You'll never get a better excuse than this

Staying Home & Watching TV May Reduce Flu Spread - Yahoo News

This is called, by the public health experts these days, “social distancing,” although back in Nebraska, in the 1940’s, it was called quarantine—and it happened a lot. Somebody in the family came down with measles, mumps, chicken pox, whooping cough, or a host of other maladies, and a guy from the health department would arrive and tack a QUARANTINE sign on the front door. Until the sign came down (with a doctor’s certificate), only one family member—usually the “breadwinner” (the person with the job)—and, of course, a doctor, was allowed to enter or leave the house. 

The efficiency of large families back then was that, with contagious illnesses, usually all the kids would get sick at once. So with maybe six or eight quarantines, you could get your whole brood grown up and out.