HOW do you open up, psychologically?

[JustMe]

I am struggling with this, which is no surprise to anyone who has read some of my related posts recently. I am comfortable with outside socially distanced activities, but no one seems to be doing this, especially not my kids' friends. I want to let them see their friends, but none are taking any precautions. We will be doing doctors' appointments, but not salon haircuts.

We have some high risk factors in our family, so I have been of the mindset that we need to be very cautious. My county and state has done very well and if I felt assured it would continue this way, I would do more. Since large gatherings have greatly increased here, I feel I will have a lot more info about what things look like in 3 weeks from how.

I continue to provide on-line therapy and am getting by for now, but worry as I am not really getting new clients. My office is really small and I am in no hurry to go back there, but we will have to see how things go.

[ang79]

We are not traveling for vacation anytime in the summer and will take easy staycations. That's just a personal preference - I would just be too anxious with travel to enjoy it.

Can I ask what you mean by easy staycations? I've tried to think of fun/different activities that are outside where we could possibly meet up with family or friends and socially distance but still see each other, but I'm having a hard time! I thought of a somewhat local animal park, where they take you on open air buses through the fields to see all sorts of wildlife, but they are not doing the buses this year, you have the option to drive your own vehicle through (which I don't want to risk a large animal damaging my car!). Other local attractions are amusement parks, which is not something I want to deal with during a pandemic! I'm within easy driving distance of Baltimore, DC, and Gettysburg, but I imagine there would be a decent amount of crowds in all of those places. I'd love any ideas you have for day trips that are less risky/less crowded.

[twowhat?]

Can I ask what you mean by easy staycations? I've tried to think of fun/different activities that are outside where we could possibly meet up with family or friends and socially distance but still see each other, but I'm having a hard time! I thought of a somewhat local animal park, where they take you on open air buses through the fields to see all sorts of wildlife, but they are not doing the buses this year, you have the option to drive your own vehicle through (which I don't want to risk a large animal damaging my car!). Other local attractions are amusement parks, which is not something I want to deal with during a pandemic! I'm within easy driving distance of Baltimore, DC, and Gettysburg, but I imagine there would be a decent amount of crowds in all of those places. I'd love any ideas you have for day trips that are less risky/less crowded.

Hahahaha I meant literally staying at home. We will probably do some fun house projects (painting, decorating, etc), spend time in the pool, cook meals and make ice cream together, watch movies, etc. We do have a couple of animal parks within a 2 hour drive that are of the "stay in your car and drive through and feed them" variety which would be fun if we get bored. We've done them before and I've never felt that our vehicle was in any danger of damage. I'm not really sure how I feel about going out to crowded places (zoos, etc) otherwise unless we time it well so that we go during a not busy time, which will be hard in the summer. Anyway this all probably sounds boring to a lot of people but we are super low key and for the kids, having both parents taking time off from work to do something - anything! - with them is a treat.

[gymnbomb]

Hahahaha I meant literally staying at home. We will probably do some fun house projects (painting, decorating, etc), spend time in the pool, cook meals and make ice cream together, watch movies, etc. We do have a couple of animal parks within a 2 hour drive that are of the "stay in your car and drive through and feed them" variety which would be fun if we get bored. We've done them before and I've never felt that our vehicle was in any danger of damage. I'm not really sure how I feel about going out to crowded places (zoos, etc) otherwise unless we time it well so that we go during a not busy time, which will be hard in the summer. Anyway this all probably sounds boring to a lot of people but we are super low key and for the kids, having both parents taking time off from work to do something - anything! - with them is a treat.

I wish we had a drive through animal park nearby, that would be fun. I am taking my kids to the zoo the Monday after next. Masks are required, timed entry tickets are required so they can control capacity (I booked first time slot in the morning so crowds will not have accumulated yet as only entry times are enforced, not exit times), and I will make my 2 year old stay in the stroller. It will be the first time taking the kids anywhere for fun.


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[basil]

I wish we had a drive through animal park nearby, that would be fun. I am taking my kids to the zoo the Monday after next. Masks are required, timed entry tickets are required so they can control capacity (I booked first time slot in the morning so crowds will not have accumulated yet as only entry times are enforced, not exit times), and I will make my 2 year old stay in the stroller. It will be the first time taking the kids anywhere for fun.


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Off topic, but we did this last weekend with similar restrictions and it was so safe and the kids LOVED it and were so excited to get out. Literally they were walking around going "Oh em gee, this is SO FUN!" Everything was one way, everyone wore masks, everyone was distancing, it was great. Everything you could have thought to touch was wrapped up in plastic so that you couldn't use it. And there were hand sanitizer dispensers all over. I think it was good for my kids to get out and see others wearing masks, they haven't been nearly as reticent when I've mentioned wearing them in the future since we did that. And since I think this will be our new normal for a while, it's good for them to get used to it.

