I was thinking today about how much this whole social isolation thing sucks. It sucks for the adults who are used to going to work, going out to eat, shopping, seeing their friends, etc. They are the ones complaining, yelling at others to wear masks, stay home, etc. But, you know who this whole thing really sucks for? The kids.

I look at Little Man. We would go out at least once, if not twice, a week for story time at the local libraries. He loved going to see his friends there, and over the months, I’ve seen him grow more sure of himself and confident when it comes to walking and playing with the other little people.

If it was Wednesday, after the library, we would stop at WalMart to pick up whatever we needed at home and some of their popcorn chicken. Little Man would have half the cup eaten by the time we got home! Sometimes, if I didn’t need to stop at Wally World, we would go to McDonald’s, and he would get either a cheeseburger or nuggets. The fries would be gone before we turned down our road.

Fridays we went to the closer little library. Little Man would walk in like he owned the place. If he didn’t see Miss Kathy at the front desk, he would walk to the back, to her cube, and peek his head around to see if she was there. This library has a bunch of Duplo and MegaBlox for the kids to play with, so we would get there early to give him time to play a bit and then pick his favourite car for the day to take with him to the story area. We had some friends who live in that town who would also venture to the county library on Wednesdays, and he loved seeing the faces he knew.

We were starting to become friends with one of the little guys on Wednesdays; the boys are 10 days apart. I wish I had the other little guys’ mom’s contact info, but with everything going on, where could we get together to play? Most people out there are poo-pooing the idea of play dates, and the parks are all closed, as are the libraries. What am I supposed to do with my toddler in terms of socializing him? I do not want to take him to the store; not that I’m scared of him getting sick, I just don’t want to deal with the ignorance of my fellow shoppers. Little Man, and others around his age, need to get out and see other children, and adults for that matter. They need to learn to share and just how to interact with others.

Being cooped up with the same few people day in and day out, not being able to leave the house, this is tough. At least, as an adult, you can make the decision that it is your turn to run to the store, or you may even be an essential employee who has to leave each day to go to work. Children do not get those luxuries; and yes, they are luxuries. Our children are getting the short end of the stick with these “shelter in place” or “safer at home” orders.

Older children, who have had their school years cancelled (some states are shutting schools through the end of 2020!) have lost not only the socialization, but their daily schedules. I cannot tell you how many friends I have who are sharing that their “homeschooling” plans have not worked out, that their children are not doing the work, are not focusing, are having meltdowns. Well, their whole worlds have been turned on end, and they do not have the skills, or mindset, to be able to cope with it all.

As their parents, they look to us to know what to do. What are we doing? I am lucky in that Squatch is still working, so his being gone for work is not any different for Little Man, and that we live with MIL & FIL, so they are always home with us. I already had Little Man on a good schedule, and I am keeping it (minus the library and shopping trips). Honestly, I am getting worried about what it will be like once everything starts to open up again. How will Little Man be when we go to the library or store? Will he remember how to share with his friends at storytime? Will other parents be willing to exchange contact information and schedule playdates? I don’t know, and the only way to find out is to get everything back open again.