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Anonymous wrote:They are riding high on the moral ground that COVID gives them to look down on anyone who doesn't agree with them. "I'm such a good person! I wear my mask! I do whatever the cdc tells me to do. If Fauci says boost, I say shoot me up!"

Thankfully this forum isn't real life. No one cares irl.

It differs from place to place. My in laws live in a community full of Trumpsters and nearly everyone is unmasked and few are fully vaccinated let alone boosted. Although many of their neighbors and coworkers have had Covid more than once or are struggling with long Covid, they can’t deviate from what the people around them do. Yet they are shocked when Grandma dies or Junior is hospitalized.

Both are wrong. COVID purity moralizing is extremely off putting. Nobody who doesn't already agree with you is going to be convinced to change their behavior. If you are just literally posting about rising case rates or your personal experience with long COVID, I do think that can be valuable. But if you are just shouting into the abyss about people not taking COVID seriously enough, you're not achieving anything.

Please take your admonishment that "Nobody who doesn't already agree with you is going to be convinced to change their behavior" to heart. People have picked their sides at this point. Thinking of people on the other side of the line from you as psychopaths and P.O.S. isn't helping sway them to your side, and I don't think it's healthy mentally for the person who's doing it, either.

I don't think of "people on the other side of the line" are psychopaths and P O Ss. I think there are some pro mask/lockdown posters who behave horribly/dishonestly on these boards who are P O Ss and psychopaths. These are people who post falsehoods repeatedly and ignore when someone posts proof that they are wrong. People who say any child's mental illness was caused by their parents. I've seen that gem a lot. People who insist than anyone who isn't masking right now didn't make any sacrifices in 2020-21 - also a common talking point. Those posters are psychopaths.

Everyone on the pro-masking side will eventually give up masks. In other words, the people in favor of normalcy will "win." It's truly crazy that people are planning on giving up normal socialization for themselves and their children indefinitely. Lack of normal socializing will also cause changes to the brain and remodeling of circuitry...

It’s been almost 3 years. When will people give up masks exactly? Most of the families at our daycare are still masking their 2-4yos even though not required anymore and I truly don’t get what the endgame is. Masks are mostly a joke in that environment anyway but clearly they think the minimal benefit is worth it. For how long though?

Why not ask them? The endgame for them is to probably limit Covid infections in their chidren, but I can't read their minds. That's our reason to mask our school age kids.

DP you know exactly why we don't ask. Because anyone who questions masking, even toddler masking, gets accused of causing mass death/disability (see the first page of this thread). Even our therapist, who indicated privately to me that DD's in-school therapy would be easier without masks (and in fact once they dropped the mask requirement for everyone suddenly we saw a lot of progress) did not want to come out and say that to the teachers. It had been a struggle to get them to even allow the therapist into the school, so it was a very calculated decision.

What this really comes down to is for how long should the general population make sacrifices to prevent death/disability in a small (but definitely significant) percentage of people. And how do we decide which sacrifices are worth it? What I see a lot on these boards is that folks do not think masking (of toddlers or older children and adults) or avoiding indoor activities is a sacrifice at all, and that COVID precautions don't cause any significant harm. Many of us did change our behavior significantly in 2020-2021 because we do recognize that COVID is serious. By the time 2022 rolled around, it became clear that the cost to ourselves and our child was too much. These precautions are fine for short periods of time. When they are in place for years, for many of us the harms build up. Maybe you haven't experienced that in your family and that's great. But we have and the harms are real. It's a risk though, to say this publicly, because those that haven't had the issues we have deny that they even exist and think of us as murderers. No thanks. The risk is not worth the benefit of such a conversation. I will stick to the people in my life who recognize that different people have different priorities and priorities other than COVID are valid.

