For the first time in over three months, I took Mila out in public. She literally has not been around other people this whole time. She had a playdate with a neighbor a few times and has gone on hikes, but that's it. No grocery store. No Target. No playgrounds. Nothing.
Her return to civilization went exactly the way I thought it would.
The thing is that she needs to figure out how to wear a mask all the time, which is a skill that has to be learned. It's not hard, but practice definitely makes it easier. So, to keep it simple, we went with the Zoo as our Big Outing.
For what it's worth, the Pittsburgh Zoo currently requires advance tickets, even if you are a member. You have to say what time you're going to be there because they're keeping capacity WAAAAAAY down and spaced out. It's about 90% outdoors and it's easy to skip the indoor stuff, so it's relatively low risk. Stay away from people, stay outside, it's all good.
A perfect re-entry of sorts for a slightly feral 6-year old.
Except, she's SUPER feral at this point.
The kid won't wear shoes. She never has been willing to wear shoes, but I generally can make it work because we generally go places. It turns out that falling out of practice made Mila forget how to pretend to conform in public. I fought with her about keeping shoes on her feet THE ENTIRE TIME OMG.
And the mask.
See, the thing is, we're "Mask People." That's exactly Alexis' explanation for why we wore masks the entire time we were at the zoo, despite being outside and socially distanced, because why not? If even just one less person contracts COVID-19 because we wear masks all the time, doesn't that make it worth it? Every single bra I wear is more uncomfortable than a mask and I manage that, so whatever. Wear the mask.
Did I mention that I think everyone should just wear masks? WEAR MASKS. If the one you have is uncomfortable? Try another one! Try lots of them! It's so easy.
ANYWAY.
We're mask people. Not everyone is. Want to guess how much that bothered the 6-year old? She was standing there flat-out refusing to wear shoes, but ready to tackle every stranger she saw because they weren't wearing masks. (Like, nobody was. Nobody at all. It was ... disconcerting.)
Somehow Mila has made up her mind that shoes are completely optional in life, but masks? She's totally going to wear a mask.
