Social distancing kids this summer

We're still social distancing. My kids haven't played anywhere but the backyard since March 16th. It's been a long journey, but we're keeping on for now.

I don't know if I could be alright with myself if my kid was exposed because I was bored of social distancing.

I thin*k it also depends on your area. How affected is it? Playgrounds in my area are closed and I am sure summer camps are not going to happen. Heck, we don’t know if our universities are going to be open in the fall. My two college aged kids have not socialized in person with anyone although they do go out for walks.

Its always a tough call but kids are resilient. I used to worry about cautioning my kids on stranger danger but they don’t seem damaged by that as adults. Think you can teach them to maintain space and wear masks without them feeling unnecessarily restricted. It’s just going to be another part of life.

We are still maintaining social distancing. My kids are 7 and 11 but we live very rurally and my kids have only seen one neighbor kid this whole time. She came looking for her dog who had gotten loose. They didn't stay 6ft away from each other so I haven't been encouraging any attempts at playing. It is definitely wearing on them. I am pretending we live in The Little House in the Big Woods.

 Same here. With that new Corona complication that’s popping up now in kids, I definitely DO NOT want my kid to get that! That rash looks awful and several kids have already died. I realize that the numbers at this point for that are still pretty low, but it seems so random who will get it and so little is known about Covid in general and the long term health risks that I wouldn’t be signing my kid up for anything right now. My kid has had double lobe pneumonia in the past and her doctor at the time said that when you’ve had it once you are more prone to get it again, and that thought concerns me for her.

DD wanted to go to two art (day) camps this summer, but I think we’re going to hold off with anything in person for the time being. I paid for a couple different online art classes for her last year that she hasn’t even looked at, and I think she can go through those for now. Later this summer I wouldn’t have a problem with her going bike riding with her friends who live down the block as long as that’s all they do and it’s all the closer they get, but I highly doubt their mom would go for even that.

I absolutely agree kids need to socialize, but people need to ask themselves do the risks outweigh the rewards? It is a shame that so many people have just given up or never cared in the first place. They are the proverbial kids who are ruining it for the rest of us.

I wonder if you could find someone on nextdoor or something that has kids that have also been isolating that are around the same age of your kids and you could arrange social distance play dates? I like the suggestions posted above of what activities they could do.

Our summer camps are pretty much cancelled here. The city run ones, the summer camp where I work, Zoo camp, etc.
I saw the guidelines for what was supposed to happen if they were run and I am so thankful we are closed, the guidelines were pretty dismal. Only 10 kids in one area with walls separating them, no swapping of kids or teachers, maintain distance, no shared supplies, no group activities that required closeness, no parents in building (drop off and pick up was to happen outside), masks suggested, etc. There are some camps open for families that give preferences to families of first responders, but man, I feel for the people running them who are trying to come up with a full days activities under those circumstances.

It is going to be a loooooonnnnngggggg summer for a lot of parents,

I think this is going to depend on where you are and what your government has said. If your leaders have said no social distancing play dates then don’t do it as your area isn’t ready. It will also depend on the age of the kids in question.

Our gov’t officials have stated that social distancing play dates are currently on. That means that my kids meet 1 friend at a time at a distance. They walk or talk but no ‘playing’ of games that require touching. The kids are good at using technology to get around this. Like they play heads up from a distance. Starting next week we are allowed to socialize with up to 6 people in our home. That said, the gov’f has instituted a saying - small groups/large spaces. Try and do all socializing outside of the home if possible. Try to keep hand contact to a minimum. It’s about common sense.

When dd has a friend in the yard and that friend has to use the bathroom she uses the bathroom at our house but we’re far away. It’s about talking to one another outside and washing hands. That is how we will have to move forward for now.

I also agree that the kids need to be taught this if they’re going to move forward with school. Our schools will be back full on in September with measures in place - staggered classes, hand sanitizing, etc. It’s important to get the kids used to it so they’re not scared. I’ve taken my younger dd to a shoe store for new shoes and I’ve taken older dd to the bakery and the card shop. We’re taking baby steps with them out of the house. They wanted to walk with friends to Dairy Queen in our area. We went with and Dh went in and bought for everyone and handed it out as we decided the kids shouldn’t go in (this was twice - younger dd with a friend one day and older dd with a friend the next day - we don’t have multiple kids over at a time).

