Social distancing isn't all or nothing - practices and risks

amother

Fri, Jul 10 2020, 9:34 am

I want this thread to be a place for families who are social distancing to share the precautions they are still taking and any strategies or hacks that have been helpful, as well as to share the areas (hopefully with minimal judgment) in which they have chosen to take a higher level of risk.

I hope it will stay mostly positive, with people sharing and listening rather than critiquing or nitpicking details, but I realize this is imamother.

Me first. We live OOT, in a suburban area. COVID is on the rise in our area, including in the frum community, but not as bad as some places like Arizona or Florida.

Our family is generally social distancing. No Shabbos or weekday guests, no indoor play dates, no cleaning service, no dining out, no parties, no daycare, no day camp, no sports or group classes. I am working 100% remotely, and my husband is working with 2 other people in a private office in a large office space where normally 10-15 people work. We preorder all groceries and pick them up curbside without exiting our car. For almost all other purchases, we either have them shipped or preorder them with online payment and pickup. We don't go to playgrounds or to the pool. But we do take some calculated risks.

A couple of months ago, we stopped distancing from my in-laws and from my sister-in-law's family. This allows my children to play with their cousins and visit their grandparents and has been a big relief.

We have a part-time babysitter, as my husband and I work fulltime.

We pick up takeout and occasionally run other errands that require entering indoors to pay for something.

We socialize outdoors, with distancing and without masks. Kids have to keep their distance too. If the socializing is in our yard, I offer people bottled water or prepackaged individual snacks. Also, I regularly go on distanced walks with friends.

We use video chat to chat with friends and family too. It is not as good as face to face, but my 6 year old is old enough to enjoy long conversations with her friends, and the younger kids like shorter sessions.

If schools reopen for in-person classes, we will probably send in the fall. At that point, we will probably resume social distancing with my in-laws, who have risk factors. If we send back to school, we will probably also resume individual swim lessons, but probably not group sports. We will probably start out keeping other precautions in place, but may relax them, depending on how things develop.