This year, the top question is how to celebrate Thanksgiving safely together. It’s been such a long year apart, but should we even gather at all? What if we all get tested? I have so many questions, and I know I can’t be the only one.
More than eight months into the pandemic, with flu season looming and coronavirus cases climbing toward a third peak, parents are still anxious about how best to keep their children cared for and safe. Not every family has a choice, but deciding what is or isn’t too risky, with an uncertain situation and imperfect science, has left parents scrambling to make child care decisions that all seem far less than ideal.
With coronavirus rates rising in some parts of the country and social distancing measures still in place, many people are thinking about their health and that of others while considering how to celebrate. Here are some Halloween ideas from families across the country to keep the holiday spooky while staying safe, complete with wearing masks, sanitizing often and practicing social distancing.
Thanksgiving has long been one of the busiest times of the year to travel. In fact, more than 55 million people made plans to travel 50 miles or more by road or plane in 2019, according to a report by AAA. But of course, travel in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic doesn’t come without risks, and that’s why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises those celebrating to avoid it.
The truly scary thing about Halloween this year is that it’s occurring during a pandemic, but there are safe ways to celebrate, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says. This Halloween, experts recommend that children and adults avoid large gatherings, maintain a distance of 6-feet from others, wear cloth face coverings, and wash hands often.
Across the globe, grandparents and grandchildren who are separated due to the COVID-19 pandemic are using the Caribu app to connect with their loved ones. Caribu offers many meaningful and exciting ways to enhance family video-calls: online books, games, puzzles, and coloring pages that you can share together in a virtual playdate.
Creating space and time for both our parenting and professional roles has always been the big challenge for working parents. But nothing could have prepared us for the stress of these roles colliding under quarantine conditions. Now we aren’t just parents who work, we are balancing multiple full-time roles—parent, employee, educator. Even if you’re fortunate enough to be able to work from home right now, the stakes have never felt higher. We aren’t just employees doing a job, we’re also shouldering the responsibility of managing entirely new ways of working and communicating with colleagues—all under the shadow of intense fear of job loss.
As communities around the world take note of United Nations International Literacy Day (September 8), Caribu is proud to be an outstanding option for families to read together and share literacy learning from almost anywhere across the globe. International Literacy Day was was established by UNESCO in 1966 as an opportunity to increase awareness of building literacy development worldwide. In 2015, the U.N. created a series of Sustainable Development Goal goals, one of which is to ensure that “all young people achieve literacy and numeracy, and that adults, who lack these skills are given the opportunity to acquire them.”
To be graceful is to move smoothly, both physically and emotionally, as well as to be gentle and kind. Parenting gracefully through this quarantine is no small feat, but I believe there are a couple of simple steps parents can take with their elementary-age kiddos.
Your kids are hearing about coronavirus (COVID-19). You want to make sure they get reliable information — and you want them to hear it from you. Here’s how to talk about it.