoors as much as possible this winter.

Teen DD sees friends at sports practice 4-5X/week and then socially with 2-3 friends at a time about once a month. She seems okay with that level of socializing.

Tween DS sees teammates at sports practice 4X/week but refuses to try to get together either in-person or online with friends. He has lost touch with former school friends and it's worrisome.

We're fairly cautious about covid exposure but I would be fine with and encourage considerably more in-person get-togethers for my kids. I'm worried about the long-term effects of the lack of socialization for them. Would really love for in-person school to resume.

My 3 kids (14, 14, 11) each have sports practices/games 4-5 days per weeks. Then they each see friends outside 2-3 days per week. We live in an upper NW neighborhood and all their friends are within walking/biking distance. They each have a group of about 6 friends
that they've stayed in (in-person) contact with during the pandemic.
We do not allow our kids to go into houses but are fine with them seeing friends outside.

My teen sees friends maybe once a week outside for walks/outings. He's pretty busy with school and activities, even though they are all on line. And sometimes we have gotten together with friends for outside dinners or walks.
That's about it though.

My kids get together once or twice a week outside with friends. At 14 and 12, this prime “need to be with friends” age. I have to compromise with them. As long as they get straight As and wear masks, seeing friends is ok. I feel bad for them. The pandemic is going to make this phase of development tough.

For the younger one (not a tween), daily trips to the park or masked distanced playdates in backyards in the neighborhood.

For the teen/tweens, fewer park playdates due to age, but other (masked) activities have continued outdoors. So, sports, scouts, and then just walking around or riding bikes.

My kids see their closest friends about the same as pre-pandemic. DD (13) has two close friends who come over, she goes to their houses, they've gone to an amusement park, they've gone to the mall a few times. She also plays her usual sport and sees teammates.

DS (17) sees his sport teammates more than his regular group of friends, since that's going full steam ahead. The pandemic has shaken up his tight friend group, with one changing high schools because of it, another is in a family who isn't comfortable with socializing.

Funny how people thing pods or small groups are actually small. Some of those parents go in to work. The coworkers are in your pod. Some of those kids play sports. The teammates are in your pod.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not going to lie.. my middle schooler sees about 10 friends (never all at once) outside but no masks... we don't do anything inside but plenty of other families are....

And, this is why many of us are concerned about going back to school. The risks of your kids spreading it to ours who aren't behaving that way are plenty.

You don’t think you can control what people do, do you?

IF school returns, people will need to accept a certain risk. Otherwise, choose remote learning.

We don't know if we'll have a choice or how that would even look. We cannot control what others do which is what concerns me the most. I don't want my child's teacher getting sick and having a sub for the rest of the year.

This has nothing to do with opening schools. Our numbers have been fine for opening since JULY. Keeping schools closed at this point is purely political. I'm letting my kids do what they want. We stayed home got the numbers down for what? School is still closed. My kids can play with whomever they want. Their mental health is suffering.

I'll wait for someone to come in and tell me I'm killing Grandma . . .

We're in NOVA where cases are not high. My high schooler has friends over and they log into school together. It rotates between 3-4 of them. Also, I let her see her friends when she wants. She's had sleepovers. It's the same group she's been hanging out with since July. She plays travel softball and swims and has been doing those for months.

My 5th grader only has a few friends whose parents let them meet up. He will hang out with neighbor kids, even indoors, but we never stopped hanging out with them so I guess they're our pod. I would love him to have more interaction but none of his other friends parents will allow it.

My middle kid is going to school in a different state. She's back in school 5 days a week. Life is normal there, aside from wearing masks indoors. School, sleepovers, dinner in restaurants. Their numbers are not high.

Almost none. I have two introverts who are happy playing with each other, no matter how hard we try to get them to socialize with their friends. I would love for them to see friends outside but they show no desire to. They are 14 and 12 so you can only push so much.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not going to lie.. my middle schooler sees about 10 friends (never all at once) outside but no masks... we don't do anything inside but plenty of other families are....

And, this is why many of us are concerned about going back to school. The risks of your kids spreading it to ours who aren't behaving that way are plenty.

You don’t think you can control what people do, do you?

IF school returns, people will need to accept a certain risk. Otherwise, choose remote learning.

We don't know if we'll have a choice or how that would even look. We cannot control what others do which is what concerns me the most. I don't want my child's teacher getting sick and having a sub for the rest of the year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 5 children and they hang out and play with each other... it’s a pandemic so we are not really keen on socializing outside of our family unit.

Weird.

You spelled "responsible" incorrectly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not going to lie.. my middle schooler sees about 10 friends (never all at once) outside but no masks... we don't do anything inside but plenty of other families are....

And, this is why many of us are concerned about going back to school. The risks of your kids spreading it to ours who aren't behaving that way are plenty.

You don’t think you can control what people do, do you?

IF school returns, people will need to accept a certain risk. Otherwise, choose remote learning.