How I’m Talking to My Preschooler about Coronavirus

With schools all over the city closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, I’ve found myself, both as a teacher and a mom, trying to explain to my child about what’s going on. I’m not one to sugarcoat most things, especially if it’s a serious matter, so being upfront with my child seemed like the only way for me.

Simple Rules to Follow

How I'm Talking to My Preschooler about Coronavirus

My preschool daughter knows there’s a virus going around.  When we took her in to the doctor a few days ago because she was running a low-grade fever, she asked, “Mommy do I have the BIRUS?” Yes, she says virus with a “B”, it’s the cutest thing and I hope she will continue to pronounce words differently, even as a grown up.

I assured her she didn’t have Coronavirus, and our health practitioner quickly informed us it was her allergies acting up. Our recent move to Houston has really kept us on our toes when it comes to her allergies. She wasn’t afraid to go to the doctor, despite her concern of this virus. She’s not fearful because we haven’t given her a reason to be afraid. My priority as a parent is doing my job to educate her as best as I can. We’ve been very vigilant with her hand-washing skills recently, implementing 2 pumps of soap and counting to 20 while washing her hands. We’re also making sure hand sanitizer is used frequently when we’re out and about, mostly on grocery runs. Our unicorn scented hand sanitizer seems to be doing the trick for her, and for me too.

School’s Out for SPRING?!

How I'm Talking to My 4 Year Old about Coronavirus

We just finished up our spring break and our school, like most in the city, has remained closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. This was expected, and honestly, in my opinion, it’s for the best. “Baby, we’re not going to be going back to school next week.” My daughter’s initial response was a huge grin on her face, ear to ear and twinkling eyes. I swear to you, this child REALLY loves school, but she also loves to stay at home and play with ALL her toys ALL AT THE SAME TIME. After her excitement she asked, “Why?? Is it because of the BIRUS?” She definitely knows what’s going on and I’m not going to lie to her. I told her that schools all over the city need to shut down in order to clean, sanitize, and to keep our kids healthy at home. She acknowledged my comment and went off to change into her third dress up outfit for the day. 

As a family, we watched the president address the country a few nights ago, talking about the severity of this pandemic. She listened for the most part, while laying in her daddy’s arms, but soon she was out like a light. But during her time of consciousness,  she was observant, quiet, and using great preschool listening skills. 

Stocking up on Necessities 

Luckily our trips to the grocery store haven’t been chaotic this week. We went right when the rodeo was being canceled to stock up on necessities, so HEB literally looked like any other shopping day. We heard the news on the radio in the car. We were both a little bummed out, maybe me a little more than her. I was planning to go see Luke Bryan for the first time, and we were going to take her to her very first concert. In reality, she doesn’t know Luke Bryan, but had it been George Strait’s concert being canceled, then I’m sure she’d be devastated.  My little cowgirl has the biggest crush on Mr. Strait, who doesn’t?
 
In all honesty all she cares about is how many more snacks she has access to; why lie, I’m pretty excited too! My late night trip to the grocery store a few days ago was a whole different story, I’m glad I left my daughter and my husband home sleeping. Aisles were empty, lines were long, and yet we all just kept our distance and tried to get through our shopping madness.
 
Basically I’m keeping my daughter informed about the Coronavirus situation, but I’m not trying to scare her. She’s a kid and I want her to be a kid forever, if possible. I will do the “grown up problems” worrying for her until she’s 18 if I can help it. I don’t want her to feel anxious or to be afraid. I don’t want her to freak out when her classmate sneezes or coughs in her direction. And I really hope, as my child is an avid allergy sufferer, that she won’t be made to feel bad when she goes back to school when she has her sniffles and sneezes.
 

Making the Most of Coronavirus Isolation

How I'm Talking to My Preschooler about Coronavirus
Until things get back to normal, this mama, her princess and her hubby will enjoy this time off together, finishing home projects, taking walks at the park, enjoying frozen pizza, pickles, popcorn and  lots of prayers. 
 
We will get through this. So will you, Mama, no matter what. 

Need more quarantine resources? Check out Houston Moms’ Ultimate Guide to Quarantine Resources! 

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Elizabeth R
Elizabeth is an RGV girl, born and raised, who moved to Houston {January 2020} with her little family. She was a writer for the RGV Moms Blog for years and is now a part of the Houston team. She shares her heart and home with a 5 year old tiny teenager named Isabella Samantha {September 2015}, a baby girl on the way {April 2021} and her loving husband, Samuel. She majored in Public Relations at UT Pan American in Edinburg, Texas, now known as UTRGV. After a few short years working for a hospital’s marketing department after graduation, she found her calling and completed an alternative certification program to begin teaching. She loves working with children and hopes that by being in the classroom, she can make a difference. Elizabeth has been teaching little ones for 13 years now, ranging from 6 year olds to recently 6 month olds. She still finds time to write/blog in her free time as a form of stress reliever. She hopes to publish a SciFi book one day, as her dreams always tend to lean towards the supernatural. Which is why she loves to sleep so much! She enjoys online shopping, thrifting, scrapbooking and binge watching Netflix shows in her pajamas. In the short time she’s been living in Houston she’s come to realize that she HATES the traffic, LOVES the diversity and REALLY misses her momma back home.

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