In the early days of the pandemic, when the schools closed and our jobs ordered us to work from home, the streets were empty. The kids were afraid to go outside. My children didn't leave our apartment for over six consecutive weeks. I wanted to force them out for fresh air, but it was the air that scared them... they were afraid the disease lurked everywhere and when we learned, later in the spring, that COVID-19 could be more easily transmitted through the air than via surfaces containing the virus, their fears were justified and I felt like a terrible mother for chiding them for not getting outside "for their own health."