We all need to take the risks we are comfortable with. If a person wants to quit their job and self-isolate because they are high risk and that's what they feel comfortable with, that's fine. If someone wants to keep going to work, knowing what the risks are, because rent and food can't wait, that's also okay. But it's not the government's place to be telling people their jobs aren't essential and to stay home. Their jobs are essential to them.

My 8 month old pup. The bottom of her right eye has some blue in it, making her look teary-eyed. She definitely loves her people. This picture we took in the mountains. We had to keep our golden on a long lead the whole time because he had a tendency to wander and I was worried he would get lost. She stayed right with us all the time, no matter what.

I am not afraid to die, but like others the thought of leaving my little kids is heart-wrenching. When my mother came to terms with the fact that her cancer would kill her, her biggest fear was that her grandkids wouldn't know how much she loved them. It's still the hardest part of her death for me too... knowing that my youngest kids have no memory of her. She was the best grandma ever. Death is only sad for those of us left behind. Those that have gone on have found peace, and I think that if we really knew what death was like, we'd be more inclined to hasten it.

Thank you for this. I keep thinking and asking myself... if I knew that COVID would kill me and that shutting down the economy would prevent ME from catching it, how many other people's livelihoods would I be okay with obliterating to save my life? And honestly, I can't say that I would be comfortable asking that of anyone, including family and friends. I am okay with social distancing. Some level of precaution is okay. But forcing business to shut their doors because they aren't "essential" is just mind boggling. Those jobs are essential to someone.

We have an 8 month old Aussie female. The first few weeks were rough until I got situated with baby gates and we started making progress with potty training. But I love her so much! She is smart and eager to learn. She seems like a fairly mellow dog, but to be fair we also have a 1 year old golden retriever and they spend a lot of time chasing each other in our large backyard, burning off energy. Without that energy outlet, I don't know how crazy she would be. ETA: I love my golden too, but next to my aussie, he looks dumb as rocks. You can tell she's smart. So far she doesn't try to herd our children, but she does try to herd the chickens.

As part of a cross-country move? Yes.

Another introvert here! We are doing okay here. My two oldest kids who attend a charter school have transitioned pretty seamlessly into their online assignments and done it independently. Besides being disgruntled about not being able to get books from the library, things are going on mostly as usual. We miss our outside activities, but it's fine. We have a huge backyard and the weather right now is fantastic so they spend a lot if time outside. I have heard through the grapevine that the city summer swim teams and public pools will be cancelled and closed because of lack of funding. The library and museums will be closed too through fall. This has me feeling pretty desperate because it's so oppressively hot during the summer here, that if we don't have swim team and public pools open, we are going to be stuck inside and miserable all summer.

Your compliment is much appreciated! And it will help me as I try to justify buying new gadgets for baking. 😊 At the moment I am preparing dough for focaccia. I am really excited about it!

My very first loaf. I could tell you a dozen things I should have done differently. And I'm now aware that I need some more tools and gadgets and fancy sounding flour. This could turn out to be an expensive hobby. 😆

My 1st grader will be finishing up LOE D. I don't do every single thing they suggest, but I am glad we are using it. She remembers everything and catches on quickly. I'd like to find an open and go, "git 'er done" spelling program for next year. I like Rod and Staff a lot. However, the 2nd grade spelling looks easy compared to the words she is spelling in LOE. I would just go up a level, but that gets tricky because I will have a 4th grader using the 4th grade book and I'd like for him to NOT realize that little sister is catching up to him. We used Spelling Workout one year and liked it well enough. The levels are labeled by letters not grade numbers, which is a bonus. What other good options do I have?

I am curious what you mean by this. This vaccine caused you to be immunocompromised? This vaccine is only on my radar because there is a scientist beginning human trials soon using the bcg vaccine to cure Type 1 diabetes. Really interesting.

I was about to lose my mind with my puppy until I bought several baby gates to keep her out of carpeted areas while we potty trained.

I will be more committed to keeping a well stocked pantry and I would like to up my efforts to learn to garden.

