At this point in time, most socially aware parents know that talking to their kids about race is important. But when do you start? Kindergarten? First grade? Or much earlier? This might come as a surprise, but talking to toddlers about race isn’t just possible, it’s important… especially for parents who have the luxury of seeing this as a choice.
The CDC advises that children over the age of two wear a mask when they cannot maintain adequate distance from another person. It’s okay for your kid to go mask-free when they’re outside (say, on a remote hike where they’re not touching picnic tables or water fountains), but not in a crowd. So it’s probably best for them to stay covered up if there’s a chance that they may get close to others.
This year, with outings to the community pool, day camps and pool parties still on hold, kids cooped up at home will be eager to get in the water as the weather warms. Experts worry that parents are stretched too thin to provide the required supervision, leading to an increase in child drownings this summer. As of mid-May, both Florida and Texas — the top two states for child drownings in pools and spas — are already seeing higher numbers than last year.
How can we help young children understand more about social distancing and wearing masks? This might seem like an impossible dilemma for parents of active and social kids. Part of child development is learning how to play, share, talk, and tumble together, and it’s hard to push kids to modify these sweet moments of interaction in response to COVID-19. As cities emerge from their shelter-in-place orders, the complexities of playdates and summer camps might be confusing for everyone to navigate.
When it comes to tackling any tough topic with your children, age-appropriate honesty is always going to be your best bet. “If we want to raise our children to be compassionate people who participate as responsible citizens in a democracy, we need to find ways to talk with them about the thorny issues that we struggle with as a country,” wrote Dr. Laura Markham of Aha! Parenting.
For the first time in my life, this doesn’t feel like a false alarm. We’ve been heard. We matter. That’s all we’ve been saying—We matter. I am brought to tears by the enormity of the shift I feel the world leaning into. There is a cleansing, a collective consciousness that is washing away the ills that don’t serve us. This year has birthed gigantic waves of grief and death, but what is the lesson the teacher is screaming at us to learn through the pandemic, the hate, and the murders? I believe it’s to recognize the value of every person and to love, help, and support each other. We need each other.
The expectations for being “perfect” during quarantine can add up. The best thing we can do right now is give ourselves what our friends offer us so willingly — the reminder that we are enough.
We’ve all felt rushed at times, and this can lead to accidental omissions. How can we slow down, and make sure we keep track of what matters? This is the challenge that Thomas the Tank Engine™ faces in the book Thomas’ Train. It is the fourth in Caribu’s series of Thomas & Friends™ 75th Anniversary Video Read Alouds featuring Kevin Jonas.
There are lots of reasons why sleep has become more difficult for your children, but three main ones come to mind: schedule changes, lack of physical activity, and higher levels of anxiety. Our schedules are no longer as consistent as they were. Bedtimes and rise times are often a moving target when there’s no school bus coming. And, homeschooling while juggling work and other responsibilities can make it hard to find the time to help your kids get the kind of physical activity that can help them sleep well at night. Finally, your children may be picking up on your own anxiety and may be asking for a bit more help than is typical to get to sleep at night. What can we do about these issues?
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.