{"id":4168,"date":"2020-06-30T22:58:39","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T05:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthykidshappykids.com\/?p=4168"},"modified":"2020-06-30T23:20:33","modified_gmt":"2020-07-01T06:20:33","slug":"flying-with-kids-during-a-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vps37072.inmotionhosting.com\/~healt472\/2020\/06\/30\/flying-with-kids-during-a-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Flying with Kids During a Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Who would you give up quarantine for?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What would you leave the safety of your home for, expand your social bubble for, even get on a plane for?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you, or your kids are totally stir-crazy and need to make that getaway happen before you drive each other insane. Maybe that once-in-a-lifetime trip or event really can\u2019t wait. Maybe you really need the love and support of your family or friend. Or maybe your loved one really needs you …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever your answer – there\u2019s no judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My answer – there\u2019s not much that I would willingly leave the safety of my home bubble for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, Kenzi and Bodi had COVID in March. But who knows if they\u2019re immune, and how long that immunity will last for. And we still have no idea if Peter and I had it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We reopened the office on June 1 and to be totally honest, we can\u2019t afford for me to be out of work for potentially weeks on end if I was exposed or sick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we can\u2019t live in quarantine forever, and these are all questions we\u2019ll have to answer sooner or later. We need social and physical contact. Our anxiety is at an all time high due to the social distancing that for many has become social isolation. Yet we need to weigh this need against the risks we\u2019re willing, and able, to tolerate. What if we get sick? What if we can\u2019t work for weeks (or months)? What if our kids get sick? What if we get our loved ones sick who may be more vulnerable than us? What if we never see that loved one again because we were too afraid to get them sick?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I weighed all of these questions heavily. We\u2019ve chosen not to put the kids in any summer camps. We\u2019ve created a social bubble with a few families, which gives the kids their so-needed semblance of carefree and joyful pre-COVID days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, I did decide to fly across the country, once with Peter and the kids, and once on my own – both times for my mama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Me and my mama …<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My mama, who grew up in South Korea during the Korean War where she fought over scraps of chicken meat with her sister, followed the war front peddling chewing gum and whatever she could from the American GI\u2019s, became a high school breaststroke champion, graduated as 1 of only 6 women from the prestigious Yonsei University Medical School, braved her way to the United States to do her OBGYN residency in New York, started her own private practice, and raised 3 children in the suburbs of New Jersey with all the comforts she never had growing up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll tell you more about my amazing mama some time. But for now, know that there is NO one, right decision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every person, every parent, every family must make the decisions that are right for them, and know that what is right for them may change at any moment. I had no intention of flying this summer, and felt my anxiety rise as I got on the plane from Florida, the potential new \u201cepicenter,\u201d where there were very likely passengers with pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic COVID-19. After my experiences flying during this pandemic, I personally would not suggest that anyone fly this summer unless it\u2019s absolutely necessary. Most planes are totally full (one of my flights even asked for volunteers to switch flights because they were oversold), and while some airports have no food and not a drop of coffee to be found, other airports are crazy busy with restaurants and bars open in at least Dallas, Atlanta and Charlotte, And apart from SFO, where face coverings are required inside the terminal, maybe only 1 in 10 people were wearing masks at the other airports I was in. No, I don\u2019t feel that good about flying right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Some photos from my flights in June\u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Despite this, some of you will decide that the risk of flying is worth it. It\u2019s a risk that I chose to take for me and my family. But as I always say – knowledge is power. So make the decision to fly with the knowledge that there are some things that you can do to mitigate the risks. While you can\u2019t do anything about who is on your plane and their actions (like if they’re not wearing their mask the right way), you CAN do something about your, and your kids,’ actions to reduce your risk of contracting COVID-19 while flying and spreading it to someone you love when you get to your destination<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are my top tips for safe(r) flying during a pandemic:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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