Goodbye, Normal. We barely knew you.

Once my husband and I were vaccinated, we started bringing the kids out occasionally. It seemed safe enough. Coronavirus numbers were low, and children were not considered to be at high risk. Being out in the world had started to feel normal again, so normal that I even offered to bring Livia clothes shopping in person this weekend. But, reading the latest news about Covid, I decided not to follow through, even though her disappointment is going to be fierce once she realizes.

So be it. I’d rather disappoint her now than have to live with myself if she became ill. The daily case numbers are as high now as they were last November, and word is that the Delta variant is taking down otherwise healthy kids. Vaccination rates are better in the Northeast than some other areas of the country, but the risk level here is still rated high, and there are pockets of low vaccination all around us. The town that’s just down the road, for example, was still less than 50% fully vaccinated as of the end of July. I can avoid that area, of course, but the unvaccinated people aren’t going to stay in one place, so every place is dangerous. The very thought of taking Livia into a changing room, where the air smells stale and never seems to move, gives me the heebie-jeebies, but if she’s not going to try things on, then there is hardly any point to shopping in person. So I’m just not going to.

Am I being too cautious? Maybe. But it’s my job to keep her safe, and I do not take that responsibility lightly. TBH, I’m starting to get nervous about the impending school year, too. I don’t know what I’m going to do when the first day of school rolls finally around. If the situation has worsened a lot by then, I may well keep her home, and damn the repercussions.

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