Even a trip to the park is freighted.
Parenting in the Time of Coronavirus |
 | | Ariel Davis |
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Last weekend, we took our children to Brooklyn Bridge Park — our local weekend spot that also doubles as a tourist attraction. There’s a huge playground with a giant sand pit, and we brought buckets and shovels and rakes for our kids. After about 20 minutes of digging, my children got bored and moved on to slide mountain, leaving their sand toys behind. I watched as toddlers I didn’t know wandered over and put their grubby little mitts on our bucket — a typical park occurrence, one I wouldn’t even have registered in typical circumstances. |
But we’re not in normal times. We’re in coronavirus times. I wanted to know if I should be concerned about previously unassuming scenarios that might now be hazardous for my family. Should we start changing our behavior? I talked to three infectious disease pediatricians and a cleaning expert and they answered eight of our readers’ most pressing questions. |
If you’re not in an area with an active outbreak, the current advice is to mostly go about your daily routine as long as you’re emphasizing hand washing and other hygienic practices. However, the news is fast moving, so check your local and state health department websites for the most up-to-date recommendations. |
One piece of advice that didn’t make it into our piece from Jolie Kerr, a cleaning expert and frequent New York Times contributor: If children of unknown provenance touch your crusty sand buckets, you can sanitize them by throwing them on the top rack of your dishwasher. If you don’t have a dishwasher, a scrub with good old soap and water will do the trick. |
Want More on Coronavirus? |
| Parenting can be a grind. Let’s celebrate the tiny victories. |
| My 3-year-old treats hand washing like a competitive sport now thanks to preschool lessons. — Thryn Shapira, San Jose, Calif. |
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