Post by Velar Fricative on Aug 4, 2021 8:05:05 GMT -5
Damn! Good for Utah.
I'm debating masks for my kids. They don't start until 9/13 and are already at summer camp now with their regular masks (so far, so good...*knocks on wood*). I'm especially worried about my Pre-K4 kid because her Pre-K3 school required masks for each kid but were okay with kids not wearing them throughout the day if they absolutely refused - and it appears most kids (including my own) did. Now she'll be going to her sister's elementary school where I expect them to be bigger sticklers for mask wearing so while I would like the best masks out there for my kids, I feel like I need to focus on the mask that my younger kid is most likely to keep on throughout the day.
My mom texted me last night and asked what I was going to do with DD for school this year. She did not like my answer of send her to school in a mask that she will wear and hope for the best. Apparently I need to either pull her and homeschool or send her to school in a N95. I am not doing either. She can barely tolerate a cloth mask these days....a N95 would be miserable. I am not a teacher. I know nothing about teaching 5th grade and more importantly DD would be depressed in about 12 seconds. She needs the social interaction. I am making the best choice for my DD that I can out of really shitty options. In the end my mom apologized and said she is just worried and "wants DD to survive this." I mean like I don't?
I guess the need for parental improvement never goes away because this morning my stomach is still in knots about it. Now I feel like a bad parent for sending my kid to school. Why can't Abbott just do the right thing for once in his life and mandate masks in schools? It doesn't even need to be all year. Just until this wave passes.
Post by Velar Fricative on Aug 4, 2021 8:21:16 GMT -5
I'm so sorry abs. FWIW, I'd make the same decision as you (and will, even if cases do increase exponentially here just before school begins). I have to work. DH has to work. We are not cut out for homeschooling - DH is a teacher himself but teaching your kids at home is a whole different ball of wax. Both of my kids are leaps and bounds happier and more successful being in school even if DH or I didn't have to work. "Hoping for the best" sounds like a shitty choice, and it is, but...what else is there for many of us?
We've heard nothing about what school will look like in the fall. I really hope they require masks for the elementary age kids who can't be vaccinated yet. My kids need to be in person and they did fine with masks last year.
I was looking for some new masks. We mostly used Old Navy cloth, Athleta made to move, and the 32 Degrees athletic fabric masks from Costco. I know the latter weren't as high on the list of effective, but DS said those were the only comfortable ones.
Old Navy had some active/athletic ones that had more layers and a filter pocket last year, but they don't have them on their website. I would like to get something similar to these but for kids if anyone has recs. Or anything similar at this point.
melmaria, I agree and stand by my decision. From what I have read DH and I should offer her a bit a of protection with our vaccines. Just the guilt trip came out of nowhere and took me by surprise.
Our superintendent just sent out an email a couple of days ago that they are requiring masks for K-12 regardless of vaccination status. Good. We're headed back 5 days a week with pretty much all kids, and distancing isn't possible under those circumstances. Vax rates under 18 are not great, and with delta the spread among vaccinated people isn't negligible -- masks seem like the bare minimum strategy to try to minimize outbreaks and quarantines.
Both my kids will be at the same middle school this fall -- one fully vaxxed, the other not eligible yet because she's still 11. Luckily, my younger one's preferred mask style is an n95. My older daughter prefers cloth masks, but I think I'll have her wear the ones that have a filter pocket so she'll have that extra layer.
We made it through all of the available in-person school time last year (which, granted, didn't start until like ... Feb/March, I think?) without an exposure or quarantine. I highly doubt that will be the case this year.
abs, your mom is honestly being unfair for questioning this very difficult decision.
I have said before I also have been weighing risk options a ton. And having my kids in school far outweighs my concerns about covid. I saw what online school and isolation was like for their mental and physical health and I never want to go back to that. Of course I have not experienced my kids getting covid, but I still feel pretty confident in my decision. Even with the delta stuff.
So don't second guess yourself. And feel free to kindly tell your mom her opinion is not helpful right now. She needs to just be there for support.
Daycare - it's recommended that kids 2+ wear masks.
Me - sends DS with 2 masks a day.
