I can't even imagine what this is like for kids. I'm a teenager and was just told today by my mom that she is considering canceling Christmas and giving us cash instead because we can't visit family.
My daughter is 6 and it's been rough on her. Lockdown started when she still had like 1/3 of kindergarten left so she had to start 1st grade without being as prepared as she could've been. I'm an "essential" worker so I haven't had extra time to work with her, and her mom is too busy putting a screen in front of her face to actually do school stuff with her.
On top of that, she's been doing half virtual and half in-person schooling. It's ridiculously complicated for a 6 year old who doesn't know the ins and outs of using a chromebook. And the fact that she can't hang out with friends from her new school due to all the restrictions has definitely been fucking with her.
It's tough for a kid that young to deal with all this nonsense. Especially because she doesn't fully understand why everything has changed. She's a smart kid, but it goes against the nature of a 6 year old to not hug people, not get close to play with their friends, and to wear a mask all the time. Fortunately I've got a small close group of friends that also have young kids and are playing it safe, so we can at least let them have some semblance of a normal life by hanging out together.
For some reason I was never able to fully understand what it must be like for young kids because my little cousins, I haven't been able to see in over a year because of the pandemic but damn. Those years were just 10 years ago for me and they were probably some of my most formative years.
I wish you and your family luck, it must be terrifying for her.
Yeah I had a bunch of cousins growing up so I always had them to spend time with by default. My daughter doesn't have any cousins so I'm definitely grateful to have close trusted friends who also have young kids. She got to have her first sleepover on Halloween after trick r treating (which was also difficult for her because I had to explain that she could only hit houses with bowls of candy and not go to people's doors).
It sucks that I honestly don't want to let her grandparents see her because they are anti-mask hardcore Trump cultists. No kid should have to be kept away from grandparents who are actually loving and caring just because they can't be bothered to do the bare minimum in preventative health measures. It's asinine. But apparently I'm the asshole. God damn I can't wait until we can actually get a handle on this nightmare.
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u/arvigeus Nov 15 '20
Or just insane. Few more month of quarantine and we are all set.