Well.
The kids are out of school. I will be done with work after today (yay!). We have no plans to go anywhere, which is good. Because we are embarking on our first quarantine.
For privacy reasons, I am not going to get into the details of the exposure (please do not speculate in the comments). We have all been tested: I am currently negative, everyone else is waiting on results. We will also test again farther down the road. Everyone (thus far) seems healthy. (Yes, Josh and I were both vaccinated last week but I’m not sure how much protection — if any — the inoculation of one dose would provide, so early on.)
Fingers crossed. Day 14 will be 1/1. If we are all still healthy by then, I will be INCREDIBLY grateful for the dawn of the new year.
2020 just HAD to go out with a bang, didn’t it.
SO. We are going to have to get creative with outdoor play on our back patio (literally just ordered a bucket of sidewalk chalk after typing this). At least we are armed with about 292873 craft projects as a result of Hanukkah. And at least there are 3872 holiday movies and Christmas specials that the kids seem to love despite a Jewish/secular upbringing, and at least I can play Kacey Musgrave’s Christmas album on repeat.
Grateful:
That the kids are out of school anyway.
That I am about to be done with work for the year and did telehealth only yesterday for obvious reasons.
That we weren’t going anywhere anyway. (Literally the only things I had to cancel were G’s 3 year old well child exam + a Flamingo gardens playdate. I mean — sad, but not in any way catastrophic.)
That I tried grocery delivery this past weekend using (as noted previously – this before I was aware of the exposure!) and it went really well. NOTHING missing, no excess packaging, reasonable pricing. I have been shopping at Publix almost exclusively since March but this was Whole Foods and it went so well they may lure me back.
That we ordered Sun Basket meal kits for the week after (just thought that would be fun)
That Josh does not have to work until the 10 day mark (at which point he is allowed to return with negative test)
That the COVID-positive person is currently doing okay.
Will keep you posted. Just hoping we all stay healthy.
The kids love her version of Rudolph.
34 Comments
I’m so sorry that you’ve been exposed, and hope that you all stay safe and healthy! Good luck with the quarantine – as the mother of a 7 year old and 2 year old, I feel you on that and wish you all the best!
I am so sorry! Wish you and your family all the best
Sorry to hear this. I thought the guidelines had changed to a ten day quarantine?
It’s sort of nebulous: 7 with neg test, 10, or 14: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/scientific-brief-options-to-reduce-quarantine.html
Ooph! Good luck. These situations definitely feel inevitable. Glad to hear mine aren’t the only Jewish kids who love Christmas music- I’ll have to check out the Kacey album!
Sorry about your exposure! I’m glad you’re all well so far!
Oh no! Hope everyone stays healthy (both physically and mentally!). What a bummer!
Ugh! So sorry!
We have had individual family members exposed a couple of times, including over Thanksgiving. Because of the nature of the exposures we did not all need to quarantine, but it is still not so fun. We did a lot of rescheduling to avoid leaving out a kid etc. And our Thanksgiving plans did have to change, but ultimately is was all fine.
Also, yes as above. The CDC quarantine guidelines did change. You can do the 14 days, but if you test you can finish it early. I can’t remember the details as it changed on day 14 of my last kid’s quarantine.
I hope you all stay healthy!
Sending positive thoughts and vibes to all of you. I hope you all stay ok (and that your point of exposure is ok as well). I appreciate your focus on gratitude. I’ve been going through a crap few days (weeks?) and try to remind myself daily of all the things I have to be thankful for as well. 2020 – don’t let the door hit you in the *** on the way out! Be well and good luck!
Oh no. How crazy, right after the vaccine! Maybe you will have some immunity even if it’s too early for full protection? I am hopeful you all will be healthy but this kind of super strict quarantine has to be really stressful. Best of luck to your family.
We have been doing grocery delivery most of the pandemic and it’s been quite helpful. Likely will continue to use after the pandemic.
Hang in there… you’re right, if it had to happen, the timing was good!
I’m so sorry! We are doing our first quarantine as well and it was my youngest son who tested positive first. My husband and I go to work and all 4 kids go to school, but we have been pretty careful. I have no idea where he got it, but it is pretty rampant in our community.
So far we have found things to keep everyone having fun each day and the extra family time has been nice.
Ah, good luck! FWIW, we’ve tested + quarantined without exposure, just to allow for a visit with my mom. My kids are older, but it really went fine. I’ve also been doing WF grocery delivery regularly and it’s been great. Much better than any sort of curbside pickup or other delivery services, at least in my area. I tip excessively so don’t feel bad about it. Grocery bill has actually been lower probably because I don’t impulse buy anything. Fingers crossed that your family remains healthy.
