Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only thing that has helped me to stop feeling this way, OP, is complete acceptance. The summer will not be any different than now. No friends, no classes, no playground, no extended family, no date nights, no relief. Weirdly this depressing realization really has helped me!

+1 I know this is the venting thread, and I've been sad that I won't see my kid graduate and that we're each missing important things. But, realizing that I do have control over many things (my mood, how I spend my time, how I can help my family adapt to a temporary new normal and even find some fun ways to be together, etc.) helps shorten those periods.

It is a LITTLE helpful.

I honestly can’t IMAGINE the heartache of missing graduation, or honestly even having an older child. Mine are 3 and 4 and are really happy right now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only thing that has helped me to stop feeling this way, OP, is complete acceptance. The summer will not be any different than now. No friends, no classes, no playground, no extended family, no date nights, no relief. Weirdly this depressing realization really has helped me!

But the thing is, this current situation is not sustainable. It’s not. And, it doesn’t have to be necessarily: there are interactions that are very low risk. We need to learn to live with this thing, not just avoid it for, what, years? I’m all for accepting that which I cannot change, but I’m also not going to let the mental health of my family completely go to hell.

OP here and that’s where I am. Although our mental health is ok, really. But I’m leaning towards going to visit family (who have been quarantining) also.

I feel for all of you with young ones- it's gotta be so tough. This won't go on forever and know that good times are coming.

Anonymous wrote:In 3-6 months we will most probably have a set of treatments (pharma as well as doctors understand what to do) that will dramatically reduce the fatality rate of the virus. If we can just last a little longer we can save thousands of lives. The full quarantine vs. dude, we all need to catch it debate always seems to miss this nuance.

This is a wild guess on your part.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I’m sure people will jump down my throat for this, but in the absence of a plan from your federal, state, and/or local government, I would do whatever you want. I’ve started taking my kids shopping again. They love the grocery store and the special car carts. My oldest (4) wears a cloth mask because he thinks it’s cool, the baby (9 months) doesn’t.

I am in Northern VA and if we don’t open up this summer I will spend a lot of the summer with my parents and my IL’s in the Midwest, if their states are better at opening than we are. If not, we’ll do some driving vacations in other regions that are more open. I have also recently started having outdoor play dates with friends, just one friend and his parents for now but I could see this expanding to other kids in the future. My 4 year old is a little on the young side in our neighborhood (most kids are in the 6-10 age range and in elementary school) but if he was in elementary school with them, I’d let them play together.

You deserve to have people jump down your throat. There are a lot of us trying to work from home and somehow provide childcare/entertainment/schooling for our kids. We NEED school to open this fall. But selfish people like you have decided to do whatever you want and spread this virus around so that we will still be dealing with this nonsense come fall. But it doesn't matter to you, because you don't have a job.

DP but you are unrealistic. What you are doing isn't sustainable, and it won't matter about fall. This virus needs to spread, and we all need to get it, except the most vulnerable.

There is no quarantining away a virus.

Please reserve this debate for one of the many, many threads in the Health forums. This thread is reserved for venting.

OP, I will sit and vent with you. I've been really sad the last couple of days. I haven't been sleeping well, which doesn't help. I feel like I have nothing to look forward to this summer, and it's just flat out depressing. The things we care about in terms of summer experiences have all been taken away. The kids are deathly sick of bike rides and hikes. I've never felt glum like this before. I have been trying to come up with ideas to salvage the summer, but every idea seems too expensive or too risky.

Our lives are good in terms of our jobs and health, so I know we're lucky, really. But there's just not an end in sight. Some days I find myself thinking whether this is all real and having to remind myself that it is.

In 3-6 months we will most probably have a set of treatments (pharma as well as doctors understand what to do) that will dramatically reduce the fatality rate of the virus. If we can just last a little longer we can save thousands of lives. The full quarantine vs. dude, we all need to catch it debate always seems to miss this nuance.

Anonymous wrote:

I’m sure people will jump down my throat for this, but in the absence of a plan from your federal, state, and/or local government, I would do whatever you want. I’ve started taking my kids shopping again. They love the grocery store and the special car carts. My oldest (4) wears a cloth mask because he thinks it’s cool, the baby (9 months) doesn’t.

I am in Northern VA and if we don’t open up this summer I will spend a lot of the summer with my parents and my IL’s in the Midwest, if their states are better at opening than we are. If not, we’ll do some driving vacations in other regions that are more open. I have also recently started having outdoor play dates with friends, just one friend and his parents for now but I could see this expanding to other kids in the future. My 4 year old is a little on the young side in our neighborhood (most kids are in the 6-10 age range and in elementary school) but if he was in elementary school with them, I’d let them play together.

