Anyone explained lockdown to younger kids yet?

[willywallaby]

I'm just curious! My DD4 was 1-2 during the main bit of covid and doesn't remember anything. But she's old enough now to chat about things that happened in the past. I've said to her in conversation before things like we didn't see anyone for your 2nd birthday and we just stayed at home. And like, that's a really special picture of you with Nanny, she hadn't seen you in months. And we've been watching Andy's Dino Toybox on iPlayer and I've said didn't Andy do a good job making this programme all by himself in his house? But I haven't actually explained anything to her yet! Has anyone else reached that point yet and how did you explain it?

The explanation makes the question stranger tbh 😆. Your daughter isn't questioning it so absolutely no need to bring it up. As she becomes older and more aware - probably not for a few more years then she might ask

Relatistically there are a load of bloody weird children's TV programmes, at their age they're very accepting of lots of things that happen in these and don't find them weird- I don't think it's because they're scarred by lockdown. Personally I wouldn't mention it until they're older and they actively ask.

If you do speak about it, preferably only if asked, talk about the things you were able to do, as much as those you could not. The local street being quiet when you went for a walk, being able to go food shopping, people having holidays in the UK instead of overseas (though many of those were people you'd not want to meet on holiday). Talk about how people saw more wildlife and nature. How it started working from home for many who now prefer it.

If you want to mention the negatives, talk about how sad it was for the late Queen not having many people at the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral. Not just the corrupt government who cared about no-one other than themselves.

There's a difference between steering the conversation towards it, and just not purposely avoiding mentioning anything to do with it. Maybe it's a bit unique for me at the moment because DD is going through a phrase of constantly asking for stories about when she was younger, like "tell me about when I was 1" or "did we come here when I was 2" and asking to see photos and videos. So I'm not just bringing it up out of nowhere, or with my own agenda.

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Maybe it's a bit unique for me at the moment because DD is going through a phrase of constantly asking for stories about when she was younger, like "tell me about when I was 1" or "did we come here when I was 2" and asking to see photos and videos.

I still don't understand why you would need to talk about it in that context. "Did i come when I was 2" "Nope, you didn't" No need to go chapter and verse about the pandemic. "Tell me about when I was 1" Surely there are millions of things that you could say that don't involve lockdowns and facemasks.

I don't know why you're getting such a hard time OP. I have a 5yo, she loves looking through the memories in my photos etc so lockdown does come up occasionally.

She knows what covid is because she remembers us all having it last spring and then me again last winter. She's also had approximately one million and seven PCRs and LFTs so is an expert "nose tickler". We just told her that covid was new a few years ago, no one had had it before and there were no medicines yet for it, so we all had to be very careful. Schools and her nursery had to close, and we all stayed home. It was a very strange time.

It's not a big deal for her, but I don't see the point in hiding it. Her younger sister was born early July 2020 and so is very much a covid baby. They'll always be that generation, and I think it's important that they know about it in an easy, neutral way.

In passing - as with everything - you just find an age appropriate way to discuss.

There was a nasty bug and to help it from spreading a lot of people had to stay at home for a while. It meant that we couldn't see Grandma and Granpa for a while and when we went out we wore masks.

We don't have to do that now because their are jags for the nasty bug and better medicines.

I don't think it needs to be more than that.

It's not about hiding it, it just seems silly to rake over it all. If a child asks a question about what they did when they were a baby why would you focus on that? It wasn't the most important thing in their life. Talk about all the stuff you did, they're must be stuff that didn't revolve around the pandemic - unless you were sitting paralysed on your sofa wearing a face mask for 12 months. It seriously wouldn't even cross my mind to answer a question with that, it's not in the forefront of my mind.

It sounds like you are already going about this in the right way, as you would with any complex issue for a small child. e.g. bereavement, divorce etc. You have started by giving her small examples in relation to specific examples, e.g. photos of the time. The next step is to answer her questions if she asks them, and to resist the temptation to overwhelm her with more information than she asks for. At some point she will probably ask you directly and it will likely come up in school too.

I’ve no intention of ‘explaining’ lockdown to my lockdown baby. If it ever comes up and he asks, fine. But I’m not really sure why I would need to have this big, planned debrief? Nothing will happen if I don’t.

I don't think it's weird at all OP, my son was the same age (13 months and just started nursery when we went into lockdown) and it was HARD and a huge thing in our lives which to be honest I'm probably not fully over. Of course it comes up in conversation - and with a four year old you're just starting to have 'proper' conversations and an understanding of time passing, and so many questions! I've definitely mentioned it to my son recently because we had Covid over Easter and chose to stay away from people for a week, so had to cancel a few plans. I explained it as a nasty virus which used to be very serious and for a while when he was a baby we had to stay at home a lot, but now everyone is vaccinated so it's much safer, but we still try not to spread it.

He completely takes it at face value though, he doesn't remember anything except the 'tickle up your nose' tests (of which he had eleventy billion due to nursery policy). I would guess he'll ask for more information as he hears it mentioned more and perhaps hears about it in school, and as his brain develops enough to understand context a bit more. I don't plan on letting him know how hard it was working full time with a toddler until he's much older/grown up, because it might make him feel like it was his fault.

I don't feel the need to to be honest?
Id imagine it'll be done at school as part of some sort of history when older maybe?

TBH 4 is still too young to be told about it. Give it a few years and it will be taught at her secondary school history lessons!