If your area hasn’t started opening up yet you might not be ready for all of that.

As far as camps go - I don’t know yet. Our kids are still signed up for a month of sleep away camp and it hasn’t been cancelled. We decided we’d send them if it’s running. We thought maybe t would run for one week sessions for each age group but we don’t know yet. If they change and run in the city day camps we’d love it and send our kids. Most community centre camps and other day camps are finding ways to do it on zoom (like little dd’s computer science camp) or outside (like art or sport camps). Our gov’t has approved certain sports - baseball, soccer, field hockey I think. For training only. No games.

Our schools start back June 1 so if the kids are going to be in school they might as well do outdoor art camp at a social distance.

I’ve received emails from my kids’ former martial arts studio and gymnastics gym.

They reopen for classes on Monday.

Our art school reopens June 1 and has classes and camps all summer.

Our water park where we have season passes is reopening June 10.

We are seeing friends and family.

Mental health is health, too.

Toronto and several surrounding cities have cancelled ALL FESTIVALS and CAMPS, including kid camps until August 31, 2020.

There will be ZERO permits handed out for any gathering this summer.

Thankful that I live in Canada where LIFE is taken seriously.

I am following public health guidelines. I’m probably not going to be more cautious than public health guidelines, but no, I’m not sitting here thinking that somehow the decisions I make only affect me and my family.

You are their parent. Your job is to protect them. That means navigating this issue the best you can making the choices you can with the knowledge you have. Kids will make mistakes. Even with the best social distancing your kids can unknowingly make a mistake, they just won’t realize they’ve touched a surface others have or whatever. I can’t tell you what I’d do because what I’d do was affected by my experiences & my spouse so what I would have done with small children might look very different than what you do.

Teach them to Wash hands, don’t touch their faces, don’t lick their fingers, wash their hands again. And well, wash them again. Teach them to be kind when social distancing to try to not hurt other kids feelings. Teach them to give themselves & others grace. Honestly I think this is one of the best lessons from this pandemic is to realize how interconnected we all are and how we treat others affects us all.

Keep super Up to date on the symptoms of covid & covid related syndromes in children & consult a medical professional immediately if they show the symptoms. It seems the problem with small children is the body response is very delayed, sometimes weeks later.

Obviously, if your opening up/lessening your precautions then also increase your precautions to stay away from vulnerable people. ( older relatives or friends or those with co promised immune systems. ) or even to stay away from others who are social distancing.

That is a long winded do the best you can, they are children they will not be perfect and your human you won’t be either. Just do the best you can.

That was also how they were raised at the time. That isn't how this group of kids were raised. Their mental health is definitely different from prairie days. I mean, the same could be said about adults. In the not so far past, people didn't drive the way they do now and would not take a drive just for mental health.

This seems like such an odd comment to me.  She knows she is the parent.  She isn't calling upon the peas to make this decision for her.  She's asking other peas what they are doing to gather info and ideas in order to make a more informed decision.

if a pea posted asking for a gift idea for their husband, would a good response be "Well you're the wife, so you need to decide that."?

My kids are older but because we live in a rural area and I don't drive - they've never done much in the line of organised summer activities or socialising. They did go to a week-long summer camp every summer but that was about it. 2/3 are now adults and seem to have survived okay.

My youngest is 13 - she hasn't left our property since March 10th and that's not looking to change anytime soon. School is online for now (2 more weeks before the end of the year). Her Girl Scout camp has been cancelled as have our summer vacation plans. And her horse riding is on hold. She's socialising virtually with her friends. She rides her bike and plays basketball in the yard and walks with me for about an hour every other night (we have a super long driveway and do laps). Girl Scouts has switched to virtual programming so she's done some of that and will do more once school is out. She does a lot of art, some baking, some Lego, we play some games as a family. She's not bored.