You deserve to have people jump down your throat. There are a lot of us trying to work from home and somehow provide childcare/entertainment/schooling for our kids. We NEED school to open this fall. But selfish people like you have decided to do whatever you want and spread this virus around so that we will still be dealing with this nonsense come fall. But it doesn't matter to you, because you don't have a job.

DP but you are unrealistic. What you are doing isn't sustainable, and it won't matter about fall. This virus needs to spread, and we all need to get it, except the most vulnerable.

There is no quarantining away a virus.

Anonymous wrote:

I’m sure people will jump down my throat for this, but in the absence of a plan from your federal, state, and/or local government, I would do whatever you want. I’ve started taking my kids shopping again. They love the grocery store and the special car carts. My oldest (4) wears a cloth mask because he thinks it’s cool, the baby (9 months) doesn’t.

I am in Northern VA and if we don’t open up this summer I will spend a lot of the summer with my parents and my IL’s in the Midwest, if their states are better at opening than we are. If not, we’ll do some driving vacations in other regions that are more open. I have also recently started having outdoor play dates with friends, just one friend and his parents for now but I could see this expanding to other kids in the future. My 4 year old is a little on the young side in our neighborhood (most kids are in the 6-10 age range and in elementary school) but if he was in elementary school with them, I’d let them play together.

You deserve to have people jump down your throat. There are a lot of us trying to work from home and somehow provide childcare/entertainment/schooling for our kids. We NEED school to open this fall. But selfish people like you have decided to do whatever you want and spread this virus around so that we will still be dealing with this nonsense come fall. But it doesn't matter to you, because you don't have a job.

We’re going to be dealing with Covid no matter what, because it’s spreading amongst nursing homes and essential workers in lower-income and dense housing. No stopping that.

I’m sure people will jump down my throat for this, but in the absence of a plan from your federal, state, and/or local government, I would do whatever you want. I’ve started taking my kids shopping again. They love the grocery store and the special car carts. My oldest (4) wears a cloth mask because he thinks it’s cool, the baby (9 months) doesn’t.

I am in Northern VA and if we don’t open up this summer I will spend a lot of the summer with my parents and my IL’s in the Midwest, if their states are better at opening than we are. If not, we’ll do some driving vacations in other regions that are more open. I have also recently started having outdoor play dates with friends, just one friend and his parents for now but I could see this expanding to other kids in the future. My 4 year old is a little on the young side in our neighborhood (most kids are in the 6-10 age range and in elementary school) but if he was in elementary school with them, I’d let them play together.

You deserve to have people jump down your throat. There are a lot of us trying to work from home and somehow provide childcare/entertainment/schooling for our kids. We NEED school to open this fall. But selfish people like you have decided to do whatever you want and spread this virus around so that we will still be dealing with this nonsense come fall. But it doesn't matter to you, because you don't have a job.

I’m sure people will jump down my throat for this, but in the absence of a plan from your federal, state, and/or local government, I would do whatever you want. I’ve started taking my kids shopping again. They love the grocery store and the special car carts. My oldest (4) wears a cloth mask because he thinks it’s cool, the baby (9 months) doesn’t.

I am in Northern VA and if we don’t open up this summer I will spend a lot of the summer with my parents and my IL’s in the Midwest, if their states are better at opening than we are. If not, we’ll do some driving vacations in other regions that are more open. I have also recently started having outdoor play dates with friends, just one friend and his parents for now but I could see this expanding to other kids in the future. My 4 year old is a little on the young side in our neighborhood (most kids are in the 6-10 age range and in elementary school) but if he was in elementary school with them, I’d let them play together.

Anonymous wrote:The only thing that has helped me to stop feeling this way, OP, is complete acceptance. The summer will not be any different than now. No friends, no classes, no playground, no extended family, no date nights, no relief. Weirdly this depressing realization really has helped me!

But the thing is, this current situation is not sustainable. It’s not. And, it doesn’t have to be necessarily: there are interactions that are very low risk. We need to learn to live with this thing, not just avoid it for, what, years? I’m all for accepting that which I cannot change, but I’m also not going to let the mental health of my family completely go to hell.

People providing solutions: take it to another thread. This is for venting.

Anonymous wrote:The only thing that has helped me to stop feeling this way, OP, is complete acceptance. The summer will not be any different than now. No friends, no classes, no playground, no extended family, no date nights, no relief. Weirdly this depressing realization really has helped me!

+1 I know this is the venting thread, and I've been sad that I won't see my kid graduate and that we're each missing important things. But, realizing that I do have control over many things (my mood, how I spend my time, how I can help my family adapt to a temporary new normal and even find some fun ways to be together, etc.) helps shorten those periods.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Buy a plastic baby pool.

Buy a slip n slide.

Buy a giant blow up backyard waterslide from costco.

Different poster, but I live in an apartment so this isn’t feasible.