I’ve got a quick rant today, and a whole lot of praise as well.
First off, my kids had a case of COVID-19 in their school last week and that sucks on a lot of levels: it sucks for the kids who can’t go to school and their parents ‘just in case’, it sucks for the teacher who can’t go to work, ‘just in case’, but more over, it sucks for the poor kid who came down with it and their parents! No parent wants their kid to get sick, and definitely not right now. To a certain degree, a child being diagnosed with COVID-19 is a parent’s worst nightmare right now. A little cough, or tickle in the throat is enough to send us all into a bit of a overreaction and heightened awareness these days. The reality is, that ANYONE could catch COVID-19 right now. You could get it walking into the store, or going in to work…kids being kids, and surrounded by other kids all the time, they’re more likely to catch it. Which is awful, and a little scary, but honestly it’s the way it is right now. At least until we can find a vaccine/cure and no method of social distancing, hand washing or masking up is 100% foolproof. The fact that a stigma has developed around people who have caught it, is pretty ridiculous. I can’t believe that anyone would ever call someone out for catching it or for their kids catching it. Well, I COULDN’T have believed it until recently.
I was pretty sickened by some of the comments on social media aimed at the parents of the child who was diagnosed last week. Essentially these comments were calling them bad parents and bad people. BECAUSE THEIR KID WAS SICK?!?! That is absolutely ridiculous. Knock that crap off. Seriously. NO Parent wants their kid sick. NONE. We’re all doing the best we can and honestly, we are all still learning about this disease and we’re all in it together. Not only do we all still feel kind of scared and alone right now, we’re all doing the best we can. We don’t need people hiding behind their computer screens making us feel worse for something that is, more or less, completely out of our control. Before you jump on a keyboard and call another person, another parent, out on something, give it a minute. Think about how YOU would feel if you were in their shoes. How would YOU feel if it was your child that was sick? We ALL need to give ourselves a few seconds of pause before speaking our mind these days, because we’re speaking out of fear. When we speak out of fear instead of out of concern or kindness, all it does is spread more fear and hurt. So let’s lay off the keyboard troll stuff, shall we?
Also, big praise should go out to the school, the school board and the Thunder Bay District Health Unit for acting as quickly as they did and for handling it all so well. Y’all are absolute gems, thank you so much for doing your best to keep us and our kids safe during these times! As scary as this all is, I know you are all doing everything in your power to keep my (our) kids safe and I cannot say enough good things about how hard our schools and front liners are working right now! I’m sending you all the biggest (virtual) hugs of thanks I can!
Wash your hands, wear your mask, and for crying out loud, be good to each other!
