Thanks for your continued words of support. I'm tender about this and it helps to hear all the various perspectives!
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Thanks for your continued words of support. I'm tender about this and it helps to hear all the various perspectives!
I still wear a mask because that is my comfort level. I don't think most kids really care if they are masked and adults with them aren't. Or maybe my DC are the exception.
I feel for you, I'm still getting used to navigating this new normal with no masks! My kids are both now fully vaccinated. Up until now, if they went shopping with me, I would wear a mask with them when in stores (14 yr. old DD1 said she felt better if we all wore them together). I still tend to put a mask on out of habit when going into a store but DH will only wear a mask where it is still required (like a doctor's office). It is a mix here of some wearing masks and some not. I actually think that the people still masking are the ones that are vaccinated but just being careful like me! We have not yet been back to church in person and now that we are all fully vaccinated, it is time. But, it still makes me uncomfortable that my church did away with mandatory masks and socially distancing as soon as the CDC announced that fully vaccinated people don't need to wear masks in public. Sitting in a room with 100 or more other people all singing and talking and not masked still feels odd to me. Its not that I don't trust the vaccines, I just feel like wearing masks inside public places is not a hard thing to do to protect those that are more vulnerable still.
On another note, we just got an email from our school district tonight with their health plan for the fall. Masking will be completely optional in school and on campus for all levels, but still required on buses. I can't wrap my head around this. How do we go from masks for everyone to purely optional for everyone?! I really feel for those that have children that can't be vaccinated yet. One of DD2's good friends and her sister chose a public cyber school for this past year. The younger sister is still too young for the vaccine, and with no guarantee of the vaccine being available before school starts, I'm not sure what her mom will decide for this school year.
My district will still be offering an online option for all grade levels for anyone that wants it. The district already has a virtual program, so this will be an expansion of it. Teachers who are unable to return due to health issues will be the ones that will teach those online classes. A lot of teachers are mad that masks are still being required since they are vaccinated, but not all teachers are vaccinated, and elem students aren’t vaccinated at all. I have a feeling the number of high and middle school students that are actually vaccinated is pretty low.
I am really hoping masks are required at my son's elementary school this fall! I am ok with vaccinated teachers not wearing them if the school is allowed to check and make sure they are actually vaccinated. We did distance learning this year and were very happy with it, but both DS and I are ready for him to be back in school. Crossing my fingers the vaccine is approved for his age group early fall.
My DC are too young for the vaccine still, and we expect them to wear masks anywhere indoors (we've never come across a crowded outdoor situation, b/c we still avoid those, but we'd expect masks then, too). If I'm asking my kids to put on a mask, I do too, out of solidarity/to set a good example, etc. However, I don't have super strong feelings on it. Thankfully after a year of in-person, fully masked school, my kids are expert mask wearers and don't even really think about it these days. DH still wears a mask all day long at work every day - I told him it doesn't bother me if he chooses not to wear one when the DC and I do (he sometimes does and sometimes doesn't). We're currently visiting my (vaccinated) parents, and I told them it doesn't bother me at all if they don't wear masks either (when my kids do). My children are old enough to understand the reasons they still need to wear masks -- and the positive is it actually makes them look forward to a shot, lol!
I don't think there's a right or wrong answer here. I have to be honest though - I really appreciate opportunities to teach my kids that life isn't fair and that situations don't have to be/rarely are equal. They privileged in SO many ways, it's a good experience for them. If my children were throwing fits about wearing masks, and saying they'd only wear them if we (their parents) were wearing them too, etc. -- I would honestly STOP wearing my mask in solidarity to teach them that is not how life works! (Not saying that's your situation OP, it didn't sound like it -- just giving general commentary)
I'm frustrated for you (and your DH) that you are getting negative feedback about mask wearing, though. That is wrong, full stop. If people were making snide comments about mask wearing to me, I would 100% plan on wearing my mask full time around them for the long haul, just to make a point about how ridiculous they're being/how I am an adult and not going to get peer-pressured into anything. But that's just me and I wouldn't expect it of anyone else.