.....or your extended family, for that matter.

I'm referring primarily to how y'all approach daily living and precautions, or lack there of, in regards to the virus and your way of life

Just curious, because it's been a point of contention at times in our house and I am wondering if others are in a similar situation. How have you handled it? Have you attempted to find a middle ground?

I will say my view has definitely changed some the longer this has gone on, but i would still prefer to be more cautious than my wife on certain things.

My wife is a rule follower by nature and doesn't push the envelope like I do on certain things so she was much more cautious on the front-end of this thing and we had a little tension early on. However, she is also a level-headed person who can assess risks and think for herself, so we've mostly been on the same page when it comes to our approach with setting rules and boundaries for our little family.

My wife and I don't align politically but we are pretty in line with our actions for this. We are going to be smart but not overly fearful. We've also be aligned on our kids and what we allow them to do (which is most things).

You mention changing views some. An interesting thing my wife and I noticed among friends. Some of the ones that were the most strict are now the most outspoken and just saying F it.

My wife and I have been in complete agreement on this. That is, we agreed to be overly cautious since our daughter is due in 2 weeks but not overly fearful to the point that it affects our mental well-being. We have enough to worry about now as is

Definitely not in the "ahh screw it" category, but I am a lot more interested in getting back to more normalcy in daily life than i was in the initial month or so of this back in mid March.

Especially as I've kept tabs on the falling death rate and percentages....

Wife and I agree on this and sending the kids back to school. She is in the medical field and understands the risk.

The in-laws on the other hand fiercely disagree, they think we should stay shut down until a vaccine is available. At first they would argue with me but I stayed stoic and only provided facts. They would get mad and yell but now they don't even try to argue. We have differing opinions but still get a long so it is not a big deal.

Bruce Almighty said:

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My wife gets her opinions from treating actual Covid patients, I get my opinions from the politics board.

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Soooo, exact same page right?

Wife is a dentist so just about the highest risk exposure you can get... I work in the medical field also; we're both on the same page as far as precautions.

We've been avoiding family in-person, but from speaking on the phone they are all mostly being cautious, not taking any unnecessary risks, wearing masks, etc.

EDIT: Guess I should add what page we're on: Be cautious, no unnecessary trips/vacations, would prefer everyone that's able to wear masks, be smart about exposure, don't think we need another shutdown if people do those things.

My wife is the social butterfly of the family. Quarantine was almost the end of her. I'm a home body. No issues with Quarantine at all. Her family thinks it's a farce. My family is pretty much still in lock down.

Despite all of that we've generally been on the same page. The only time it's been dicey is when she had a fried that was exposed. She wanted to have that friend over the day she found it they had been exposed. I told her if she was willing to cancel next week's vacation if she came down ill then go for it. We both knew it was probably less than a 5% chance anything would happen. But that's the way this whole thing has been. There's always a chance.

Honestly I'm surprised our house has not had a case yet. We've had kids' friends in and out, a handful of families over, etc. Not back to full blown social activity but probably more than I would prefer (trying to keep mamma happy).

The only thing worse than my wife getting COVID-19 was me not getting it from her. Because she's in Facebook groups 10 hours a day now with her mild symptoms freaking out about long-term effects, and even worse, wanting to tell me about all of them.

We are on the same page that if they try to have school be all online in the fall again, we're going to both go insane.

This is just one more thing to fight about. How many marriages will COVID cost us this year? Nobody is analyzing that metric.....

Bruce Almighty said:

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My wife gets her opinions from treating actual Covid patients, I get my opinions from the politics board.

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Let me know when you need to sell that boat before the divorce this fall

We both think the kids are getting screwed the most in this whole deal.

My wife and I are on the same page, along with some family. We're being overly careful because my wife is pregnant. We would probably be cautious anyways, but we're taking it a step further due to that.

My mom is one of the idiots who is going out of her way to show that she's not worried about it, made worse by the fact that she is a nurse who works at a nursing home (at least she doesn't deal with the old folks).

Wife's sister and her husband literally don't think COVID exists. Not that it's overblown; they don't think it's a real thing at all. It was all invented to hurt Trump. People have symptoms from other things and they call it Covid (which is apparently why it "affects" everyone differently).

