 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY VCHAL, SHUTTERSTOCK | | Bored? Try looking up: If you’re tired of getting the side eye from your kids every time you try to suggest yet another activity to stave off the stay-at-home boredom blues, simply wait for the sun to go down. “With most businesses and shops shuttered in cities around the world, stars are even brighter and easier to spot due to the lack of light pollution interfering with the view of the night sky,“ says Andrew Fazekas (@thenightskyguy) for Nat Geo. Check out his out-of-this-world ideas. (Sorry, we had to say it.) He suggests everything from finding the North Star to observing Jupiter’s moons, all to inspire kids to explore the heavens—and maybe learn a little astronomy.
What home ec teachers say: If hormonal tweens can do it, you probably can, too. Here’s what the Washington Post’s Emily Heil found out from the pros on basic, thrifty meals during quarantine. Make it healthy, not fancy. Skip the Instagram photo. Also, plan out a few days, and get input (and buy-in) from the kids. That way, you’ll avoid The Big Don’t of one home ec vet: “Nothing,” she says, “is worse than indecision.”
Swallow your pride, ask for help: Public radio host Tanzina Vega didn’t intend to do it totally solo. But the coronavirus drove away her mother, as well as a caregiver and other support, she writes for the New York Times. She has waited out the stay-at-home order pretty much alone with her newborn from her apartment, just blocks away from hard-hit Elmhurst Hospital in Queens. “It felt like a game of musical chairs where my son and I were the last ones standing because we couldn’t secure a seat in time,” Vega writes, adding that she had to go against her independent nature by reaching out for help. Just ask, she says. In her case, a few friends, as well as some distant or glancing acquaintances, rallied to her aid.
Control what you can: With an immuno-compromised daughter, who survived cancer and a liver transplant last year, Wajahat Ali and his wife already are accustomed to keeping hand sanitizers, masks, and gloves throughout the house. His advice to families these days: take ownership of the daily tasks you can control. “The simple act of making your bed, brushing your teeth, wearing clothes, and choosing your breakfast gives you a sense of autonomy.” Also, have fun when you can: “Reunite with beloved sitcom characters on The Simpsons, flip through an old book or graphic novel, chain saw demons in Doom, or watch Goodfellas for the 12th time." | | | |
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