Why This Pediatrician Stopped All Playdates.

The kids will survive if we stop sleepovers, but will grandma survive if we don’t?

The novel coronavirus pandemic is here, and I’ve canceled all my kids’ playdates and sleepovers. They don’t like it, but they understand why.

As a doctor, it’s been hard to watch the COVID-19 pandemic spreading like wildfire. As soon as it was clear what we doctors were seeing, I was hoping our communities and leaders would do what it takes to stop the spread. But even I struggled with what to do about playdates when the schools closed.

By Friday afternoon we knew the schools were closing, but on Saturday morning I still hadn’t processed that yet. I thought maybe it would work if we chose a close circle of my kids’ friends and did playdates exclusively with them for the next three weeks. You know, keeping the kids sane but limiting exposure.

Both of my kids had playdates scheduled that afternoon. That is until one family canceled because the father was showing cold symptoms. My other son went to a friends’ house and played Twister. The exact opposite of social distancing.

Sunday morning, I woke up knowing that I was doing the wrong thing. My emotions wanted to continue playdates because my kids are social and will get lonely…