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MoyaPechal

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Everything posted by MoyaPechal

  1. Not being able to go to our usual things due to the pandemic has really emphasized how left out of our neighborhood I feel. For context, we're in a 17-story high rise surrounded by a sprawling neighborhood of small townhouses (which manage to be $650k despite being cramped and 60 years old!). We know 2 families to say hi to in the hallway, but their kids are small toddlers and they mainly just hang out together. No one in the apartment building seems interested in forming a community even during normal times, which I guess makes sense because the DC metro is very transient and apartments are even more so. When we go on walks, I always see kids playing together in the small front yards and cul de sacs. Neighbors might say hi when we walk by, but that's it. At the park nearby during the day, it's usually just nannies with toddlers because almost no one in our town is a SAHM. When parents are there, I rarely see them more than once and they're usually not interested in chatting. Normally it's a bit painful but I can shrug it off, but we have an only child (not by choice) and aside from a weekly playdate with my Godmother's kids, she never gets to play with other kids. All our other friends and acquaintances with kids her age are either being irresponsible or are being so cautious that they aren't seeing anyone. I worry this feeling of exclusion will only get worse once we start homeschooling next year because she won't be making neighborhood friends at school. There's a co-op we will join but it doesn't start until 1st grade (nursery-K is reserved for younger siblings) and it's 20 minutes away so not as convenient as just sending your kid out to play in the neighborhood. When I grew up, we lived in a nice house with half an acre and I could just go into the neighbors' yards to play with their kids. I was still lonely as an only child but I wasn't by myself day after day. It's so hard not having a yard for her to play in and for us to garden in. I guess this ended up being more of a ramble. Basically it's painful to feel like I'm not really a part of the neighborhood, I have social anxiety, and I was wondering if people have any advice or could relate. Please no suggestions to just move. My husband works for the government, we tried for years to move with no success because of his very specific career field and job experience, and we'd have to move 2 hours away from the city to afford a house.
  2. I only use my apartment's microwave to reheat rice. Pretty much anything you use it for can be done on the stovetop or in the oven. I lived in an apartment with no microwave for a while and didn't miss it at all. Does your DH use the microwave a lot?
  3. One of my best friends is a tea addict and has the Zoji. She loves it. I have the smaller version of this and I really like it: https://smile.amazon.com/Bonavita-Temperature-Featuring-Gooseneck-BV382518V/dp/B00N2278VC/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=bonavita+kettle&qid=1607345577&sprefix=bonavita&sr=8-3
  4. My husband only had a sore throat for a day when we all had it. Mine started out as cold symptoms. Until I started having trouble breathing, we wouldn't have known to get tested if we hadn't been informed that my husband was exposed.
  5. My friend got tested a few months ago and had to do the test herself. It was unpleasant but they talked her through it so she knew what to do. I wasn't high risk but I'm still having complications from covid almost 9 months later. I'd get tested so you can be sure and can be on the lookout for any long-term problems and have a plan in case anyone takes a turn for the worse.
  6. Only one of us was able to get a test when we were sick with covid due to the shortages then. They did it curbside in full PPE. Literally completely covered head to toe. It was very safe, if surreal. I hope it's just a fever! 🙏🏻 And I'm sorry you have the added stress of a household member who can't fully understand and is at high risk herself. I hope you can find a good solution.
  7. Also, we could have infected our whole church. A few days before we found out we'd been exposed, our priest told everyone to stay home and not come to church. The next week the bishop shut down every church in the diocese until Pentecost. If we had gone to church without knowing we were exposed, we would have spread it to everyone, including the little old ladies and the man who usually sits behind us whose son is going through chemo. Our church is open again but at 25% capacity with everyone 6 feet apart and wearing masks, including clergy. All Bible studies and groups have been moved to zoom.
  8. Two former students of the school I used to work at caught covid and almost died. They were in the hospital for a month. 15yo and 16yo. Only one was high risk. The other was a big athlete. It was terrifying thinking that they were going to die alone in the hospital.
