About a year ago, my DH started wearing these little silicone glasses ear grips... he got sick of pushing his glasses up all the time. I wear them now, too, so I don't have to worry about masks making my glasses fall off. They also keep me from touching my glasses/face so much. We got ours on Amazon, not these exact ones but similar: https://www.amazon.com/GMS-Optical-Comfortable-Silicone-Anti-slip/dp/B00DUWLI0Q

This Twitter conversation is making me 😂 Gotta read all the replies.

I was wearing a plain old surgical mask on a walk yesterday, and it was so comfortable that I could barely feel it on there. I was thinking that a surgical mask would be really easy for kids to handle all day at school. They don't filter much, but they do catch droplets. Do you think that could be a good choice for schoolkids?

Seriously?!?! I'd have to move.

Wow! You're brave. Too bad they didn't think it would reach their town.

Could be. My DH also said that many people are "low information" - not reading or watching much news, or not having internet access to access news, etc. So when they hear that things are open again, they assume it's safe. Or if people are just getting "information" from friends on FB, and if the friends don't think covid is a big deal, then the only news some people get is that it's not that serious. I still have a hard time picturing ANYONE not hearing about NYC, Europe, etc. but what do I know.

I would really like to understand why it has to hit close to home before so many people take it seriously. I mean, I can imagine what it would feel like if my mom or DH were hospitalized, or on a vent, or if one of my students had a grandparent die. Do I just have a more active imagination, or what? Ugh. I'd be very tempted to ask this person what her deal is.

I agree with you. But... The president is holding a 7,500 person 4th of July fireworks thing at Mt Rushmore, where distancing and masks are optional. I'm going to be really upset if states wait until they have a disaster on their hands, then order mask mandates, and then find that masks work. Like... you couldn't have done this easy, cheap, effective thing sooner?!

Yikes. I didn't think of that. Although it does seem like people reaaaaaaaally want to believe that kids don't get it/spread it.

This is what needs to happen. I can't stand assuming that kids don't get it/spread it... the CDC should start doing some research in instances like this.

Why wouldn't I? There actually IS a national plan, put out by the White House. Almost no states are following it, though. Rural WY and NYC are very connected. We are all in the same pandemic! A national plan can be flexible, but every state should be held to the same standards. If you meet X standards, you're fully opened up. If you meet Z standards, you're still in phase 3 until things improve, etc. New York State has a state plan. The criteria for moving from phase to phase are clear, and regions are held to the criteria. If a region backslides, they'll be put back into an earlier phase until they get things under control. In the NY State plan, the rural North Country has been reopened for weeks, while NYC is still in phase two. Americans can't travel to Europe because we've bungled this situation so badly. That's pretty telling. Why wouldn't we want a national plan that would finally get this situation under control?

I had not seen this. Thank you!

I just don't get it! Do people really not consume any news.... like enough news to know what's happening in the south, and what's already happened in NY, NJ, etc? And they think that won't happen here? Here's a good, non-Covid-specific, demonstration of how droplets move through the air, and how well masks contain them (spoiler alert: really well!): https://www.khq.com/news/khq-investigates-how-effective-is-a-mask/video_e308a1e8-b74f-11ea-ac6d-878bd6f54032.html?utm_source=TWITTER&utm_medium=social_organic&utm_term=3456877239___&utm_content=_News+Promotion&utm_campaign=_

I saw Andrew Cuomo on Meet the Press the other day, and he was talking about how the surge in cases in other states may delay opening in NY and other places. It only makes sense... but I wish we had a national response to this! If NYC is doing really well and is capable of opening restaurants, but they can't because they're afraid people from Florida will come spread the virus, it's just nuts. Perhaps the governors will create a national plan on their own.

Me too. I re-read that NPR study people have been talking about. A coworker emailed it to all the teachers as a mood-lifter... like don't worry, we teach mostly younger kids! We're good! When I re-read, I saw that only "a few" parents and caregivers tested positive during the time period they were talking about. If only "a few" adults tested positive, then it makes sense that not many kids caught the virus, right?? And since many kids are asymptomatic, we really have no clue about how many kids have been infected. Unless they were testing the whole class when one kid was positive, there would be no way to know. We also don't know if asymptomatic kids can spread the virus. I may be repeating what someone else already said. https://www.npr.org/2020/06/24/882316641/what-parents-can-learn-from-child-care-centers-that-stayed-open-during-lockdowns

SEALED SHUT!!!! 😂

Do you have any inkling whether the kids got infected from their parents, or what? Are the kids spreading it to classmates and teachers and to their families? I get the impression that people are hoping that kids, even if infected, don't spread the infection around as much as adults do. I don't know if there is any evidence that asymptomatic kids don't spread the virus. There isn't even a ton of research about that in adults yet, although adult asymptomatic/presymptomatic spread is real.

This would be great info to have. I'm still not convinced that kids under 12 are really as low risk as people are trying to make out. My principal just sent out the NPR article about kids at the Y during the height of the pandemic (in NYC I think?) and how hardly any of them were sick. But... I'm dubious. It feels like school leaders are trying to justify going back by saying kids don't get it or spread it.

That does sound impossible for most schools. From what I understand, Maine has so far not issued any firm requirements yet. More to come soon, I'm sure.

I don't think anyone knows for sure, but from what I hear, the state will decide which parts of the state can reopen. After that, it's up to the districts how to reopen. The state will likely make "recommendations," but schools have to do what they need to do to actually have school. For example, if 10 kids per room is the recommendation, but there's no way that a school can make that work with the staff they have, the school may bump the number to 12 or 15.

Oh dear. I hate it, too. If it makes you feel any better, I'm almost certain that schools WILL open - at least in Maine - in the fall. We're planning on it, and we're going to spend a lot of time using the online platforms in class, so if/when remote schooling happens again, it won't be as haphazard as it was in March. Most of the Maine colleges are planning to go back... not sure how that'll work... or any of it really... but I'm not convinced that they WON'T open. In fact, now that I think they WILL open, I'm getting increasingly worried about being required to go back! Eek.

Since this is happening everywhere... makes me wonder if the virus is even more widespread than we think.

I think colleges and schools in the US want to open so badly that they're just going to do it no matter what, and then probably be forced to go back to remote. Here in Maine, there was a tiny wedding (24 people) in a tiny town, and now 8 people are in quarantine. I'm sure that's happening in tiny towns and big cities all over the country. I just don't see how schools can stay open for long.

Oh no. That's scary. I'm sorry!

JJill has loose linen pants that look good when it's too hot to move (like today! What the heck!!): https://www.jjill.com/shop/womens-clothing/pants-jeans/pants