I'm grateful for feeling good, the sun being out, my office smelling of Clorox wipes......

just finding moments of gratitude all around me!

Parenting: COVID-19

As per the CDC recommendations and common sense guidelines for protecting against the spread of infectious diseases, I will do the following and ask caregivers to consider as well for themselves and their families….

• practice hand hygiene…..clean hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds

• avoid touching your face, particularly eyes, nose, and mouth (harder than it sounds!)

• model and encourage proper cough etiquette—cough or sneeze into a tissue, sleeve, or arm (not into your hands)

• clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe

• and follow a daily routine (okay….this is not from the CDC but you know me - creating a consistent routine is essential to our little one's wellbeing!)

Finally, in addition to modeling the above points, I am asking caregivers to please discuss and share age appropriate information about COVID-19 and the importance of self-care, as well as being mindful of conversations/news reports that could be overheard by little ones. My hope is that we all (especially our children) remember that we are strong and brave and can handle hard, frightening things. For some support in talking to your child about tough topics, please take a peek!

Below find some resources that might be helpful for ideas on how to keep busy while our students are out of school. Enjoy! And please don’t hesitate to contact me for any support for your family or yourself.

Be safe! Be good to yourself! With wishes for many mindful moments, jen

1) Set up a daily routine (wonderful Bay Area therapist Diana Chu has a great one that’s below as does the San Rafael City School District) and don’t forget the self-care! Use the tools in your mindful toolbelt for brain breaks, when you’re flooded with big feelings or when you’re feeling a little cabin fever!

• settle in and enjoy a little Headspace (Andy’s great! And the website is offering many free opportunities to share a little mindfulness together)

• take deep breaths (long inhale, longer exhale)

• stretch

• imagine the mind jar's glitter settling

• take a nap

• get a snack

• pet a pet

• do a body scan

• scribble

• yell into a pillow

• count backwards from 100 in your head

• talk to a parent/friend

• hold an ice cube

• listen to your inner cheerleader remind you “you can sit with big hard feelings! you got this!”

• remember there are things we can control and things we cannot control

2) Some great resources for support around remote learning at home tools:

• San Rafael City School District

  • particularly their parenting page and student page

• Ross Valley School District

  • particularly their online resources and their tips for learning at home

• Visit a museum….virtually!

  • The Louvre Museum in Paris

  • British Museum in London

  • Guggenheim Museum in New York

  • National Gallery of Art in Washington DC

  • Musée d’Orsay in Paris

  • Uffizi Gallery in Florence

  • one of my favorites….Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam

  • and so many more!

• How about visiting a zoo or aquarium virtually! Take a peek at some of my favorites or:

  • the penguins are just delightful here in San Francisco at the Cal Academy of Sciences

  • splash around in a coral reef or kelp forest at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

  • spend some time with pandas, elephants and even tigers at the San Diego Zoo

  • dive into the water with beluga whales and jellyfish at the Georgia Aquarium

3) Figure out where to go remotely for new and fun ideas! Ms. Greenwood is the awesome counselor at Sun Valley Elementary School (and at Davidson Middle School too) here in the Bay Area. In addition to her website being chock full of all kinds of goodies, she’s compiled information and multiple resources that she'll be constantly updating! 

4) Some add'l goodies:

• Scholastic: Learn at Home

• KidsActivities.com: Educational companies offering free subscriptions and 25 screen-free activities 

• PBS: Ways to Play

• Today's Parent: 20 Ideas for Indoor Games

• NPR released a comic book: Just for kids: A comic exploring the new coronavirus

• Another great book about COVID-19 for children: Angelina the Cat Stays Home

• Play therapist Manuela Molina created a lovely downloadable book about the virus for young children in an effort to create an invitation for families to discuss the full range of emotions arising from the current situation

• Big Life Journal…..an amazing assortment of great ideas, resources and printables

5) And finally, but absolutely not least, don’t feel like you need to reinvent the wheel! There’s all kinds of great information and resources available - including from the very mindful and thoughtful local Bay Area child therapist Diana Chu who has compiled some great information below including:

• Physical Activities:
  When using these resources, encourage your child to follow the guide rather than sitting and watching the video. If you are sourcing what is a good fit for your child, try to watch the most popular video in the channel first.

GoNoodle | Get Moving Koo Koo Kangaroo
Cosmic Kids Yoga

• Creative Activities:

Project Kid - Arts and craft ideas
Nightly Met Opera Streams - Free opera streams every night begin at 7:30 p.m. EST

List of Virtual Museum Tours
100 activities to do at home during school closures