The Hammonton Gazette 050620 Digital Edition of The Hammonton Gazette | Page 4

Parents speak with children about coronavirus
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 • The Hammonton Gazette • Page 3
CHILDREN, from Page 1
asking if specific locations are in-
fected.
“He identifies it as if places
caught the virus. That’s how he
sees it,” Perna-DeLaurentis said.
Perna-DeLaurentis said that she
has been explaining that it is not
in the building, but the people in
the building, and that it cannot be
seen.
“That’s why we wear masks
and gloves and try to stay away
from each other because it’s like
an invisible cold, and everyone
can respond to it differently ...
Mommy and Daddy and everyone
you know has to protect them-
selves just in case other people
have it,” Perna-DeLaurentis said.
Danielle Mento has been hav-
ing similar conversations with her
5-year-old son, Brayden Joyce, a
kindergartener at St. Joseph Re-
gional Elementary School.
“I have just been telling him he
is safe and healthy and my job as
his parent is to always make sure
he is safe and protected. He seems
to be understanding of that ... He
asks about why we need to wear
masks and why I wipe down all
the bags that come into the house.
Again I just tell him it’s just to
make sure we don’t bring any
germs into the house and his re-
sponse is ‘I can’t wait until this
virus is gone,’” Mento said.
Mento said that her son has
been more concerned with going
back to school and with seeing
friends and family than anything
else. For his part, Joyce said that
he hopes life returns to normal
soon.
“I just wish this virus would be
over and I could back to school
again to see Mrs. Wagner. I really
miss my friends and family that
we can’t see because of the virus.
I’m thankful we are safe and
healthy and so are my Gigi and
Pop. I’m glad we have masks and
thankful for everyone who is tak-
ing care of the people with the
virus,” Joyce said.
For Joyce DeStasio, the first
week was, as she put it, “gut-
wrenching,” as her 4-year-old
daughter Marissa and her 8-year-
old son Joe came to terms with
why everything changed.
“Now, unfortunately, this has
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kind of become our new normal
so I don’t get as many questions,
but sometimes they will ask when
they will get to go back to school,
and I just am honest and say that I
don’t know and we have to wait
for the state to tell us when it’s
okay again. We talk about what
they’ll wear on the first day back
and who they’re excited to see.
They also know that it’s possible
they won’t go back to school this
year and that we are just waiting
for it to be safe for everyone
again,” DeStasio said.
DeStasio said that Marissa en-
joys being home, though she
misses her friends from school.
Joe DeStasio, however, is not as
sanguine on the topic.
“Being home is boring and
mom doesn’t answer all my ques-
tions because she’s working all the
time. I don’t miss anyone. I see
them all the time on Zoom. We
have to stay home because of
quarantine for the coronavirus be-
cause people will die. And nobody
wants to die,” he said.
Both children, DeStasio said,
have asked why they have to wear
masks in public, to which she ex-
plained that the masks protect
them and others from germs.
“They seem pretty happy to
wear them because it’s still a bit of
a novelty and they know the alter-
native is staying home. But it’s
still a struggle to get them to keep
their masks in the right place so
really we don’t go out much. Our
big weekly outing has been walk-
ing to my office to water my
plants and sometimes stopping for
Ohana smoothies on the way
home. We’ll do this during my
‘lunch hour’ since I’m working
from home,” DeStasio said.
Kathy Weber has also been
struggling with her children. A
mother of five, ranging in age
from 5 to 20, Weber is considered
essential personnel at her job so
her home tasks are even more dif-
ficult.
Case in point: a recent shopping
trip with her 7-year-old son, Liam,
when circumstances required
Weber to take him with her.
“He understood there was a
virus and that he had to stay home
until it calmed down, but taking
him to the store scared him so bad.
Seeing everyone in a mask
brought on some tears. We ended
up having another talk about the
danger, and how we had to make
sure we protected ourselves and
others from germs, and why the
masks were important. He seems
to understand. I don’t sugar coat
but I do find a way to explain in a
way they would understand for
their age,” Weber said.
Weber said that her older chil-
dren miss their friends, and that
staying home has affected morale
See PARENTS, Page 4
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