I live in Seminole County Florida. It’s the county that shares its Southern border with Orange County, which is home to Orlando.

Politically, Seminole is generally red, although, for the first time in about one hundred years, Seminole County went blue by going to Biden in the latest Presidential election. I think that mostly means that voters in Oviedo turned out by the boatload. Politically, I’ve read, Oviedo is a blue spot among a sea of red.

It’s no accident, then, that the mask mandate is a passionate one here. Anti-maskers have expressed, not so nicely, many times that the mask wearing should be optional.

I’d be all for that except that there are stupid people.

What completely pisses me off are parents. Not all of them, of course, just the ones that say, “I’m Daisy May’s mother; I KNOW WHAT’S BEST FOR MY CHILD?”

Do you, now? In every situation? Many of them think so. In fact, many of them think that birthing or acquiring children is tantamount to EARNING a medical degree.

I have a huge problem with those people, because guess what, their usually uneducated decisions effect ALMOST EVERYONE.

Yes, we’ve all suffered with these f**king masks for over a year. But, guess what, there’s a new scary variant out there: the Delta Variant that was first discovered in India. No one, and by that I mean, medical (not parents) professionals, are not sure exactly what that means.

Guess what, medical professionals do know mask wearing can keep this horrible virus at bay, to a great degree.

You think your kids are traumatized by wearing masks? How about traumatizing them by letting them contract COVID? How about traumatizing them by letting them get COVID and infect their classmates or teachers and then letting them deal with the guilt they will have.

I don’t have human children. Guess what, that can make me more OBJECTIVE than parents of human children.

It’s not a stretch that the friends of unmasked children could get sick and the unmasked kids feel guilt. This would be normal. They could feel guilty despite the possible fact that they didn’t pass the germ onto anyone. This would be normal; it’s the nature of the human psyche. This would also be an indication that the guilt ridden child HAS EMPATHY. THAT is good.

Here’s an idea: TALK to your children, on their level, as much as you can, and explain how important it is to not think they are MORE important than others. Explain that it is important to protect themselves AND OTHERS.

Scientists keep saying the longer and more consistently we ALL wear masks and socially distance the more quickly this horrible virus will be better controlled.

Just because you are a mother or father does not mean you are a medical researcher, nurse or doctor. It does NOT mean you know EVERYTHING about parenting. Just check parenting books stocked on the shelves in bookstores or libraries. Google, “parenting skills.” I guarantee you will receive an overwhelming amount of information. Don’t understand it? Why the f**k did you have children?

Do your jobs. TALK TO YOUR KIDS. Get them mental health care, if needed, which, I’m betting, they need. Learn how to articulate complex material to growing minds and brains. Too hard? Why the f**k did you have children?

AND GET YOURSELF AND YOUR CHILDREN VACCINATED!!

P.S. As I’m writing this, CBS Evening News is on and showing a story on how that Delta variant is spreading and in places, such as Missouri and the South. COVID cases are starting to spike again. The Delta cases have doubled in a week in the USA.

P.P.S. So many people tell me I would have made an excellent mother. That’s probably true, except, that I realized when I was 12, that it is a lifelong job and one of the hardest in existence.