Of course our kids have experienced Covid related frustrations. It's not fun to be the only kid sitting outside for lunch, or any number of situations that they deal with. And I don't know anyone who would prefer to wear masks if there were zero perceived threat. People approach risk differently. If you child is able to receive maskless therapy right now, that's great and I hope it continues. I don't think forcing toddlers to mask is fair either, despite all the assumptions made about me because I mask. If mandates ever came back, I would support exceptions for small children and certain other children. Just don't judge parents who do mask their toddlers. They aren't your enemy.

We aren't giving up the masks in our house because we have found workarounds. We try to live a full life, but to us, the risk of infection is high to long term quality of life. If that calculus changes, so will our behavior. I certainly hope it does, but for now that's where we are at.

I could not care less if parents at DD's daycare mask their child. It doesn't affect me, so I definitely don't think they are my enemy. The masks rarely cover their nose and often don't cover their mouths either so it's more of a chin strap anyway. Which does make me wonder why they do it. Doesn't mean I need to confront them about it. What could possibly be the benefit of that?

To be fair, you posted asking why they still do it. It sounded to me like it bothered you on some level, but I guess not.

DP- you aren't curious why parents would force their kids to wear something that's so obviously ineffective and interferes with social interactions/communication? Like what is the point? I mean, I don't really care either except that teachers at our daycare felt pressured to mask up again because so many parents continued to send their kids wearing masks half-a$$.

As someone who masks in an area where usually NO ONE else does (military base), I don't think you can blame other parents for teachers who mask. They are adults and if masks are optional, they are making a choice to do it. If I had a younger kid, I would want to protect them from all the circulating viruses, but I don't think cloth masks do enough (it's not nothing, but it's minimal). It would depend on what the kid could manage and was appropriate for them, and I'd probably not be in a group childcare setting right now if I could help it.

We actually have a quite few people masking this week as they are sick of getting sick before the holidays. Seems a sensible reaction to current conditions.

This. I can tell you that most kids (and adults) at our preschool are still wearing masks and the viruses are still going around anyway, including Covid outbreaks. Those we know with vulnerable family members moved to nannyshares or SAH.

YMMV We have a very vulnerable friend and her child goes to school in person. Child and husband got COVID recently and thankfully she didn't get it. Many vulnerable people do take the risk, for a variety of reasons.

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Anonymous wrote:Btw if you support mask mandates, you are supporting toddler masking unless you explicitly say otherwise.

This whole discourse about protecting the sick rings a little false if you're only willing to advocate for what you want and not care how it affects others.

Just be courteous and wear a mask when sick ok? That's all we ask.

I would love for that to be what most people who are posting about are asking, but my sense is they want people to mask all the time, not just when sick.

Oh my. You are projecting here.

Nope, just reading the responses to this thread.

Please cut and paste your evidence. I haven't read that once.

I don't really care if you believe me. The evidence is in this thread for anyone who bothers to read it.

Can you show us where as clearly you are the only one reading it?

They never will. They just accuse others of lying while lying themselves. I suspect it's the POS poster.

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Anonymous wrote:If there's one covid positive kid in that class and they're napping next to a different person than they're working next to, the masks can be working fwiw. It won't protect the napping kid (or the kid eating next to the sick kid), but it will protect the working kid.

I understand you're saying it's still being transmitted. I think the idea is to prevent transmission where possible. Kids have to eat and nap without masks, I guess. But it could help the other kids, and seems like reducing transmission as much as is reasonably possible was the goal all along.

I understand we have different limits on what reasonable is. Just explaining that limits that still allow some transmission while preventing other transmission might still be reasonable in preventing some but not all spread. Imperfect, but still reasonable.

Is it really necessary to take masks off while napping? Obviously not for babies but older kids maybe. Mine sleeps with their head under a blanket half the time. My kids are older but illnesses seems to be running rampant right now. My neighbor has been home with her young kids all week and they wear the masks!

Oh FFS. It's a choking hazard. You want kids to risk their lives to avoid a cold? Lost the plot.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw if you support mask mandates, you are supporting toddler masking unless you explicitly say otherwise.

This whole discourse about protecting the sick rings a little false if you're only willing to advocate for what you want and not care how it affects others.