  9. We had it back in March. Husband was exposed the day before his office switched to telework. He had a sore throat for a day. DD had a cough and low fever but was acting normal. I started off with just a cough and low fever, but after a few days I could barely breathe and it felt like someone was sitting on my chest. I was told not to go to the ER unless I started turning blue because there wasn't enough capacity. I'm convinced that if I wasn't on baby aspirin and an anti inflammatory prescribed by my NaPro doctor and didn't have an inhaler because a (now evicted) smoker on our hallway had been triggering my completely latent asthma, it would have been a lot worse. I thought I was going to end up on a ventilator for a few days and had a hospital bag packed. Almost 9 months later, I still have shortness of breath that's getting a lot worse now that it's cold. I'm pretty sure I have lung damage and I made an appointment with a pulmonologist to get checked out. For context, I'm a 30yo with no risk factors aside from mild asthma that hasn't bothered me since high school, with the exception of needing an inhaler because of that jerk who violated the lease by filling our hallway with smoke.
  10. I didn't read them until I was in college. I don't think reading a book early necessarily ruins it. I think high school would be a good time. I have to admit that I've watched the BBC miniseries with my preschooler 🤦‍♀️
  11. I read an article that used that exact comparison!
  12. I have asthma and I've never been told not to get live vaccines. ETA: I don't take oral steroids, though.
  13. The people I know who caught covid got it at work and were otherwise being very careful.
  14. Our city mandated that everyone wear a mask outside if you can't maintain a distance of 6 feet. If we're at the park and no one is there, I won't wear them. If I'm taking a walk on the sidewalk I will because we live in a dense area and I don't want people to have to step into the street to avoid us.
  15. It seems to be the same here. I know in our area, disproportionately more poor families and POC chose distance learning over hybrid/in-person.
  16. @Spryte I'm glad you got the car back without any incidents!
  17. We were planning on visiting my parents, but that's going to change if they don't stop sending me crazy conspiracy theories multiple times a day. No other plans for now. We're low on the vaccine priority list and I almost ended up in the hospital when I had covid back in March.
  18. My husband has to work in person because he deals with classified information. For our HCOL area, we are lower middle class. We and everyone we know in a similar financial situation are being very careful. The people I know who think covid is a hoax and masks are stupid are all affluent crunchy moms.
  19. On the other extreme, I did just get yelled at and called selfish on social media for going to church (socially distanced, everyone wears masks, reduced capacity, and no outbreaks despite attendees later testing positive) instead of just livestreaming.
  20. I'm so sorry you have to deal with this! In our area (DC metro) everyone is very compliant with the governor's mask mandate when in public. In fact, a woman apologized yesterday for leaving her mask in her car when DD and I were at the park, not even near them. I have a few acquaintances who think covid is a plan-demic scam and honestly, I've lost a lot of respect for them. I am not high risk (just mild asthma) and almost ended up in the hospital when we all caught it back in March. Covid is not the flu or a "bad cold" as so many seem to think!
  21. Yeah, normally I'd definitely agree. I took a year off in high school for a sports development program and being at least a year older than everyone was uncomfortable. I turned 19 the November of my senior year. Covid has made everything weird. She might actually end up being one of the youngest if we send her to PS on time because even kids with Feb birthdays were redshirted this year. I'll just go at her pace and see what the situation is when we actually get to high school, I guess. Some of it might be exaggeration, but one of her best friends is almost exactly a year older than she is and last winter he was reading and writing already (in pre-K). A lot of parents push academics really early here.
  22. Thank you! I just hear from other parents around here that their 5yos are reading chapter books already and it freaks me out. I was considering filing to "redshirt" but I don't feel good about it since she's already technically kindergarten-ready. I've been trying out some CM things this year like nature walks and games with wooden letters, but I don't think I'm going to stick with that method.
  23. Thanks for the reality check! I'm just feeling super overwhelmed by trying to figure out a curriculum and this year in general.
  24. My daughter turns 5 in March. Normally we'd start K next year, but a ton of people in our area held their kids back from K this year because of distance learning (most kids haven't been in school at all since March). It's making me really nervous about college applications in the future. I graduated during a really competitive year (the year everyone switched to the common app) and while I did get into a good school, it was one of my safeties and my mother cried about me not getting in anywhere else. And if we do state schools to try to save money, it's already disproportionately harder to get into the best ones like UVA if you live in Northern Virginia. Part of me wants to either start K early and try to accelerate a tiny bit over the years so she graduates a year early and the other part wonders if I should wait an extra year before starting kindergarten. Am I overthinking this? I have anxiety issues and need a reality check. We're going to homeschool for both religious and academic reasons. She can count to 25 and knows all the basic letter sounds but blending is really hit or miss. Usually she can't. Aside from being able to write her name, she's Kindergarten-ready according to our school district. We haven't done any formal academics aside from Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading once in a while because until recently I was planning to do a CM curriculum and they say no formal lessons until at least 6.
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