Daycare - posts pictures with no kids wearing a mask, including my own.
siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... Daycare was so good throughout the pandemic when half the kids pulled out. Now they're back to full capacity and it seems keeping masks on kids is too much.
abs, I’m right there with you on sending dd to school masked and hoping for the best. To add a little stress, we are going to Hawaii to spread MILs ashes in late September. Besides needing dd to be healthy, she must test negative to go (rightfully so). I’m very stressed. FIL won’t wait any longer so she’s going to mask up and we will just hope for the best.
I’m going to try to get some Happy Masks today. I’ve heard great things about them, that they are better protection than a cloth mask but much more breathable than a kn95. Dd has a really small face so we haven’t found any kn95s that fit her well plus they are just too hot. She wears glasses which further complicates things.
Im just so angry that we are having another wave bc adults wouldn’t get vaccinated and take other reasonable precautions so instead we have to drag this out.
Daycare - it's recommended that kids 2+ wear masks.
Me - sends DS with 2 masks a day.
Daycare - posts pictures with no kids wearing a mask, including my own.
siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... Daycare was so good throughout the pandemic when half the kids pulled out. Now they're back to full capacity and it seems keeping masks on kids is too much.
My daycare is an in-home so things are naturally a little more loosey goosey, but I'm pretty sure none of the kids wear masks most of the day. Mine *occasionally* have them on when I pick them up.
*sigh*
at this point I've just accepted that the kids there are just part of our bubble because choices for full time care for two elementary age kids are....rare.
My 6YO woke up with bad cold symptoms. My in-laws arrive in town tomorrow. I am doing the right thing by getting a test even though he has no cough or fever, right? It is so tempting to say summer cold and leave because it is taking foreveerrrrrr. But I will stick it out.
Our school district sent a letter last night that masks will be required for all students K-12 regardless of vaccinated status. I'm so relieved, I was worried they wouldn't be required since the state guidance was only "recommending" masks. Well cue to the anti-maskers losing their shit on FB over it. Reading the threads made my blood boil, I should really avoid them but somehow I can't stop myself. It did prompt me to write a letter of support to our superintendent and school committee. The anti-maskers are such bullies, I bet a lot of parents are afraid to comment their support for fear of being attacked on FB. I applaud the few who went toe to toe with them, but honestly they are so awful. I wonder how many even have young kids who are ineligible for the vaccine. I think they are the minority, but they are *very* vocal.
My 6YO woke up with bad cold symptoms. My in-laws arrive in town tomorrow. I am doing the right thing by getting a test even though he has no cough or fever, right? It is so tempting to say summer cold and leave because it is taking foreveerrrrrr. But I will stick it out.
Yes, test. I'd probably do a PCR b/c you're having presumably elderly ppl going to be inside with your son but otherwise I'd consider doing an rapid antigen (at-home or otherwise).
Daycare - it's recommended that kids 2+ wear masks.
Me - sends DS with 2 masks a day.
Daycare - posts pictures with no kids wearing a mask, including my own.
siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... Daycare was so good throughout the pandemic when half the kids pulled out. Now they're back to full capacity and it seems keeping masks on kids is too much.
My daycare is an in-home so things are naturally a little more loosey goosey, but I'm pretty sure none of the kids wear masks most of the day. Mine *occasionally* have them on when I pick them up.
*sigh*
at this point I've just accepted that the kids there are just part of our bubble because choices for full time care for two elementary age kids are....rare.
Mine started getting great at putting it on...once we got in the car after pickup. *eye roll* Like, she would have it off for most of the day, not wear it when I got her from the pickup line and then insist as soon as I opened the car door that she needed to put her mask on now.
Our school district sent a letter last night that masks will be required for all students K-12 regardless of vaccinated status. I'm so relieved, I was worried they wouldn't be required since the state guidance was only "recommending" masks. Well cue to the anti-maskers losing their shit on FB over it. Reading the threads made my blood boil, I should really avoid them but somehow I can't stop myself. It did prompt me to write a letter of support to our superintendent and school committee. The anti-maskers are such bullies, I bet a lot of parents are afraid to comment their support for fear of being attacked on FB. I applaud the few who went toe to toe with them, but honestly they are so awful. I wonder how many even have young kids who are ineligible for the vaccine. I think they are the minority, but they are *very* vocal.