Just be courteous and wear a mask when sick ok? That's all we ask.

I would love for that to be what most people who are posting about are asking, but my sense is they want people to mask all the time, not just when sick.

Since no one has said that, it's in your head.

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Anonymous wrote:They are riding high on the moral ground that COVID gives them to look down on anyone who doesn't agree with them. "I'm such a good person! I wear my mask! I do whatever the cdc tells me to do. If Fauci says boost, I say shoot me up!"

Thankfully this forum isn't real life. No one cares irl.

It differs from place to place. My in laws live in a community full of Trumpsters and nearly everyone is unmasked and few are fully vaccinated let alone boosted. Although many of their neighbors and coworkers have had Covid more than once or are struggling with long Covid, they can’t deviate from what the people around them do. Yet they are shocked when Grandma dies or Junior is hospitalized.

Both are wrong. COVID purity moralizing is extremely off putting. Nobody who doesn't already agree with you is going to be convinced to change their behavior. If you are just literally posting about rising case rates or your personal experience with long COVID, I do think that can be valuable. But if you are just shouting into the abyss about people not taking COVID seriously enough, you're not achieving anything.

Please take your admonishment that "Nobody who doesn't already agree with you is going to be convinced to change their behavior" to heart. People have picked their sides at this point. Thinking of people on the other side of the line from you as psychopaths and P.O.S. isn't helping sway them to your side, and I don't think it's healthy mentally for the person who's doing it, either.

I don't think of "people on the other side of the line" are psychopaths and P O Ss. I think there are some pro mask/lockdown posters who behave horribly/dishonestly on these boards who are P O Ss and psychopaths. These are people who post falsehoods repeatedly and ignore when someone posts proof that they are wrong. People who say any child's mental illness was caused by their parents. I've seen that gem a lot. People who insist than anyone who isn't masking right now didn't make any sacrifices in 2020-21 - also a common talking point. Those posters are psychopaths.

Everyone on the pro-masking side will eventually give up masks. In other words, the people in favor of normalcy will "win." It's truly crazy that people are planning on giving up normal socialization for themselves and their children indefinitely. Lack of normal socializing will also cause changes to the brain and remodeling of circuitry...

It’s been almost 3 years. When will people give up masks exactly? Most of the families at our daycare are still masking their 2-4yos even though not required anymore and I truly don’t get what the endgame is. Masks are mostly a joke in that environment anyway but clearly they think the minimal benefit is worth it. For how long though?

Why not ask them? The endgame for them is to probably limit Covid infections in their chidren, but I can't read their minds. That's our reason to mask our school age kids.

DP you know exactly why we don't ask. Because anyone who questions masking, even toddler masking, gets accused of causing mass death/disability (see the first page of this thread). Even our therapist, who indicated privately to me that DD's in-school therapy would be easier without masks (and in fact once they dropped the mask requirement for everyone suddenly we saw a lot of progress) did not want to come out and say that to the teachers. It had been a struggle to get them to even allow the therapist into the school, so it was a very calculated decision.

What this really comes down to is for how long should the general population make sacrifices to prevent death/disability in a small (but definitely significant) percentage of people. And how do we decide which sacrifices are worth it? What I see a lot on these boards is that folks do not think masking (of toddlers or older children and adults) or avoiding indoor activities is a sacrifice at all, and that COVID precautions don't cause any significant harm. Many of us did change our behavior significantly in 2020-2021 because we do recognize that COVID is serious. By the time 2022 rolled around, it became clear that the cost to ourselves and our child was too much. These precautions are fine for short periods of time. When they are in place for years, for many of us the harms build up. Maybe you haven't experienced that in your family and that's great. But we have and the harms are real. It's a risk though, to say this publicly, because those that haven't had the issues we have deny that they even exist and think of us as murderers. No thanks. The risk is not worth the benefit of such a conversation. I will stick to the people in my life who recognize that different people have different priorities and priorities other than COVID are valid.

