Hi there, Mom In The Time Of COVID. I see you, and I understand you.
There are myriad reasons that you might need to get your child tested for COVID. Maybe they were maybe-kind-of-perhaps-a-little-bit exposed at school, maybe you have to have it done to fly on an airplane, maybe it’s just for your peace of mind.
I have gone before you, and I can tell you we all lived through our COVID testing experience.
Firstly, I am a big fan of Daniel Tiger. I love his songs, and I love to sing his songs to torment my children who are too old to watch but who still struggle with the lessons he teaches. I especially love the song about going to the doctor, and wanting to know what to expect so it’s not so scary.
This is either a great piece of advice or a disastrous one, depending on your child. You know your child best, so you know whether it will be a comfort or a torment to know what’s coming. Some kids are reassured, while with others the knowledge just makes them more stressed. You make the call as it applies to the COVID test.
With two of my children, ages 7 and 9, it was better for them to know what was coming, so I calmly and quietly informed them that, with a COVID test, they had to have a swab stuck up their nose. I told them it wouldn’t be fun, it wasn’t a walk in the park, but we would go get ice cream afterward.
With my youngest, age 5, it was best to not tell her anything at all and spring it on her at the last possible second.
When we had to get tested back in September of 2020, they still used full-sized swabs for our COVID tests, exactly like the ones they use on grown-ups, and they swabbed in both nostrils. We had to endure the fun again in January of 2021, and I’m not sure if it was an advance in scientists understanding children or if it was just the different urgent care we went to, but they had smaller child-size swabs and they only did it in one nostril.
For those of you who haven’t had a COVID test done to yourself and can’t tell your child from experience what it’s like, it’s like having someone rub your brain from your nasal cavity. It’s awful. Your child won’t giggle because it tickles. {If that does happen, it probably wasn’t administered correctly.} It still feels like something is stuck in your nose for a period afterward.
But you also know your child best in knowing what bribe to offer. We went and got a delicious treat. Maybe you want to offer your child a toy, or a trip to Build-A-Bear. Whatever gets everyone through the process in one piece.
May the Force be with you, Mama In The Time Of COVID.