I’m quarantined as well and had Publix deliver for the first time ever. They partner with Instacart up here and both times have been fine. You can monitor replacements and decide to approve them or not. And, it’s such a time saver, I’ll probably continue.
My doctor told me ten days from first symptoms. However, my boyfriend was told 14 days from last “contact” with me, since he tested negative. We’ve been really careful by wearing masks in the house and using separate bathrooms and beds. Hopefully, it’s worked.
I’m still going to be cautious, though. I’ll go back to my CrossFit gym after the 14 days.
We’ve quarantined twice due to a positive case at daycare. It sucks! I am sorry! In our cases, we were all negative thank goodness. I was pregnant at the time so that added more anxiety to our situation. Our daycare had a bad stretch at the end of November with something like 15 cases across nearly all classrooms. They are doing their best but when the community rates were as high as they were in Minnesota, it’s just inevitable that it’s going to spread. 🙁 Things have been better in December – probably because of our new lockdown measures. Plus a lot of parents have pulled their kids this month so they can see grandparents at Christmas so they are probably at 50% capacity right now. Anyways all that is to say that I feel your pain! Although we only had one toddler who was willing to watch tons of Dinosaur Train while we worked. We totally let go of any sort of rules about screen time as it’s all about survival!! Fingers crossed all stay healthy!!
I hope you all stay healthy!
I’m sorry to hear you are dealing with this. I’m going through it right now too. I have a 3 year old and a 5 year old and my husband and I are both teachers. We are in day six since our exposure and are being tested today. Everyone is still healthy, including the positive contact who was asymptomatic. I’ve kind of been a mess about it mentally and your post really helped me gain some
Perspective – that with us both working in schools, in home child care, and our son in school, this was sort of inevitable, despite how very careful we’ve been. I really need to focus on the good right now, and make the best of it, like you are. Thank you so much for sharing your experience. Best wishes for continued health for you and your family.
Thinking good thoughts! My pediatrician advised it was almost certain my son would get Covid at some point due to being in day care. He was right—we just finished his isolation and our quarantine period. Somehow the rest of the family managed to avoid getting sick. We were all stir crazy by the end but at least no one else got sick and my son was only symptomatic for one day.
Bummer! But at least everyone is staying healthy so far. Best of luck with your quarantine.
I’m sorry !! I had my first exposure notification last week from a healthcare setting (very low risk situation and I’m not concerned whatsoever) so at least it came at a good time. I hope you all stay well.
Oh no! But decent timing for it. We are going into lockdown from the 26th to the 18th. Only essential shops and takeaways will be open, all childcare and schools closed, but you can leave your house for exercise etc so we will be out and about as much as possible. Just praying for decent weather.
Listening to BOBW today and feeling sad for you that your holiday break plans are now not happening. You sounded so positive and excited. Hang in there and hope you all stay welll!
haha so true! This will be a different version of Camp Mommy (but I’ll still try to make it fun!)
Sending you hugs and reminding you that it’s our nice weather season, so you can enjoy the fresh air in your backyard. And “chilly” temps allow you to open the windows for more fresh air. I’m only a text away if you need me to drop off anything.
Oh no! We’ve had to quarantine twice for exposures, but luckily we had negative tests / no one developed symptoms both times. Quarantining is not ideal, but as far as timing goes you kind of lucked out? (As much as you can “luck out” with a quarantine!) Hope your weather cooperates so you can get outside a lot, and hope the Covid-positive person continues to do ok.
I’m sorry to hear that, but it is encouraging to see you looking at all the positives. I can somewhat relate, as my husband and about 1/2 of my close circle work in health care. We’re in a West African country, so there isn’t a lot available for complications if they occur. I hope your family can find some moments of fun and excitement in the midst of everything.
Nope, not “inevitable.”
? What does this mean?
Do you think the trajectory of COVID we have experienced in the US was unavoidable? If so, I am horrified. It’s also not “inevitable” on a personal level, but that wasn’t really what I was getting at. Is that what you meant?
I was just trying to understand your comment. I often find your comments rude and flippant, but also know that isn’t always your intent. So rather than assume that, I asked for clarification. You have to know that your single sentence comment, that directly contradicts Sarah’s blog post title and seems a little personal, could make someone go “huh, what does that mean”?
Thanks for your feedback Milly. You don’t sound like an especially charitable person. I hope you take this as it was intended.
@OMDG since I couldn’t reply directly to your comment from 3:03 for some reason, I’ll reply here. Stay on brand – you never disappoint. I wish you and your family a nice holiday. I hope you, too, take that as it was intended 🎄
Sorry to hear this! I just typed “Have a good week” on a comment I was making on a previous post, then I read this and it seems less appropriate. I hope you all stay healthy and do manage to have a decent week, at least, even if quarantined!
Wishing you all good health and hope that the quarantine will pass quickly