Of course our kids have experienced Covid related frustrations. It's not fun to be the only kid sitting outside for lunch, or any number of situations that they deal with. And I don't know anyone who would prefer to wear masks if there were zero perceived threat. People approach risk differently. If you child is able to receive maskless therapy right now, that's great and I hope it continues. I don't think forcing toddlers to mask is fair either, despite all the assumptions made about me because I mask. If mandates ever came back, I would support exceptions for small children and certain other children. Just don't judge parents who do mask their toddlers. They aren't your enemy.

We aren't giving up the masks in our house because we have found workarounds. We try to live a full life, but to us, the risk of infection is high to long term quality of life. If that calculus changes, so will our behavior. I certainly hope it does, but for now that's where we are at.

I could not care less if parents at DD's daycare mask their child. It doesn't affect me, so I definitely don't think they are my enemy. The masks rarely cover their nose and often don't cover their mouths either so it's more of a chin strap anyway. Which does make me wonder why they do it. Doesn't mean I need to confront them about it. What could possibly be the benefit of that?

To be fair, you posted asking why they still do it. It sounded to me like it bothered you on some level, but I guess not.

DP- you aren't curious why parents would force their kids to wear something that's so obviously ineffective and interferes with social interactions/communication? Like what is the point? I mean, I don't really care either except that teachers at our daycare felt pressured to mask up again because so many parents continued to send their kids wearing masks half-a$$.

As someone who masks in an area where usually NO ONE else does (military base), I don't think you can blame other parents for teachers who mask. They are adults and if masks are optional, they are making a choice to do it. If I had a younger kid, I would want to protect them from all the circulating viruses, but I don't think cloth masks do enough (it's not nothing, but it's minimal). It would depend on what the kid could manage and was appropriate for them, and I'd probably not be in a group childcare setting right now if I could help it.

We actually have a quite few people masking this week as they are sick of getting sick before the holidays. Seems a sensible reaction to current conditions.

This. I can tell you that most kids (and adults) at our preschool are still wearing masks and the viruses are still going around anyway, including Covid outbreaks. Those we know with vulnerable family members moved to nannyshares or SAH.

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Anonymous wrote:What do expect people to do?
- Is it just about getting people to get a booster?
- wear a mask indefinitely (in which settings? A full day at school/work? Just the grocery store?)
- avoid any "optional" indoor social activities?
- Pull children out from in-person school/daycare?

It's virtue signaling. They've made their personality about COVID and can't let it go. They just love to prove to everyone that they're such a great person by wearing a mask and avoiding crowds!

Thankfully, I don't see anyone on my FB feed going on and on about COVID. I haven't seen anything from my friends on COVID in months. It's just here on DCUM where I see the hand wringing. IRL, I don't know anyone who cares about this anymore.

At this point it seems to be mostly this. And the specific ppl I know who do this had some anxiety and attention-seekimg tendencies pre-Covid.

I am actually pretty cautious myself but I don't post about it on FB etc. Mostly bc I know nobody cares about my opinion of how they should conduct their lives, ha.

I see there is a PP who is a HCW and I did have one HCW friend who feels similarly that ppl take these gratuitous risks and then HCWs bear the burden of overcrowded hospitals, extra shifts etc and it's exhausting and unfair and sucks. Which totally makes sense. But I haven't seen any HCWs I personally know posting about it on FB etc anymore. Seems more like ppl without much else going on.

OP here. Yes, this is the thing. Why do people feel they need to make pronouncements about what public health measures everyone else should be taking? That is what public health officials are for, and if you don't like what they are saying, take it up with them. Everyone knows about COVID. We've all made our choices, whether you like them or not. We have our reasons, some good, some bad. Random posts on social media are not going to change anyone's behavior.

Why don’t you consider why this actually bothers you? If you’re secure in your behavior, you shouldn’t care what someone else posts on SM about COVID precautions.

Hit the unfollow button and keep it moving.

