Family Life

Telling children they shouldn’t worry about something doesn’t make that worry go away. Instead, we want to help them develop skills to manage worries so they can feel empowered to cope with future worries.

Summer camps in the St. Louis area that have announced they will hold in-person summer sessions are enacting strict safety protocols to help ensure the health of their campers. In addition to limiting enrollment, camps are cancelling field trips, enacting strict cleaning protocols, taking daily temperature and symptom checks, and installilng measures that allow for social distancing.

No, last Saturday I didn’t plant a victory garden or make a sourdough starter. I wasn’t the mom who created movie tickets and set up a concession stand in my house for movie night (seriously, WHICH ONE OF YOU DID THIS and how did word get back to my kids?). I stayed on the couch all day and hissed at anyone who invaded my territory. Like millions of other parents juggling homeschooling and working from home, I’m beat.

Congratulations. You are now your kids' de facto teacher. But in this time of high anxiety, you get to decide what your "school" will look like and what your kids really need. I'm absolutely sure that what none of us need right now is more stress. To that end, I decided my kids need some current-day instruction mixed in with as many practical life lessons as I could pass along from my own growing-up years: the 1990s. 

Break out the books, toys and puzzles and sharpen your pillow fort skills. St. Louis family attractions have closed their doors and cancelled events for the next several weeks to help prevent the further spread of COVID-19. Here is a handy list of what's closed (and for how long) that will be updated daily as new information becomes available. Please note that projected opening dates may change.

A couple of years ago a dear friend shared with me some valuable advice: Every morning on the way to school she told her children exactly what she expected of them that day. She found her kids responded very well to this, and almost always rose to the expectation. Instantly I began using this almost everywhere we would go.