SELF-LOVE:
ESCAPISM IS A-OK: Learn about something or somewhere you want to go. It's important to realize that all of this will one day be over. We all need something to look forward to. Whether it's somewhere exotic or a somewhere relatively close by you've never checked out, let your mind wander and make a plan for the time when you can go there.
PARENTING TIP:
LISTENING: This definitely falls into the easier said than done category. Sometimes I feel like 4 people are talking to me at the same time, sometimes they are. Sometimes little girls tell really long stories. Sometimes I feel like having 3 children forces me into a state of only hearing 25-33% of what anyone is saying at any given moment. I really don’t want it to be like this. At dinner we do our blackberries (highs) and brambles (lows) and everyone has to give everyone else their full and undivided attention. I am working on doing this more, even in the midst of the business of family life. My youngest actually kind of demands it and wont move on until the person he is talking to acknowledges what he has said while making full eye contact. Through is persistence, he has taught me that full eye contact acknowledgement feels pretty good, that it allows lots of small glimpses into his magical preschooler thinking, and that sometimes it only takes about ten seconds after all.
INDOOR ACTIVITY:
CURRICULUM: FINE MOTOR - Puff balls on the wall! Get contact paper or Press and Seal cling wrap turned around with the sticky part facing you and tape it to a wall (fridge or dishwasher work if you don't have painter's tape and want to protect your walls). Give your child some puff balls (or cotton balls, but they're a little more clingy to the paper) and let them have a blast decorating their own little space. You can take them off and do it over and over again. :)
OUTDOOR ACTIVITY:
Stars at night. With light pollution (and other pollution) easing up these days, take your child to look up at the sky at night. There's a meteor shower and a Super Moon happening this week as well (though the meteor shower might be in the wee hours of the early morning). More details here - https://www.wusa9.com/article/weather/accuweather/last-supermoon-2020-when-to-watch-astronomy-may/507-32838cc1-de66-4610-8802-aeafd1bb0837
Also, did you know that you can track satellites passing over you? This is something neat to try to catch a glimpse of with your elementary aged children - https://www.wusa9.com/article/weather/accuweather/last-supermoon-2020-when-to-watch-astronomy-may/507-32838cc1-de66-4610-8802-aeafd1bb0837