Sorry you don't think I should have posted about it. Why did you click on the thread if you think this topic is so silly? Stop posting here and keep it moving.

Nope. See I’m commenting on an actual post. Which is what you should be doing to the ones that bother you. Instead you run to another site and start a complaint thread.

Looks like I hit the nail on the head though that people are commenting on things you’re actually not secure about.

Sounds to me like you are pushing made up rules about who can post what on DCUM because you are bothered by what I posted. Where do your insecurities come from?

This is rich. You made a post complaining about what someone else posts on SM. Then proceed to complain when others comment on your post here. This isn’t an echo chamber so you’re going to have to deal with other people posting here.

You can post all you want but making up rules to suggest I should not have posted in the first place is a dumb non-argument. Sorry you don't like getting called out.

I love your double standards. You’ve been trying to push others of the thread because you don’t like their feedback. It’s ok for you, right?

What is your specific feedback? So far all I can gather is that you don't think I'm allowed to comment on a trend I've seen on numerous social media sites, on this particular site.

You should discuss your COVID issues with the person that you have the issue with.

So you don't have any actual feedback apart from that you don't like that I posted about this issue here. Thanks.

LOL. Your feedback is to discuss the issue with the person you are mad at. Why are you so scared to do that?

Do you tell everyone in your life exactly what you think? WTF is the point of an anonymous forum if not to vent about things we can't speak publicly about? Especially about COVID precautions in the DMV, the place where anyone who doesn't want to mask their 2 yo is a "Trumper".

Why are you so against covid precautions? Why does it matter to you if someone masks? Why do you need to bully others into not masking? Trump is long gone. Biden is to blame now.

How about those who bully others about vaccination, boosting, etc?

Not the PP, but bullying is wrong in general. But it is curious to me how many people have really dug in on the vaccines/boosters when at this point it's clear now that they are more about improving outcomes than preventing spread. My friend got married this summer and there was a vaccination/booster requirement for attend, even for kids. Now, most of the invitees were vaxxed anyway. But one of her niece's wasn't, not for political reasons, but because she had gotten Covid around the time the 5-11 vaccine was authorized and was going to be turning 12 soon so the ped had advised just to wait and get that instead. My friend still wouldn't make an exception because there were "vulnerable people attending." A bunch of us ended up getting Covid at the wedding anyway, despite the non-vaxxed 11yo's absence.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw if you support mask mandates, you are supporting toddler masking unless you explicitly say otherwise.

This whole discourse about protecting the sick rings a little false if you're only willing to advocate for what you want and not care how it affects others.

Just be courteous and wear a mask when sick ok? That's all we ask.

I would love for that to be what most people who are posting about are asking, but my sense is they want people to mask all the time, not just when sick.

Oh my. You are projecting here.

Nope, just reading the responses to this thread.

Please cut and paste your evidence. I haven't read that once.

I don't really care if you believe me. The evidence is in this thread for anyone who bothers to read it.

Can you show us where as clearly you are the only one reading it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw if you support mask mandates, you are supporting toddler masking unless you explicitly say otherwise.

This whole discourse about protecting the sick rings a little false if you're only willing to advocate for what you want and not care how it affects others.

Just be courteous and wear a mask when sick ok? That's all we ask.

I would love for that to be what most people who are posting about are asking, but my sense is they want people to mask all the time, not just when sick.

Oh my. You are projecting here.

Nope, just reading the responses to this thread.

Please cut and paste your evidence. I haven't read that once.

I don't really care if you believe me. The evidence is in this thread for anyone who bothers to read it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw if you support mask mandates, you are supporting toddler masking unless you explicitly say otherwise.

This whole discourse about protecting the sick rings a little false if you're only willing to advocate for what you want and not care how it affects others.

Just be courteous and wear a mask when sick ok? That's all we ask.

I would love for that to be what most people who are posting about are asking, but my sense is they want people to mask all the time, not just when sick.

Since no one has said that, it's in your head.

