Hellobee Boards

@mrs.kiwi: yeah, we loved our daycare so so so much, and it is one where it was nearly impossible to get off the waiting list - it seems unlikely we'll ever get slots again, which makes me so sad to think about. Not to mention that I don't have any other childcare lined up. But I don't see how I can send them in these circumstances.

We have to sign a one year contract for Sep-Aug of next year by the end of the week if we want the slots. Of course, I am really really hoping for the good of the world and the many people in way worse circumstances than us that there's an end in sight during that period. But it's expensive and I can only pay for childcare we're not using for so long, and a lot of people argue it won't really get better for a long time... so ugh...

IDK. I don't think anything will be open for the older kids this summer. Sheesh, they may not even get school in the fall. I'm hearing our old day care will open soon, but if I send the baby cause I'm too wimpy to take care of all three, and she gets sick... no way. Even though I seriously can't handle her lately. She's started climbing tables and it's so tempting to either send her somewhere she can't cause much damage for a few hours, or nail up half the house so she can't get in.

I’m in MA and daycares are closed through the end of June. I’m glad in a way they made that declaration so I don’t have to make a decision before then, as things seem to change every week. I’m assuming the summer camps I’d have sent my oldest to won’t open for July and August so if that’s the case I’ll probably just keep all 3 kids home until September, since I can do my job from home (even though it’s impossible to get enough done with them here). Luckily our daycare is not asking us to pay right now, and we hadn’t signed up for summer yet.

Assuming schools open up as normal in the fall, my younger two will go back to daycare then. I’m a teacher and will be home with them this summer, so I don’t need to make the decision earlier. They go to a small in home and she’s really vigilant about cleaning, so I feel totally comfortable with them being there.

My big concern right now is what we’ll do if they stagger school schedules in the fall. I’m a teacher so I’ll be expected to be there full time, but we’ll have a first grader. What will we do with her if she’s only there part time? Hopefully my husband could work from home.

I know there’s no good solution here, but I am frustrated by the people who complain about schools being closed and wanting to send their kids back, while at the same time admitting they’ll still work from home as long as they can. So, staying safe at home is okay for them, but not for the staff that works with their kids?

@skiierchck99: Yup, also in MA. Ugh...

@muffinsmuffins: @ALV91711: Thank you! I spoke with a friend who's been involved in advocacy to get masks to the general population, and he said for young kids, if the teacher is constantly having to adjust them or put them back on, it could actually make things worse, unless they are wearing fresh gloves and washing hands every time. I'm going to express my concern to the director. I know she can't do anything about the state law, but it was clearly hastily thought out and they are in regular touch with the daycare regulators, so perhaps the rule could be revised. Doesn't make me feel much better about sending them, but in any case I just don't see it helping and it's going to suck for both the kids who won't want to wear and the teachers who will be expected to enforce...

@CObee: I've read some into this, and seen studies going both ways. They are all basically impossible to interpret because there are so few confirmed cases of covid in kids - and probably the confirmed cases we see are not representative but skew towards the kids who were unlucky to get a bad case. So with the limited data people reach all sorts of conclusions, will check this out and hope she's right... I know daycare has to plan, but I really wish they would let us make decisions about the 2020/2021 school year a bit later this summer once we have more info on the risks...

@JJ2626: IDK if it is meant to include daycares or not, but the daycare center is under the impression from its regulator that it is, and sent out some link to a sesame street video to help kids understand why they have to wear masks. Not sure if the state ordinance is two and over or over two, there's a local ordinance that's two and over, though I know parents are trying to get it revised to five and over due to how difficult it is to get little kids to leave the mask on...

@petitenoisette: same and yeah, it's hard to even think to the fall...I think we will have a better understanding of how the virus works by then, if kids really aren't significant disease vectors, I think staff could stay relatively well protected from each other through use of PPE (if available by then, another mess), but there's plenty of other horrible diseases, like polio, where the majority of people infected are both asymptomatic and super contagious, so definitely not pinning hopes on that...