Sheltering in place with your family means more opportunities to share meals, play games, and possibly drive each other a little batty. The extra hours of togetherness are also a good opportunity to collect oral histories. Whether you want to dive into family lore or record a snapshot of life in the era of COVID-19, there are several ways to set yourself up for sympathetic listening and enthusiastic sharing on all sides.
Overnight, I had been handed the one thing I so fiercely desired—time—and yet I was miserable. Social media and unrelenting Ikea commercials featuring happy families thriving in isolation suggested that my feelings were abnormal. I was beginning to agree with them. I needed help.
Being stuck inside with your kids for an indefinite amount of time due to a global pandemic is stressful enough. It’s even worse when those kids can’t stop bickering. For many parents, this is the new reality. Siblings, cooped up and frustrated, are fighting more than they normally might, and nobody can escape.
This week is Teacher Appreciation Week, and we wanted to share some suggestions for celebrating your favorite classroom leaders. Since many teachers are staying at home during the Covid-19 pandemic, they are working twice as hard to adjust to new technology and routines. Here are some tips to honor their hard work and dedication.
There are only 12 notes in music, but with them an endless combination of melodies can be created. Music has taken on even bigger role of easing the stress and uncertainty from the COVID-19 pandemic. This goes especially for your kids. And there’s an ideal soundtrack to help kids navigate the feelings about the coronavirus pandemic but also help stir crazy kids chill out.
For the first time in my children’s lives, they are not being rushed to put on shoes or get out the door. There are no scheduled piano lessons or gymnastics classes for which we cannot be late. No standardized tests. No carpools or playdates or summer day-camps that we frantically booked months in advance.
…much can learned from activities that are less formal and more spontaneous than classroom work. And so, over the past seven weeks, we’ve established a good routine that is helping us all to cope.
A feelings chart is really any tool that helps a child expand their emotional vocabulary. It helps kids reflect on their feelings and describe them with more precision.
Art can be used as a “communication bridge” for parents and children, says Nadia Paredes, a California-based registered art therapist, and may be especially useful in starting difficult conversations.
Gone for now are the days of traditional playdates, team sports, and even school recess. Who knew playing at the playground would be something we’d take for granted. We all have had to come to grips with this new normal, but as an adult, it’s easier to stay connected to your friends. But it’s important to remember that kids need to keep in touch just as much, if not more than we do. And they can continue to work on their playdate social skills.