And as if this isn't hard enough, I am hearing story after story after story of kids who have started the first day of school in other states, and they go back to school and someone has a positive covid test on the first day of school. This does not instill confidence in me sending my kids to school when I have a kid with a heart transplant. And I feel like Ben needs the socialization as much as anyone else. (We have been having some behavioral issues around here that I think would be made SO much better if he had a friend his own age he could play with.) BUT, what would that even look like? How is he going to socialize from 6 feet away from his friends, while wearing a mask. Plus, the idea of kids ages 6-9 in his classroom keeping a mask on all day....I have my doubts that that will happen (which is also terrifying, seeing as how Ben could easily get sick then). I think I am thinking more of the idea of how it used to be, not how it will be, and I think Klara is too when she tells me how much she misses her friends and wants to go back to school. I totally get that. She's almost 12. She is a social butterfly and wants to be around all the people. But, how can I take that risk, knowing that she could bring something home? Have you ever seen a child on a ventilator? I have. I saw my baby on a ventilator for about a month. This is Ben on the ventilator at 1 month old. It's not here to scare you. Well, maybe a little bit to scare you. But really, to show you that if you think you can't breathe with a mask on, a ventilator is so much worse! And I am not talking about people with legitimate medical reasons not to wear a mask. I am talking about people who say they don't need to because it infringes upon their rights. It will feel a whole lot worse if you get covid and have so much trouble breathing that you need a ventilator. 
The thing that makes me the saddest and the angriest is the selfishness of some people. If everyone that is able to, would wear a mask, this could have been over ages ago. But, now we are seeing spikes in our numbers again here in Illinois. Just when I thought it would be safe to go to school, and back to face to face sessions for Early Intervention, I am taking a step back and reexamining things thinking, "hmmm, maybe not so much. Especially certain areas." People are having huge parties, not wearing masks, going to other states and out and about closer than 6 feet apart. And I get it if you are with your own family, or friends who you know have been just as socially distant as you have been. But, for instance, Klara and I went on a bike ride today, and saw some people having a party where there had to have been at least 50 people there. Only 2 of them were wearing masks. All outdoor of course, but they were very close together. All it takes is for one of those people in that crowd to have covid and everyone else will get it.
And thats the problem with sending the kids back to school so soon. We live in a society where people have to work. The majority of families have 2 parent working family households and not many of them are able to work from home. So, they rely on school to be childcare, which it definitely IS NOT! And, in many public schools, there are 30 kids to a class, so they are fairly close together. And once winter in Illinois comes, there is no going outside for class, or having windows open. So, I'm not sure how to deal with the ventilation that IDPH recommends then. And, the thing is, covid is not like the flu or a cold. We don't have antivirals for it yet. We don't have a vaccine. So, dosing your child up with ibuprofen and sending them to school, which has been happening apparently, not only is awful for your child because they are going to school not feeling well, but also awful for any immunocompromised child they are sitting next to. You don't know if there is a child that has recently undergone chemo, had a transplant, is on medicine for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, has diabetes, or asthma. All of which place them at higher risk for serious illness from covid. And believe me, you may not know it, but there is at least one child that has one of those illnesses or another preexisting condition in your child's class, or they may have a special such as art or gym with them. And, even if there isn't, the thing is, kids pass this on to teachers as well. They also can bring it home to parents, grandparents or infant siblings who are also at increased risk for serious disease. It's not just about you when people ask you to wear a mask. And it is such a simple thing to do, it is not invasive like asking you to take medications or put anything in your body. It's a simple mask. Look, if you wear the mask and you're right and it does nothing, worst case, you wore a mask for no reason. But, If I am right, then the best case is, you saved another persons life by not spreading covid. Now, isn't that something we should all want to do!
I want to keep these kiddos around for a very long time!
