So these are some strange times. All at once, I can’t believe how fast and slow it has all seemed to evolve. The rumblings at first seemed distant and their vibrations slow to move toward our lives. I look back and think sadly, why didn’t I listen to my world neighbors’ news more closely? The past two weeks have felt more like a tsunami, growing in intensity and speed. We pressed the gas pedal and hurried to be caught up, hurried to ready ourselves for whatever lies ahead. It was in those moments of speed that I found so many moments of strength and love. People are good.
Of course, we all function first in the world that is closest to us. For my family, that is our school community. I was, and continue to be, impressed with our schools’ abilities to communicate in times of need, to prepare for what is best for kids, and to be the lighthouse in the storm. Our district is preparing lessons, serving food, and, if you’re lucky enough to have a principal like mine, reading aloud via Facebook every night at 7. That is one neat community.
We are all functioning now, too, in a web that reaches far beyond us, because we are all in the same boat. This is both terrifying and comforting, I think. We have so much to learn from each other. I recently read an article about a Denver teacher who was preparing to say goodbye to her students for three weeks, as her school moved to a remote-learning model. She referred to an acronym her students were familiar with; it must have had to do with their school’s behavior expectations. She told the young kids that they were about to practice the letter “R” which stood for Responsibility. She said they were closing school, because that was the responsible thing to do. What a simple, yet profound statement to make.
It isn’t about us, after all, the healthy, young ones. It is about how we can help keep our neighbors healthy. Taking care of ourselves is taking care of others.
To that end, most of the people in my life will wake up tomorrow and juggle working from home while also taking care of and educating their children. In between the chaos of a new norm, we all might need a little help with how to stay busy, healthy, and happy in our momentarily quarantined lives. Here are some suggestions:
Boredom Busters – Home with Children
Legos, blocks, magnatiles
Sidewalk chalk
Water colors
Plant cold weather seeds in your garden (potatoes, beets, spinach, lettuce)
Take a nature walk and sketch your findings
Pick out 5 things to give to charity
Write kindness letters to your neighbors
Make an exercise video and send it to your friends
Paint rocks for your garden
Create an inside scavenger hunt with household objects
Sort coins into piles; graph how many you have of each; total them
Outline your children’s feet (this is fun if you have multi-age children); then measure objects with each “foot.” Discuss the results and why they differ.
Sketch your bedroom; rearrange the furniture to match the sketch
Campout in your family room
Do an “I Wonder” project; choose a topic you are interested in and research it. Find a way to present your learnings to your family, or send a video of it to your teacher.
Make a spring bucket list
Make a summer bucket list
Build a fort and have lunch inside of it
Choose a country per day, and cook its cuisine for breakfast or dinner
Create a jumprope routine and coordinate it with your favorite song
Have a book celebration; read a picture book as family and then choose one snack and one project that corresponds with the story
Make a dream catcher
Buy cheap, white paper plates and google “Paper Plate Projects.” Trust me.
Play board games or card games
Make Thanksgiving dinner, just for fun
Graph the weather each day
Make a flag for your bedroom or for your family’s home
And, maybe, just maybe … take a nap
