WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Many parents are heading into uncharted territory on Monday; working from home while their children are also out of school.
Schools are closed across the DMV and many companies are having employees work from home as a method to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
For one family in the District, they’re preparing for their new normal.
“I mean, this is gonna be a massive disruption,” Catherine Fry said. “We both work out of the house we typically. I mean my work has been really flexible knowing that my schedule is about to be incredibly disrupted.”
Fry said it’s a disruption she and her husband are working to manage now that their boy’s Declan and Eamonn are home from school.
“Parents are scrambling I think in general; I think some of them are knowing that everybody else is in the same boat,” Fry said.
When it comes to schools being closed, Fry said she thinks its safer this way.
“In the long run, we have a lot, a lot of multigenerational families in our school, and you know it's much more important for us to do this social distancing right now, it's harder for us as families to manage that, but in the long run if it flattens the curve,” Fry said. “I think that's what we need to do.”
Staying home goes hand in hand with social distancing, something she said her family is trying to navigate while also letting their kids get outside and release some energy.
“We have backup care through my husband's work with Bright Horizons which is amazing, but that also means taking them to a facility being with other kids like a larger group of other kids,” Fry said. “And so we've been kind of trying to decide if we want to do that or not even going out to a playground.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told CBS’s Face the Nation that children of any age shouldn't be congregating in playgrounds.
“Well, you know, it depends. If you have a bunch of kids in the playground, I don't think it's a good idea to congregate anybody anywhere,” Fauci said.
Fry said that leaves her trying to figure out what she can do to pass the time, besides school work she previously picked up.
“I mean it's gonna be rough,” Fry said.