This article is worth a read. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-vaccines-insight/as-pressure-for-coronavirus-vaccine-mounts-scientists-debate-risks-of-accelerated-testing-idUSKBN20Y1GZ

To answer the original question, it depends on why they are anti-vaccine. Parents whose children have been injured or killed by vaccines will not change their minds. And those who have issues with vaccines cultured on aborted fetal cells will not change their minds if that is how the COVID vaccine is manufactured. The fact that there is a deadly virus circulating the globe is not proof that "vaccines work." Some vaccines are more effective than others. Some don't work very well at all. So whether or not people will be inclined to get the COVID vaccine comes out will depend on a lot of factors specific to the vaccine itself. Look at how many pro-vaxxers opt out of the flu vaccine. This is not a black and white issue. And anyone who thinks it is, does not understand the controversy surrounding vaccines.

I recently watched a video with Peter Hotek where he explained that previous attempts to create a coronavirus vaccine caused immune enhancement problems, where the vaccinated individual became even sicker when exposed to the virus they had been vaccinated against. It's a known problem with the dengue fever vaccine, as well as RSV. I will be curious to see if they can resolve that issue. I would be especially wary of a vaccine that was fast-tracked for approval because of it. Honestly, I think our best bet is to all slowly be exposed to the virus so we can develop natural immunity and hopefully doctors will be able to find effective treatments to treat those who are severely affected by virus.

Nutribiotic Ear Drops

Effie Ermel Alford These are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

I have read reports that initial predictions about the severity may have been too high. I think it's really important to be looking at the data and making adjustments as we learn. Because if this isn't as deadly as initially feared, it's definitely not worth screwing over the world's economy. I have mixed feelings about isolating the older at-risk individuals. I have seen so many "heart-warming" videos about visiting the elderly through glass windows, etc. And I get it. I know why people are doing that. I haven't seen my dad in several weeks. He is very high risk for just about everything, not just COVID. He also has talked for years about being ready to die. On the one hand, I do NOT want to be the one responsible for sharing an illness with him that kills him. But if he dies tomorrow of a heart attack I am going to feel like sh*t for not having taken my kids to see him recently. I feel like it's a lose/lose situation. ETA: it doesn't help that my dad has dementia. His health has declined pretty dramatically over the last 8 months, from living alone to not being able to even be left alone. It's not like we have years left with my dad anyway. I feel really conflicted about keeping my kids away from him while, right now, he is still mostly lucid.

This is true. I recently joined a couple local FB pages for our specific breeds. Just pages for people to ask questions or brag about their dogs. And every so often someone posts about found dogs or dogs that need to be rehomed for various reasons. The members are passionate about the breed and I think they get rehomed easily.

I know that it's trendy to adopt dogs from shelters. But it does seem like finding a good family breed at the shelter is hard. At ours, most of them are pits or pit mixes. I have a bunch of kids, and I do worry about bringing a dog into our home with an unknown history. That said, we recently got a golden retriever mix puppy from someone who was living in an apartment who could no longer care for him. He was a very well loved dog who was already potty trained and knew some commands. We had been watching craigslist for a while before he came up. We also got an aussie puppy from a breeder about 6 months ago. The potty training months were rough but she is a fantastic dog. She's smart and eager to learn and I love her. I don't think there is a right or wrong way to get a dog. Just take your time because the right dog for your home might not come up right away. Definitely do not impulse purchase!

I saw this after I posted.

We've just tried to get well-stocked on things we normally use. Apparently people are buying up baby chicks from feed stores at record speeds. We have a broody hen that is sitting on eggs so we decided to let her be a mom and put some babies under her. It took a while to track down any chicks because they sell out fast. One store got a bunch in today but they were already half gone by mid-morning. I find this really surprising.

@Eliana Of course there are people today whose lives are hard who are as tough as nails. I am talking in generalities though about what your average person had to suffer through then compared to today.

I dunno. Even just thinking about indoor plumbing... I don't know if I'd have the tolerance to hike out to the outhouse in the middle of the night to pee. I mean, I love camping and tolerate for a couple nights, but would hate if that was my life 24/7. My grandfather used to tell the story about when he was a kid, running home from school knowing there were only a few sliced of bread at home, and sitting down to cry because he knew he couldn't keep up with his siblings who would beat him home to eat it. I am so glad my kids will never know that kind of hunger. I know some do. But it's just not the same today. I have a don't-know-how-many-greats- grandmother who had an infected toe that wouldn't heal. The dr wanted $10 to cut it off. She thought that was ridiculous so she took an axe to her toe herself. I know I don't have the kind of grit and determination to survive what my ancestors went through. I am trying to grow a garden and about to give up because I can't keep the grass from overtaking my garden bed. I'd probably try harder if my life literally depended on it.