SAN ANTONIO — Over a FaceTime call, it's easy to see the challenges parents face when their 3-year-old is now their coworker.
"Can you stay put?" George Smith asked his son, Marino, as he moved his eyes up close to the phone camera. "Are you gonna take a nap today?"
A rambunctions Marino replied in the affirmative.
For Smith and plenty of other parents currently working from home, these interruptions are better than the alternative.
"Honestly, I feel like we're being safe," he said.
Prior to the pandemic, Marino was in a daycare before it closed out of precaution. Since then, the facility has reopened, but Marino is still home.
"We just didn't feel comfortable bringing him back," Smith said. "We don't know where the parents have taken the kids and they can be asymptomatic. So we had to be extra cautious."
The State of Texas is also practicing some caution this week. Last week, the Texas Department of Health and Human Services re-instated emergency rules for child daycare operations including, temperature checks for staff and children, having parents drop off kids outside, and attempting to social distance when possible.
For daycares like Joys of Heaven on San Antonio’s north side, that has been the norm since the start of the pandemic.
"Correct, we are still doing that—no doubt," said Daycare Director Blanca Sanchez-Lerma.
Joys of Heaven even added a new staff member solely responsible for cleaning and has also stopped new enrollments to limit exposure to their staff and children.
"It's probably one of the best places for your children to be at, because we take those extra steps in making sure your child is safe," Sanchez-Lerma said.
George Smith isn't risking safety as he settles into double duty – dad and stay-at-home worker – for the long haul.
"I just hope everybody stays safe and masks up," he said. "It's no joke."