More than you think. It's the moms with young kids here making a stink about their kids wearing masks.
abs, my mom laid a HUGE guilt trip on me last summer when I told her we were going to send BB back to daycare wearing a mask. I had enough anxiety of my own doing that and my mom pulled some really low punches to the point where I actually had to have it out with her. And told her never ever to pull that shit (in nicer terms) on me again.
You and your H are the ones who are in charge of the decision for your DD. You will of course do what is best for her and for your family. Your mom is going to have to accept that.
Fast forward to a week ago and my mom actually said that we made the right decision to keep BB in private K for the upcoming school year. So eventually she realized a) she doesn't get a say and b) we do think things through and make the best decision.
So far our school district says masks are optional. I am SO mad. It is a slap in the face to families who have kids too young to be vaccinated and have done everything we are supposed to do - stayed home, masked, adults vaccinated.
I am slowly stocking up on KN95s for my 8 year. We have no choice but to send her back into the classroom (she was virtual last year) because our jobs are no longer work-from-home.
Post by Velar Fricative on Aug 4, 2021 9:42:08 GMT -5
I know parents aren't supposed to be "selfish" but I legit feel an intense physical reaction to when I think about the idea of working from home with my kids around again. I muddled through and it *seemed* okay for months then because that's what we needed to do since nothing was open, but now that I'm back being way more productive in the office full-time, I realize just how awful it actually was for me. I will cry if that's what ends up having to happen; I just can't stomach the thought. So I feel no shame that if schools remain open, my kids are going. Full stop. I always said to myself that work and school are the most important things in this house during the pandemic - as much as socializing in person less would be sad, the only things we truly cannot and will not sacrifice are our jobs and my kids' education and ability to go into the school building for it.
Velar Fricative I don't think its selfish. We have been through a LOT and its not over yet.
I started going back into the office a few days a week in June. Even though H and the kids are home when I work from home in the summer, I am still far more productive at home than in the office. There is a clear definition of roles though - H is the primary parent in the summer and even though I am around, I make it clear if I am not to be bothered. At the office there are so many distractions. It takes so much time to get ready, drive there, get coffee etc. And now, I starting to get anxiety about covid because there are no rules about masking or gathering in conference rooms.
Having them do distance learning while I was working is something I never want to do again however. It was beyond stressful and I was a crap parent during that time.
Velar Fricative I don't think its selfish. We have been through a LOT and its not over yet.
I started going back into the office a few days a week in June. Even though H and the kids are home when I work from home in the summer, I am still far more productive at home than in the office. There is a clear definition of roles though - H is the primary parent in the summer and even though I am around, I make it clear if I am not to be bothered. At the office there are so many distractions. It takes so much time to get ready, drive there, get coffee etc. And now, I starting to get anxiety about covid because there are no rules about masking or gathering in conference rooms.
Having them do distance learning while I was working is something I never want to do again however. It was beyond stressful and I was a crap parent during that time.
Yeah I'm sure this is job- and house-specific. My office is a 15-minute drive from my house and I work alone. We don't have a separate room for an office at home and no matter how hard DH tries, my little one especially is totally attached to me and will just go wherever I am and interrupt me for a snack lol. I've WFH with the kids in school before but it's still not great because I like my office tech way better.
2 of the 6 school districts in our county have now implemented mask policies. 2 more are definitely in the no camp. Our district meets Thursday and basically said they will follow the lead of county commission that meets that morning. This irritates me to no end. BE LEADERS! Stop bitching that county or state government should make the decision for you, or the health department. They have ALL SAID they will make recommendations only and the district needs to make a policy for themselves. They just want someone else to blame come re-election.
Velar Fricative I don't think its selfish. We have been through a LOT and its not over yet.
I started going back into the office a few days a week in June. Even though H and the kids are home when I work from home in the summer, I am still far more productive at home than in the office. There is a clear definition of roles though - H is the primary parent in the summer and even though I am around, I make it clear if I am not to be bothered. At the office there are so many distractions. It takes so much time to get ready, drive there, get coffee etc. And now, I starting to get anxiety about covid because there are no rules about masking or gathering in conference rooms.
Having them do distance learning while I was working is something I never want to do again however. It was beyond stressful and I was a crap parent during that time.
