Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 5 y/o isn’t sad yet, but I’m sad for him because young kids should be at school learning, having play dates, looking forward to their birthday party, traveling to see grandparents, etc. Not stuck at home with too much screen time while mom and dad scramble to keep generating an income stream. So I’m sad for him because he has no understanding yet that this is going to last a long time and I know after possibly months of this, it’s going to be really hard on him. He’s a social kid who always wants to be active and around others. I haven’t had the heart yet to tell him t-ball is canceled because he has been obsessing over the season staring since before Christmas. Who in the world wouldn’t be bummed about dashing their child’s excitement about something because of a pandemic that still has a lot of unknowns.

Is this the end of the world? No. Are there people suffering worse issues (lay offs/illness)? Of course. Will we do our best to remain positive and try to reach him resiliency? Absolutely.

But that doesn’t mean it’s not a sad, crappy situation.

Your problem is lack of childcare. Find a responsible HS or college aged babysitter.

Anonymous wrote:I have tweens. It would be so much easier to have little kids right now. My kids actually understand what’s going on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have seen some really great parents getting their kids out but being careful to maintain their social distance.

The kids so want to play with each other, they so want to be - kids again. Yet, the parents are being super cautious and telling them - no, you have to keep 6 feet from everyone else. Sorry, we can't eat inside McDonald's today, we'll need to go through the drive thru and eat in the car. No, sweetie, no story time at the library. Nope we can't go to the playground, either.

If we were dealing with Captain Trips we wouldn't have much of a choice but to self isolate and stay isolated. But we are not dealing with anything so dire and the messages we are sending to our kids over this virus are going to impact them.

This is why I continue to send my 3 year old to preschool. Normally she goes for a full day. Now I'm doing more like 9am-1pm.

Why? A few reasons:

- She's an only child, so without preschool and activities, she has no socialization.

- There's barely anyone at her preschool, so there's never a situation where there are more than 10 people in a room at a given time. These days, it's more like 3-4 kids and one teacher.

- Her preschool is sanitizing like crazy. It smells strongly of cleaning products when you walk in.

- She goes nowhere these days except for preschool and home, so there's minimal chance she's bringing the virus into the school.

The more posts I see of preschool-aged kids having accidents at home (a clear sign of anxiety), the more confident I am that sending her in for a few hours each day is the right decision.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 5 y/o isn’t sad yet, but I’m sad for him because young kids should be at school learning, having play dates, looking forward to their birthday party, traveling to see grandparents, etc. Not stuck at home with too much screen time while mom and dad scramble to keep generating an income stream. So I’m sad for him because he has no understanding yet that this is going to last a long time and I know after possibly months of this, it’s going to be really hard on him. He’s a social kid who always wants to be active and around others. I haven’t had the heart yet to tell him t-ball is canceled because he has been obsessing over the season staring since before Christmas. Who in the world wouldn’t be bummed about dashing their child’s excitement about something because of a pandemic that still has a lot of unknowns.

Is this the end of the world? No. Are there people suffering worse issues (lay offs/illness)? Of course. Will we do our best to remain positive and try to reach him resiliency? Absolutely.

But that doesn’t mean it’s not a sad, crappy situation.

Your problem is lack of childcare. Find a responsible HS or college aged babysitter.

Anonymous wrote:I have seen some really great parents getting their kids out but being careful to maintain their social distance.

The kids so want to play with each other, they so want to be - kids again. Yet, the parents are being super cautious and telling them - no, you have to keep 6 feet from everyone else. Sorry, we can't eat inside McDonald's today, we'll need to go through the drive thru and eat in the car. No, sweetie, no story time at the library. Nope we can't go to the playground, either.

If we were dealing with Captain Trips we wouldn't have much of a choice but to self isolate and stay isolated. But we are not dealing with anything so dire and the messages we are sending to our kids over this virus are going to impact them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 5 y/o isn’t sad yet, but I’m sad for him because young kids should be at school learning, having play dates, looking forward to their birthday party, traveling to see grandparents, etc. Not stuck at home with too much screen time while mom and dad scramble to keep generating an income stream. So I’m sad for him because he has no understanding yet that this is going to last a long time and I know after possibly months of this, it’s going to be really hard on him. He’s a social kid who always wants to be active and around others. I haven’t had the heart yet to tell him t-ball is canceled because he has been obsessing over the season staring since before Christmas. Who in the world wouldn’t be bummed about dashing their child’s excitement about something because of a pandemic that still has a lot of unknowns.

Is this the end of the world? No. Are there people suffering worse issues (lay offs/illness)? Of course. Will we do our best to remain positive and try to reach him resiliency? Absolutely.

But that doesn’t mean it’s not a sad, crappy situation.

Your problem is lack of childcare. Find a responsible HS or college aged babysitter.

Anonymous wrote:My 5 y/o isn’t sad yet, but I’m sad for him because young kids should be at school learning, having play dates, looking forward to their birthday party, traveling to see grandparents, etc. Not stuck at home with too much screen time while mom and dad scramble to keep generating an income stream. So I’m sad for him because he has no understanding yet that this is going to last a long time and I know after possibly months of this, it’s going to be really hard on him. He’s a social kid who always wants to be active and around others. I haven’t had the heart yet to tell him t-ball is canceled because he has been obsessing over the season staring since before Christmas. Who in the world wouldn’t be bummed about dashing their child’s excitement about something because of a pandemic that still has a lot of unknowns.

Is this the end of the world? No. Are there people suffering worse issues (lay offs/illness)? Of course. Will we do our best to remain positive and try to reach him resiliency? Absolutely.

But that doesn’t mean it’s not a sad, crappy situation.

Anonymous wrote:If your young child is SO SAD after one week, they are picking up those feelings from their parents.

Anonymous wrote:I tell my 4 year old that outside has a bad virus that made people sick & die. So, that is why we have to stay home. I don't sugar coat it because it is a fact. My neighborhood still have some people walking their dogs, kids playing soccer & bicycle/scooter etc. Sometimes he points them out & asks me why they are outside, and I tell him that it is safer to stay home. He does not miss daycare & playground, but he is jumping around at the house (to use up his energy), asking for screen time nonstop, no napping, no routine at all. It drives both he & parents crazy. I wish we have a lot of snowstorm this year than dealing with this virus. It is a weird winter that there is no snowing at all.