[NCGrandma]

I wish we had a drive through animal park nearby, that would be fun. I am taking my kids to the zoo the Monday after next. Masks are required, timed entry tickets are required so they can control capacity (I booked first time slot in the morning so crowds will not have accumulated yet as only entry times are enforced, not exit times), and I will make my 2 year old stay in the stroller. It will be the first time taking the kids anywhere for fun.


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Re: zoos — my family has been very cautious about staying home and using all the recommended precautions when any of them ventured out to the grocery or drugstore etc. As a result, I was startled to see a Fb pic the other day from a nearby zoo!! They reported that the zoo had done a great job of cleaning, restricting crowds, spacing (paw print stickers every 6 ft!!), requiring masks etc. to the point that they felt more comfortable at the zoo than picking up takeout dinner in their small town. They all thoroughly enjoyed their first fun outing in months.


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[gymnbomb]

Off topic, but we did this last weekend with similar restrictions and it was so safe and the kids LOVED it and were so excited to get out. Literally they were walking around going "Oh em gee, this is SO FUN!" Everything was one way, everyone wore masks, everyone was distancing, it was great. Everything you could have thought to touch was wrapped up in plastic so that you couldn't use it. And there were hand sanitizer dispensers all over. I think it was good for my kids to get out and see others wearing masks, they haven't been nearly as reticent when I've mentioned wearing them in the future since we did that. And since I think this will be our new normal for a while, it's good for them to get used to it.

I am so glad to hear you had a good experience with it! I am expecting much the same, with almost all indoor areas and play areas closed, and they have a one way path. I think my 6 year old will do fine with the mask as he has worn one for a doctor’s appointment a few weeks ago. Much less sure about the 2 year old, but I will definitely try and she is small enough I don’t expect anyone to give me a hard time if she can’t keep it on. If it feels crowded or like people aren’t respecting distancing we will leave. But I live in an area where people are generally pretty good about both masks and distancing.


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[ang79]

We went to an animal park in NC a few years ago when visiting family. We rode a wagon through the fields to see the animals, but they also allowed cars. We saw some very big bison type animals with huge horns getting very close to some of the cars and scratching one of them, so I was super glad that we were on the wagon instead!

Our nearest zoo would either be Philly or Baltimore, but still over an hours drive to each. So far my kids are fine being at home together. School just got out earlier this week, so the past few days we've slept late, played outside with some new yard games, played legos, pleasure reading, and watched some favorite TV shows (TV is not a daily thing usually). We also did some family gardening together one night and they had a lot of fun with all of us mulching and weeding together. They are helping me cook dinner a few times a week and I did get an ice cream maker. We've only done vanilla so far far, but will try strawberry ice cream this weekend. They also are enjoying playing inside and out with our new dog, so hopefully won't get too bored! We are normally home bodies as well, but during the summer we would try to go out and meet up with friends a few times a week and then had church or family stuff on weekends, so I'm not sure how much of that stuff will happen this summer. Our county will be moving to the green stage (mostly back to normal) next Friday, so I'm curious to see how busy things get then.

[basil]

I am so glad to hear you had a good experience with it! I am expecting much the same, with almost all indoor areas and play areas closed, and they have a one way path. I think my 6 year old will do fine with the mask as he has worn one for a doctor’s appointment a few weeks ago. Much less sure about the 2 year old, but I will definitely try and she is small enough I don’t expect anyone to give me a hard time if she can’t keep it on. If it feels crowded or like people aren’t respecting distancing we will leave. But I live in an area where people are generally pretty good about both masks and distancing.


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Not sure where you are, but we are near Boston...so maybe same place. We are members and used to go a lot when the kids were younger, hadn't been much through the winter and it all felt so fresh even though we've been there a million times before! It was not crowded, everyone was in masks, and everyone was being super considerate about distancing. So really, it was fine.

[dogmom]

I think you have to do what you comfortable with at the moment. If someone accuses you of being a hypocrite just smile and say “I’m doing the best with the information and feels I have today. I’m glad you can be more consistent in your response. I’m doing the best I can.” I think the you can’t my sibling if I can’t see mine is ridiculous. I have yet to see a marriage where both spouses had the exact some relationships with their families. Of course it’s not equal! Wasn’t before the pandemic, why should it be now. There is no one right answer. There are some pretty clear wrong ones. (I think refusing to wear a mask to a store and going down the wrong way in aisles just to make a point makes the point you are a jerk, for example.)