It's been mentioned several times, you want to lie go ahead but just so you know, I know you are lying

Dude, no one cares. But lick a doorknob while you're at it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw if you support mask mandates, you are supporting toddler masking unless you explicitly say otherwise.

This whole discourse about protecting the sick rings a little false if you're only willing to advocate for what you want and not care how it affects others.

Just be courteous and wear a mask when sick ok? That's all we ask.

I would love for that to be what most people who are posting about are asking, but my sense is they want people to mask all the time, not just when sick.

Since no one has said that, it's in your head.

It's been mentioned several times, you want to lie go ahead but just so you know, I know you are lying

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw if you support mask mandates, you are supporting toddler masking unless you explicitly say otherwise.

This whole discourse about protecting the sick rings a little false if you're only willing to advocate for what you want and not care how it affects others.

Just be courteous and wear a mask when sick ok? That's all we ask.

I would love for that to be what most people who are posting about are asking, but my sense is they want people to mask all the time, not just when sick.

Since no one has said that, it's in your head.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw if you support mask mandates, you are supporting toddler masking unless you explicitly say otherwise.

This whole discourse about protecting the sick rings a little false if you're only willing to advocate for what you want and not care how it affects others.

Just be courteous and wear a mask when sick ok? That's all we ask.

I would love for that to be what most people who are posting about are asking, but my sense is they want people to mask all the time, not just when sick.

Oh my. You are projecting here.

Nope, just reading the responses to this thread.

Please cut and paste your evidence. I haven't read that once.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are riding high on the moral ground that COVID gives them to look down on anyone who doesn't agree with them. "I'm such a good person! I wear my mask! I do whatever the cdc tells me to do. If Fauci says boost, I say shoot me up!"

Thankfully this forum isn't real life. No one cares irl.

It differs from place to place. My in laws live in a community full of Trumpsters and nearly everyone is unmasked and few are fully vaccinated let alone boosted. Although many of their neighbors and coworkers have had Covid more than once or are struggling with long Covid, they can’t deviate from what the people around them do. Yet they are shocked when Grandma dies or Junior is hospitalized.

Both are wrong. COVID purity moralizing is extremely off putting. Nobody who doesn't already agree with you is going to be convinced to change their behavior. If you are just literally posting about rising case rates or your personal experience with long COVID, I do think that can be valuable. But if you are just shouting into the abyss about people not taking COVID seriously enough, you're not achieving anything.

Please take your admonishment that "Nobody who doesn't already agree with you is going to be convinced to change their behavior" to heart. People have picked their sides at this point. Thinking of people on the other side of the line from you as psychopaths and P.O.S. isn't helping sway them to your side, and I don't think it's healthy mentally for the person who's doing it, either.

I don't think of "people on the other side of the line" are psychopaths and P O Ss. I think there are some pro mask/lockdown posters who behave horribly/dishonestly on these boards who are P O Ss and psychopaths. These are people who post falsehoods repeatedly and ignore when someone posts proof that they are wrong. People who say any child's mental illness was caused by their parents. I've seen that gem a lot. People who insist than anyone who isn't masking right now didn't make any sacrifices in 2020-21 - also a common talking point. Those posters are psychopaths.

Everyone on the pro-masking side will eventually give up masks. In other words, the people in favor of normalcy will "win." It's truly crazy that people are planning on giving up normal socialization for themselves and their children indefinitely. Lack of normal socializing will also cause changes to the brain and remodeling of circuitry...

It’s been almost 3 years. When will people give up masks exactly? Most of the families at our daycare are still masking their 2-4yos even though not required anymore and I truly don’t get what the endgame is. Masks are mostly a joke in that environment anyway but clearly they think the minimal benefit is worth it. For how long though?

Why not ask them? The endgame for them is to probably limit Covid infections in their chidren, but I can't read their minds. That's our reason to mask our school age kids.

