As we try to keep life as normal as we possibly can for our kids sometimes I wish we could get a little help with it. Every day we are inundated with negative news, bad stats, and failing responses. The number of new cases and deaths are headlines. Yet we expect kids to carry on as normal. How in the hell can that happen?
I had a conversation with someone who believes this pandemic is harder on seniors than kids. Without downplaying the hardship it is for isolated grandparents, I couldn't disagree more. Adults, whether they are 30 or 80 can talk about how they feel with a therapist or counselor and in some cases get medication from their doctors to deal with it all. Kids? They cannot explain what is wrong and most meds are not for their age group. What are they supposed to do to cope?
Yesterday my son didn't want to take the bus home from school. When he asked for a ride I knew something was up. It seems a kid in his class was taken out by the teacher and never returned for the rest of the day. Why? Who knows. Might have been a dental appointment or a discipline issue. The problem is the other students, my son included, didn't know either. So they did what all teenagers do...they wondered why. And they went right to COVID.
From 10am till 2:10 my son and his classmates assumed they were exposed to COVID. Four hours of unnecessary stress and anxiety. All the teacher or principal had to say was "Bob" wasn't coming back and it wasn't COVID related. Period. The kids would have gone on about their business. Instead, they worried about transmitting it to their friends and family. How is that good for their mental health?
Look I understand we are all doing the best we can most of the time. Learning as we go. But we need to put our children first. They are not always equipped to handle all that is thrown in their path. We need to clear it for them sometimes. Now is one of those times.
Ang
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