Marc Lipsitch posted a pee meme on Twitter that parents will find useful when helping their toddler understand why it's important to wear a face mask.
Toddlers mimic what they see. They tend to do this without reasoning. What might go through their mind is: "Mommy is wearing a mask, so it's something I will do too" –assuming you have the better judgement because you are the parent.
As a mom you are your child's first teacher. You want to teach your toddler to wear their mask, but you also want to help them understand why they need to wear it. This way, as your toddler is developing their reasoning skills, they are aware of why certain things need to be done.
As your toddler is potty training, the most important thing is for them to understand that the feeling of needing to pee is their body's way of saying pee will be coming out shortly. Now, in that short period, your toddler needs to understand that they should go to the nearest toilet. Once a child, understands that the feeling, the urine, and the toilet all go together in that order, then they are potty trained.
This all brings us to the topic of how to explain to your toddler that wearing a face mask is important.
Forbes reported this analogy that was posted on Twitter from Marc Lipsitch. It is possibly the silliest way to explain the matter to your toddler.
The post is titled, "Why You Should Wear Face Masks." It really simplifies and breaks down the importance. Not only that, this interesting analogy is silly and we all know how much toddlers love being silly.
Moments that make children strongly feel a certain way stick in their memory. A moment your child experiences while learning and laughing will most likely stick with them. The post goes on to explain the urine test.
If we all run around naked and someone pees on you, you get wet right away.
If you are wearing pants, some pee will get through –but not as much, so you are better protected.
If the guy who pees is also wearing pants, the pee stays with him and you do not get wet.
An expert weighed in on this analogy. Epidemiologist Eleanor Murray of Boston University School of Public Health said that, although, it's a simple way of explaining the importance of mask-wearing, it doesn't state that once the pants soaked in pee are touched, the pee is spread by what touched those pants.
Either way, parents everywhere will get the gist of the meme and may find it helpful to use when trying to explain to their toddlers why we all wear face masks.
We should also note that recently the World Health Organization has stated that now children under the age of 5 do not need to wear a mask.
Sources: Twitter via Marc Lipsitch, Forbes