TommyGun said:

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My wife is a rule follower by nature and doesn't push the envelope like I do on certain things so she was much more cautious on the front-end of this thing and we had a little tension early on. However, she is also a level-headed person who can assess risks and think for herself, so we've mostly been on the same page when it comes to our approach with setting rules and boundaries for our little family.

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my wife is a rule follower too. It has been difficult to be pragmatic in this situation. Social media doesn't help.

Now let's talk about how many significant other's agree politically and on religious beliefs. Now that is opening Pandora's box....

Me. I see it for what it is. Something to respect, but not something to fear. I wash my hands. I wear a mask. I try and keep 6 feet away from folks at the store or when out and about. We try to restrict our social circle to as few people as possible. I take my vitamins that boost my immune system (that Dr. Rev recommended) and make sure I get plenty of outdoor time and exercise to keep me healthy.

My wife has been scared of her shadow since mid-march. Refused to leave the house for the first 3 months. I tried to convince her to send the kids back to daycare when they opened in early June and every week it kept slipping back and back. It's insanely difficult to both work full time at home and take care of a 5 year old (pretty low maintainence) and a 18 month old (complete chaos). Yet we did so for almost 4 whole months.

We finally have them back in starting this Monday. They are much happier. Their spark and excitement is back. My son asks me "what are we going to do after school today!?" again, instead of just waking up and watching Netflix while my wife and I tend to our conference calls.

Honestly this issue is one of the most divisive I've ever seen. It's been interesting as there seems to be a lot of polarization on the issue. But I guess that is just the nature of the beast. Many of those for the restrictions feel a major social responsibility to limit the spread. Those like me see restrictions as unconstitutional and not warranted for this level of threat. A threat it is nonetheless. No, we do not want people to die, but also, we should not place the burden of other people's deaths on random civilians and further limit their rights by using that as a reason. Yes, there could be a super deadly virus in the future where a martial law type of situation would be very warranted. At first I was for the shut down to limit hospitals being overrun. But that has been taken care of. There are elements in place to ensure that everyone gets treated. Contrary to what the media is reporting, in TX everyone can be and is being treated. And there is plenty of room if need be, God forbid.

But given the nature of this issue as I just described it, it means there just isn't much room for middle ground. You either feel it necessary to follow restrictions to "save lives" or feel our civil liberties must be protected and while this virus is terrible, unfortunately we are not at a point where the government should be allowed to encroach on those rights. Those wanting to see the public not be "selfish" try to compare this to WWII. While those wanting to limit the scope of the restrictions are using that analogy differently, comparing it to Nazi Germany and their policies. Hard to come to an agreement on a subject like this.

I think you could look at it similar to the half glass full / half glass empty.

I dont think you can say its limiting rights but it is allowing government more ability to tell people what to do. Sure, this is for the "greater good" but what else could fall under that provision in the future?

I wear a mask at work and when around town. Its just too small of a thing for me to get worked up over but i think that is what people are concerned about...government reach.

The government tells us what we can and can't do all the time, I just think this is an odd place to draw the line. Save it for something that is actually a big deal instead of a minor inconvenience.

The government makes me wear pants when I leave the house, should I stop doing that?

ElephantRider said:

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The government tells us what we can and can't do all the time, I just think this is an odd place to draw the line. Save it for something that is actually a big deal instead of a minor inconvenience.

The government makes me wear pants when I leave the house, should I stop doing that?

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Please continue to wear pants.

Signed,

Everyone's eyes

LOL. Right. We have current rules. They always create new rules. They sometimes remove old rules.

I guess to that end maybe nobody has really laid out a great argument.

I do think its wise to assess mandates / legistation however and determine your comfort level with mandates

planoaggie123 said:

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I do think its wise to assess mandates / legistation however and determine your comfort level with mandates

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I completely agree. Wearing a mask is just such a minor thing.

Fair.

And if someone believes its a massive issue....reach out to your local / state / federal legislators and let them know your thoughts. If don't see the action you want then vote different. Not sure these pissed off facebook groups really drive change just frustration...