DP you know exactly why we don't ask. Because anyone who questions masking, even toddler masking, gets accused of causing mass death/disability (see the first page of this thread). Even our therapist, who indicated privately to me that DD's in-school therapy would be easier without masks (and in fact once they dropped the mask requirement for everyone suddenly we saw a lot of progress) did not want to come out and say that to the teachers. It had been a struggle to get them to even allow the therapist into the school, so it was a very calculated decision.

What this really comes down to is for how long should the general population make sacrifices to prevent death/disability in a small (but definitely significant) percentage of people. And how do we decide which sacrifices are worth it? What I see a lot on these boards is that folks do not think masking (of toddlers or older children and adults) or avoiding indoor activities is a sacrifice at all, and that COVID precautions don't cause any significant harm. Many of us did change our behavior significantly in 2020-2021 because we do recognize that COVID is serious. By the time 2022 rolled around, it became clear that the cost to ourselves and our child was too much. These precautions are fine for short periods of time. When they are in place for years, for many of us the harms build up. Maybe you haven't experienced that in your family and that's great. But we have and the harms are real. It's a risk though, to say this publicly, because those that haven't had the issues we have deny that they even exist and think of us as murderers. No thanks. The risk is not worth the benefit of such a conversation. I will stick to the people in my life who recognize that different people have different priorities and priorities other than COVID are valid.

Of course our kids have experienced Covid related frustrations. It's not fun to be the only kid sitting outside for lunch, or any number of situations that they deal with. And I don't know anyone who would prefer to wear masks if there were zero perceived threat. People approach risk differently. If you child is able to receive maskless therapy right now, that's great and I hope it continues. I don't think forcing toddlers to mask is fair either, despite all the assumptions made about me because I mask. If mandates ever came back, I would support exceptions for small children and certain other children. Just don't judge parents who do mask their toddlers. They aren't your enemy.

We aren't giving up the masks in our house because we have found workarounds. We try to live a full life, but to us, the risk of infection is high to long term quality of life. If that calculus changes, so will our behavior. I certainly hope it does, but for now that's where we are at.

I could not care less if parents at DD's daycare mask their child. It doesn't affect me, so I definitely don't think they are my enemy. The masks rarely cover their nose and often don't cover their mouths either so it's more of a chin strap anyway. Which does make me wonder why they do it. Doesn't mean I need to confront them about it. What could possibly be the benefit of that?

To be fair, you posted asking why they still do it. It sounded to me like it bothered you on some level, but I guess not.

DP- you aren't curious why parents would force their kids to wear something that's so obviously ineffective and interferes with social interactions/communication? Like what is the point? I mean, I don't really care either except that teachers at our daycare felt pressured to mask up again because so many parents continued to send their kids wearing masks half-a$$.

As someone who masks in an area where usually NO ONE else does (military base), I don't think you can blame other parents for teachers who mask. They are adults and if masks are optional, they are making a choice to do it. If I had a younger kid, I would want to protect them from all the circulating viruses, but I don't think cloth masks do enough (it's not nothing, but it's minimal). It would depend on what the kid could manage and was appropriate for them, and I'd probably not be in a group childcare setting right now if I could help it.

We actually have a quite few people masking this week as they are sick of getting sick before the holidays. Seems a sensible reaction to current conditions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw if you support mask mandates, you are supporting toddler masking unless you explicitly say otherwise.

This whole discourse about protecting the sick rings a little false if you're only willing to advocate for what you want and not care how it affects others.

Just be courteous and wear a mask when sick ok? That's all we ask.

I would love for that to be what most people who are posting about are asking, but my sense is they want people to mask all the time, not just when sick.

Oh my. You are projecting here.

Nope, just reading the responses to this thread.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw if you support mask mandates, you are supporting toddler masking unless you explicitly say otherwise.

This whole discourse about protecting the sick rings a little false if you're only willing to advocate for what you want and not care how it affects others.

Just be courteous and wear a mask when sick ok? That's all we ask.

I would love for that to be what most people who are posting about are asking, but my sense is they want people to mask all the time, not just when sick.