How to make the best of “Mask Mayhem”- Kindness

Are you SO over people talking about masks?

If someone is wearing a mask (or not), they illicit an instant response. Snap judgement. “I like you” or “I hate you.” You’re with me or against me. As a Star Wars fan, it’s like you’re automatically a Jedi or a Sith.

And our kids are caught right in the middle of this mask mayhem.

On one side, you hear people saying we need to be FREE from mandates. On the other hand, you hear that masks could help prevent Covid and save lives.

My teenager recently said, “you can’t be free if you’re dead.” And I got his permission to share; he makes a great point!

But I love hearing from my kids (ages 15 and 11). At home, we’ve had many conversations about the pandemic. And with the new mask mandate for Orange County Public Schools starting today, Monday, August 30th, we’re having more of those conversations.

If you hadn’t heard, Public schools in Orange County, here in Central Florida, started a new mask mandate. It doesn’t have the “opt-out with a parent’s note,” barring medical exemptions. This is now in place through October 30th.

I don’t know how you feel (pro mask or anti mask), but I think we can all be pro “let’s try to make the best of the mask mayhem situation”, at least for our kids’ sake.

As I’m thinking about my own kids dealing with all this, I figured it could help to brainstorm ideas to help us deal with any frustrations & keep moving forward with the best possible attitude.

How to make the most of the mask mandate

1.Talk about kindness for “the other people. “

Whatever mask side you’re on (or off), we really need to show more kindness. Whether we agree or disagree with our family, friends and random strangers on the street, let’s make the choice to judge less. And the key here is to model it for our kids.

We can say to our kids, “you know, baby, they may (or may not) be wearing a mask, but we can respect their choice & still be nice to them.”

2. Buy cute new masks

I mean, if we have to wear them for school, might as well get some that are comfy & cute! If the kids like them, they’ll be more likely to wear them.

3. Explore school options

This year, we have my teen son in public school & my tween daughter doing virtual because of sports. With her level 6 gymnastics schedule, it made sense to have more flexibility with virtual classes/homeschool.

For families who are really feeling uncomfortable with school choices (whether you feel safe or unsafe), if you have the option to try homeschool or virtual school, it may be worth it.

4. Healthy habits / boost your immune system

I mean, it’s a global pandemic we’re dealing with, so taking care of our health just makes sense. I have my kids taking multi-vitamins with extra C and Zinc. We always try to have fresh fruits & veggies on hand.

Pro tip – have the kids help with prep! We recently bought a bunch of grapes & apples, and my kids helped wash, dry, cut & put in little snack bags! That way, the snacks are ready to grab from the fridge (and they know they’re there because they helped!)

Getting outside for a walk, fresh air, biking through one of the many awesome trails here in Central Florida or doing your favorite sport (like basketball for my son) … all are great ideas to help us stay healthy as a family. Might as well!

5. Do something nice for others

Along the same lines as ‘being kind,’ we can also try to look for ways to do random acts of kindness.

Maybe it’s deciding as a family how to help victims of Hurricane Ida in Louisiana.

It could be deciding to volunteer as a family, make a donation to a non profit or baking cookies for a neighbor or relative.

Plus, the holidays are around the corner with TONS of ideas to help others (like toy drives!)

Doing nice things for other people gets us out of “the Covid funk” and it’s been proven that it helps you feel better!

If you have any other ideas for how to “make the best of the mask situation,” please share in the comments! We’d love to hear it!

In the meantime, let’s go be kind!

~Coppelia