GREEN BAY, Wis (NBC 26) -- Graduation commencements, proms, and spring sports are all up in the air right now for teenagers as there is no telling when "safer at home" protocols will be lifted. Tonight NBC26 talked to a Green Bay high school senior and her mom about how teens, like the rest of us, are trying to get through this tough time.
A bonfire at the Laatsch residence in Green Bay is just one example of how this pandemic is bringing some families together.
"In the past, we would all be in different places perhaps or attending different school activities. And now we've been able to sit together as a family in the evenings and watch movies and eat together," says Christel Laatsch.
Laatsch is a proud mom of two teenage girls and a college-aged son. She says while she enjoys the family's unexpected extra time with one another, she feels for what her 18-year-old daughter must be going through right now the most.
"Of course it's an important time with her friends as they all think about going their separate ways next year and of course, they're not able to spend a lot of time together."
The face to face time together part is tricky. But by using social distancing and keeping their crowds well under 10, Christel's daughter Cori says on a rare occasion she's allowed to meet with some friends in person.
"We set our cars up in a little circle, all facing each other and we talk, have fun and be kind of crazy... The energy is just way higher when we're actually able to meet up," says Cori Laatsch.
Cori says she has also been filling the time in her self isolated days, by hanging out with her 14-year-old sister Emma.
"I'm definitely trying to take advantage of this time to get closer to her."
This is one of the other unexpected outcomes of the pandemic that is forcing so many others to keep their distance, but for some families, it's bringing them closer together.
"I recognize that I am really blessed in this situation because I live with my mom and dad and younger sister."
