Parents Heartbroken Kids are Celebrating Milestones Without Family Due to COVID

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on Study Finds.

From birthdays to graduations, 2020 has put a damper on many big moments around the world. For children, COVID-19 restrictions have forced them to celebrate some of life’s biggest achievements in virtual silence. A new survey finds four in five parents say their kids are going through milestone moments during quarantine and are heartbroken their loved ones can’t be around for them.

The OnePoll study of 2,000 Americans with children under six-years-old examined how parents are attempting to keep their families connected with relatives during isolation. Two-thirds (67%) are reluctantly maintaining their distance from loved ones during the pandemic.

Nearly half of respondents said this is the longest they’ve ever gone without seeing a single extended family member in person. Forty-five percent estimate their children will go the rest of the year without spending in-person quality time with an extended family member.

The survey, commissioned by the photo-sharing app FamilyAlbum, also revealed who is most commonly absent from a child’s life in 2020. Kids are often having to go without seeing their grandmothers and grandfathers (42%), aunts and uncles (35%), and cousins (32%).

Parents lament the fact their children are passing exciting milestones with nobody around to witness them. Seventeen percent of parents have seen their child’s first steps without another loved one present.

One in five children (19%) said their first word and 18 percent learned to roll over on their own without an audience. Another 39 percent have celebrated a birthday without their family this year. Other key moments parents have witnessed their children achieve alone since March include learning the alphabet, learning to read, and mastering how to ride a bike.

Source: Study Finds
https://www.studyfinds.org/kids-celebrating-milestones-without-family-covid/