🧞♂️The wish we're all waiting to have granted.
Masks, testing and how to think about how we'll know when we're ready to leave Limbo.
📰 The Topic
My husband and I decided to go for a walk along the beach tonight. At the last second we grabbed the masks we’ve just managed to get. We figured it was time to start getting used to wearing them, especially in public areas, even if we were sticking to well beyond the 6ft of distance.
I guessed I wouldn’t love it but I didn’t figure how self-conscious it would make me feel - conspicuous in a landscape of people that weren’t doing the same. They blocked my smile to passersby - making me seem impersonal and hard to read. And worst of all, the masks made it nearly impossible to appreciate the very reason we were on the walk - fresh air in the spring night.
Still. Masks seem to be one thing that we can expect to have to get used to as we transition ourselves to the next phase. Others will be distances between our desks - for our kids and for us.
There are still so many questions about summer camps and school. Even more about social gatherings and playdates. The only thing that seems fairly certain is that many places will be exploring phased “opening up” in May.
It puts us parents in the hard position of trying to get through our weeks, educating ourselves about quickly changing circumstances, and making adjustments on the fly.
So we want to help break down some of the firehose of information flying around out there. Right now, the topic at hand is when we might be venturing out from this phase of hunkering down. But that depends on knowing we’re ready. Some of the key factors appear to be:
Testing capacity - the better your area is equipped for testing anyone with symptoms, the more ambitious the “reopening” plans can be for consideration.
Hospital capacity to safely treat any patients that need hospitalization.
Ability to monitor confirmed cases and anyone they came in contact with.
Sustained reduction in new cases for at least 14 days.
As we continue to learn more, especially about how parents need to navigate these times, we’ll keep the best practices coming (hot off the presses as they might be).
🧐 Worth Reading/Watching
Keep the Parks Open - a good overview of the benefits of outdoor spaces and the necessary precautions: social distancing, facial coverings/masks and minimize the number of surfaces touched.
Cozy Campfires. Capture the Flag. Coronavirus Tests? - a glimpse into how summer camps across the country are thinking about camps continuing this summer and under what conditions.
Newseum Today’s Front Pages- See/download the front page of newspapers from around the world to create a time capsule of these extraordinary times.
📆 Don’t miss this week:
🐉Michelle Obama reads “There’s a Dragon in Your Book” Monday (tomorrow) at 9am PST/ 12pm EST
🌍Oliver Jeffers reads “What We’ll Build” (which isn’t due out until Oct) Monday (tomorrow) at 11am PST/ 2pm EST
🍳Cooking class with Raddish Kids at noon PST/3pm EST
🦋Egg Carton Butterflies - a fun spring themed craft for the week
Last thoughts, from Lunarbaboon: