The corona-monster

[Britishgurl123]

I've told my 2 year old that there's a corona-monster outside, and he's the one stopping us from seeing family, friends and going to the park etc. And that once the bad corona-monster has gone away than we can go and do all these things again.
How did you guys explain this all to the very little ones?

Mine is a bit older, which certainly helps, but I've always tried to explain things truthfully, if anything with easier words. Don't talk about monsters, all you'll get is a terrified child having nightmares about it. And how will you explain going out for food or people knowing on the door for deliveries, if that's how you're organising yourself? Won't your child think it's the monster knocking or that it could jump on you all when you open the door to get your groceries? Or sneak into the house if you open a window?

Knocking, not knowing, of course.

We told our 2yo that it was invisible bad germs.

Well we've been telling her this for a month now. Nightmare part i do think is happening.I guess I just genuinely didn't know how to explain it. So making a bad guy to pin it all on felt okay at the time. But now she gets upset if either my partner or I are gone too long, and asks if the corona monster has gotten us. I know now we didn't do the right thing, but I dont know how to fix it

Was that wise?

You've now made monsters very very real.

I tell her it's a teeny tiny bug that makes you poorly, too small to be seen, and that if she got it she would be fine and so would we (you never know, but it's meant to reassure her), however, if we get it and then give it to someone very old or sick, then they can get super ill, so we're doing it to protect others. It's mostly true while also avoiding doom and gloom scenarios of mummy and daddy dying and leaving her all alone. It seems to work ok for her, but as I said she's a bit older.

Woah, a corona monster sounds terrifying to me! We’ve just talked about invisible germs that they’re busy cleaning up and we can go back outside when it’s all cleaned. There’s a CBeebies episode about the Coronavirus which my 4 year old watched, might help?

Could try it. I just want to undo what we've done now.

Worra well, that was constructive and compassionate, wasn’t it?

Just talked about germs that make your Ill, like when you get a bad cough or when you are sick and that this one is making some people more ill so they have to go to hospital.
They were already aware of germs due to needing to explain it to my 5 year old as he has a transplant and catches viruses very easily.

I've told my just 2 year old that grannie and granda are on holiday, she has no idea. Why even mention it?

I just keep saying we can’t go to places because they are being decorated. No way on Earth at I letting a 3 year old know that there is germs and even hugging her cousin could hurt her and others. People are too keen to tell children things these days.

Worra well, that was constructive and compassionate, wasn’t it?

Says UhKevin whose only post on the thread was this ^^

When is MNHQ going to give us an eye-roll emoji?

Our son is 3.5 and he doesn't know anything about it. Said nursery is closed for a while and that we'll be doing lots of fun stuff at home. Go on long daily walks, scooter/balance bike/play in garden and speak to family on the phone. Just say we'll see 'xxxxx' soon if he asks, then distract him.

Because mines very outgoing. She had a routine of going out everyday, whether to see family or friends or go park or playgriup and so on. And shes spent the last month (despite my made up corona-monster) asking every single day to go and do one of our old activities. She literally cuddles on to me or her dad and begs us to go see her aunti. Or go to playgroup. For us we had to tell her something.

What 3yo believes everywhere is being decorated?!

Surely they will have picked up on something being strange unless you barely went out before?

We said there's invisible germs called coronavirus that might make you poorly. But mummy and daddy and doctors will keep you safe.

We have told our three year olds that there is a bug making people poorly, so we have to stay home until it stops making people poorly. We showed them a picture (as we think they envisaged a crazed beetle!) and said that hand washing means the bug can’t stick to our hands. A few times they have asked if we can see grandparents when the bug goes, go swimming etc so they seem to understand at their own level.

Nursery did such a good job explaining germs and handwashing before lockdown that this morning I popped into the back garden for about 20 seconds to decide if it was worth hanging out the washing and 3 yo dd shouted at me to wash my hands!!

I think you need monster dispersing spray, something all adults should be able to synthesise from water and washing up liquid. Tell your little one that the spray will make the monster dissolve into tiny pieces called germs which will blow away, so it will not be able to harm her or people going out of the house. However if someone gets some germs on their hands it may make them poorly. Go out and give all the doors, windows and garden a good spray. Then go on with what Andromache 77 posted above. Good luck

There's a book to download that's illustrated by Axel Scheffler that might be useful for older children:

axelscheffler.com/books-for-older-children/coronavirus

Monsters outside??? Poor kid...

I know now we didn't do the right thing, but I dont know how to fix it

OP try not to be too hard on yourself. We all make mistakes when parenting and it's not always easy to find the words to explain things appropriately.

My reception aged son was told at school about 'the bug' and was told how important it was to wash hands properly and cover mouths when coughing etc, so it didn't take much explanation from me about why we couldn't go out like normal. With a 2 year old it can't have been easy to explain away such a big change in routine!

And I think being truthful at an age appropriate level is the best thing. Elaborate lies or just pretending nothing is happening just make things more problematic. Children know something has changed and they deserve to have it explained to them in a truthful way that they can understand. I actually think the worst approach is not saying anything - their entire life and routine has changed, they deserve to have it explained to them.

I couldn't agree more with Worra. Way to completely terrorise your child in a way that will a long time to undo. I think it's awful actually.

Maybe try this with her?

660919d3-b85b-43c3-a3ad-3de6a9d37099.filesusr.com/ugd/64c685_0a595408de2e4bfcbf1539dcf6ba4b89.pdf

The thing is, any talk of monsters just confirms monsters are real, you can't then turn around and say that the one she's made up isn't.

You could show the pdf to her and tell her it's something very very small that you can't see.
You can do the pepper experiment with her to show her how hand washing helps.
In the future just try to be as factual as possible for her age.