@AnneDauntedGoFundMonica Movie recommendation: Luce

@RoryAlsop - The contest (if ever there was one) is over: Your PM is smarter than our stable genius. Sorry about the lockdown.

We in PA haven't quite been on lockdown, but close to it. Each state (city even) is decided by the governor or mayor. A week ago, we had 6,000 cases. Now we have 40,000. While I believe that is in large part due to more testing, health care providers are worried sick. I'm sewing masks for my kids. Soon we will run out.

I hope all is well with you and yours.

Purchased an N99 mask several months ago for a trip to India - glad I got one.

Anyway, the reason I came here was because I was curious if there were any questions on the site about platonic parenting, where the two parents were never in a relationship. I did look around and find the co-parenting tag, but all of the questions appear to be about parents in past relationships.

@gparyani Sounds like that might be a very interesting question!

I don't actually have a question about it; I was just a little astounded about the non-presence of such questions

I'm asexual aromantic, so it's unlikely I'll end up in a traditional relationship/marriage. But I've kinda wanted to parent my own child, and I can't do it by myself, and (I'll be honest) I've wanted to pass on my neuro-atypical genes (a byproduct of evolution).

@gparyani One partial reason - a lot of the questions here are agnostic as to gender or number of parents

@anongoodnurse We had been locking ourselves down as much as we could in my household anyway - as we think it should have happened over a week ago to make a real difference. I think the horse has bolted, but time will tell.

@anongoodnurse So far so good - hope you are looking after yourself as well

I was also recently astounded by one other thing: you know those British-style baby carriages that are made of metal, are rear-facing, and often appear blue with a shade? Those cost $4,000

@gparyani yup - I know. We looked at getting one for our first child. And immediately gave up on that idea due to cost

@RoryAlsop If cost is a concern, you could try the Kensington, which costs a much more reasonable $2,500

The low-cost version is also easier to travel with

@gparyani Oh, it's way too late. My eldest is now 19, and my youngest is nearly 14

:-)

The Balmoral doesn't make much economical sense, it's all in one piece and so it's difficult to travel with

@anongoodnurse If I can get the kids interested (e.g. use an old jeans as outer layer for the 13yo), we might start sewing as well. The kind with pleats and a wire across the nose. Partial protection is better than nothing and if it keeps their hands away from their face, it’s a win.

I won’t worry too much about fading - it’ll go in a hot wash no matter what.

Maybe I can start a trend with minor 2 and her BFFs - they are missing each other a lot and there won’t be a reliable way of keeping them physically distant once the restrictions are lifted. So maybe a fancy mask, Asia-style, will help. A tiny, tiny bit.

@Stephie Luckily my youngest is getting schooling through Microsoft Teams, and the elder two have a great gym trainer who is doing classes across the internet. And they all use snapchat/instagram etc so I don't think they are missing friends too much

I agree that once restrictions are lifted they will definitely want to go and see their friends in person, so I'm hoping to put that off as long as possible

@Stephie A mask is good for reminding people not to touch their faces, even better it worn with glasses. It also prevents scoldings if you happen to sneeze in public! ;)

They are not useless; they are, as you said, better than noting. There are lots of tutorials on youtube now about how to make them.

@RoryAlsop But the experience is vital for both parent and child, and this way, the 14 year old would at least remember being pushed about in a pram!!! ;)

I suffer from a chronic condition that makes my nose run when cold wind is blown directly at my face. A mask helps tremendously when I go biking.