Tag Archives: pandemic COVID-19 coronavirus parenting limits

We are starting week 8 of the COVID-19 stay-at-home order in Pennsylvania where I live. For many reasons, the past 7 weeks have been challenging for parents. Kids who are bored, trapped inside, missing their friends and their activities, and expected to attend virtual school are not going to be pleasant much of the time. Brace yourself, Moms and Dads, because I think your job is getting ready to become even harder than it has been. Here’s why: since the stay-at-home orders were put into place, parents could defer to a “higher authority” when placing coronavirus-related limits on their children. For example, when a teenaged girl asks if she and a few friends can pleaaaaaaase go to the park to shoot some hoops, dads have been able to “blame” the governor when they have to say no. When a little boy says to his mom, “I know for a fact that Joey and Juan are having playdates,” she can tell him that the parents of those children are violating the governor’s orders. Continue reading →