The Wellmeyer family: Dad, Mom, Ethan, Sophie, and their puppy Roscoe are all in the family room.
Dad turns up the volume on the television.
There have been many news reports, and he is worried.
Mom turns it off, and they hug. Sophie joins in, “Me too!” Ethan asks, “What’s happening, Pops?”
“Children, the world is changing, but we are a strong family unit; a team,” says Dad.
“Team Wellmeyer!” says Ethan while high-fiving Dad.
Dad continues,
“Yes, we are!” Hugging him. “There is a new illness known as COVID-19; it’s a virus that spreads from person to person. The best way for us and others not to get sick is to stay home and not go outside for a while.”
Ethan says, “So, no going to school?” in a sad voice.
Sophie says, “I’m going to miss my friends.”
Ethan is thinking, and he says. “Can we still go to sports practice?”
“Ethan, this virus is dangerous, and everyone except essential workers will be staying home,” Mom answers.
To which Ethan replies, “I’m an essential worker? I’m on a baseball team, and I’m the captain. My team needs me?”
Sophie replies, “I am a sential worker; my friends need me to play with them.”
Mom says, “Children, those are excellent points. Essential workers are doctors, police officers, nurses, firefighters, sanitation collectors, ambulance drivers, food factory workers, grocery store employees, postal workers, and medical companies. We can’t live without essential things. We need essential workers to provide the most important things. Bus drivers, truckers who drive our food, farmers, the electrical company, water company, gas company, and gas stations.”
“I want to be a farmer!” “I want to be a doctor!”
“I want to be an ambulance driver!” say the kids, respectively. “That’s wonderful!” says Mom.
“If we can’t be essential helpers because we are kids, what can we do? This is going to be boring,” says Ethan.
“I’m going to miss my friends so much,” Sophie says.