Yeah I'm sure this is job- and house-specific. My office is a 15-minute drive from my house and I work alone. We don't have a separate room for an office at home and no matter how hard DH tries, my little one especially is totally attached to me and will just go wherever I am and interrupt me for a snack lol. I've WFH with the kids in school before but it's still not great because I like my office tech way better.
It totally is! And kid age dependent. No way could it work if my two were still toddlers.
I have a great set up and the tech is seamless. A few years ago I had to work from home for 2 months, so I still have the large monitors and desk chair. I just lucked out in that regard. I was talking to a guy at work yesterday, and his wife has their "office" and he was relegated to the basement, so he prefers to go into the office as well. Also, if I had my own office where I could close a door, it would make going there a lot more appealing. We have a very open concept office.
Our school district sent a letter last night that masks will be required for all students K-12 regardless of vaccinated status. I'm so relieved, I was worried they wouldn't be required since the state guidance was only "recommending" masks. Well cue to the anti-maskers losing their shit on FB over it. Reading the threads made my blood boil, I should really avoid them but somehow I can't stop myself. It did prompt me to write a letter of support to our superintendent and school committee. The anti-maskers are such bullies, I bet a lot of parents are afraid to comment their support for fear of being attacked on FB. I applaud the few who went toe to toe with them, but honestly they are so awful. I wonder how many even have young kids who are ineligible for the vaccine. I think they are the minority, but they are *very* vocal.
I haven’t heard yet from our school but was really hoping Baker would change his stance. I’d rather they wear masks because last year they did and it was actually a very successful school year with few disruptions and any cases were quickly isolated / no spread (in my kids school) I assume masks and distancing, eating outside when possible etc was all responsible for the pretty good school year we had so I figure why not do that again?
We've heard nothing about what school will look like in the fall. I really hope they require masks for the elementary age kids who can't be vaccinated yet. My kids need to be in person and they did fine with masks last year.
I was looking for some new masks. We mostly used Old Navy cloth, Athleta made to move, and the 32 Degrees athletic fabric masks from Costco. I know the latter weren't as high on the list of effective, but DS said those were the only comfortable ones.
Old Navy had some active/athletic ones that had more layers and a filter pocket last year, but they don't have them on their website. I would like to get something similar to these but for kids if anyone has recs. Or anything similar at this point.
Post by StrawberryBlondie on Aug 4, 2021 11:09:02 GMT -5
Our district says they'll follow whatever the guidance from the CDC and MDH is so I'm guessing it'll be masks at least for the under-12 crowd. I actually trust our district will make sound decisions on this issue, so I'm not super worried at this point.
I know parents aren't supposed to be "selfish" but I legit feel an intense physical reaction to when I think about the idea of working from home with my kids around again. I muddled through and it *seemed* okay for months then because that's what we needed to do since nothing was open, but now that I'm back being way more productive in the office full-time, I realize just how awful it actually was for me. I will cry if that's what ends up having to happen; I just can't stomach the thought. So I feel no shame that if schools remain open, my kids are going. Full stop. I always said to myself that work and school are the most important things in this house during the pandemic - as much as socializing in person less would be sad, the only things we truly cannot and will not sacrifice are our jobs and my kids' education and ability to go into the school building for it.
Heck I'm not even a working mom but I feel it too. I need that time to myself and this year I'm going to have my longest stretches of kid-free time yet, two days a week. I want to be more actively helping with campaigns this fall because I couldn't do much over the summer. Also I've been way behind on all my writing deadlines.
Post by penguingrrl on Aug 4, 2021 12:20:09 GMT -5
My sons camp had to close today due to a Covid outbreak. Yesterday one kid tested positive, an email went out. Four more tested positive by this morning. So the whole camp is closed the rest of the week, negative PCR required by Sunday to assess if they can reopen Monday.
As far as we know my son wasn’t exposed but we’re interested to see how widespread this outbreak will be if 5 kids had it in a day.
I’m sick to my stomach for Hs safety. And I’m working from home just in case, DS gets tested this afternoon then again on Saturday assuming today is negative.
Thankfully camp is mainly outside, they aren’t keeping nearly as strict as they said they’d be with masks. Fingers crossed DS doesn’t have it.
Meanwhile our school is still sticking to masks optional, which isn’t an option for us, so we’re assembling paperwork for him to be on medical home instruction if masks aren’t required.