Tip #3 For Parents Working At Home: Make time to connect your family with others HD

Tip 3 out of 4 for parents working from home: Tip 1: https://youtu.be/Gr5QN6dN5Ys Tip 2: https://youtu.be/3IWaEe9ULhw Tip 3: https://youtu.be/g4V0EkT2mEQ Tip 4: https://youtu.be/V3Kbi9SCGs0 Another tip that we have as Child Life Specialists is to make time for connection. Help your children to connect with other people. They are not in this alone and neither are you, and so using safe means such as FaceTime, Skype, whatever it is that works for you, even snail mail with family far away - all of those things can be really fun and helpful for kids to just stay connected and involved. In fact, while you’re working, you might consider setting up a virtual play-date with grandparents, or another close family member or friend, where the child can read to them, they can read to your child, they can sing together, they can catch up. In fact, you can set your child up with a project while you’re working, and then they could Skype and show a family member what that project looks like. They could show them that sculpture they’ve made, or that car track that they’ve created, whatever it might be. And so taking time to connect is very important. Also, social distance visits are great as well. It’s important to help children understand the “Why?” behind things so that they will be compliant, and we know, at certain ages, it’s just difficult to, and so perhaps having that screen door shut for younger ages and talking through the screen door might be a safer option for you. But you can also rally together in your neighborhoods during this crazy covid time to come up with fun ways to connect. I know that some neighborhoods have worked on I-Spy challenges together, and so different things have been placed in an individual’s yard with a list given, and children can walk around the neighborhood, and look for those things on the list, and connect with other people. Some people have had neighborhoods post jokes on their garage doors and gone around the neighborhood to see that. Another one of my colleagues, she does something called “Doorbell Ditching”, so while she’s working at home, she’s helping her children to get things ready - pictures made, model clay sculptures made, what ever it is made to add to this box, and then they have a weekly, much-anticipated drop-off. So there are a lot of ways that you can connect with other people. You can incorporate service into this as well. We know that when we’re not feeling great or when we’re feeling down, when we take time to serve, it really lifts our spirits and it helps us to think outside of ourselves and our problems. And even though it kinda sounds like crazy, the more you serve, the happier you are. The more you think outside of yourself, the happier you are. And this can help you to be more present and positive for your children, and it can help your children learn about the world around them and be able to participate in that as well - weeding a garden for the elderly, running an errand for an immunocompromise