Nature has been kind to Winnipeg in the last month, giving us one of the most gorgeous months of September I can remember. The weather has been exquisite. People are getting suntans well past the beginning of Fall! And my favourite thing of all: I’ve been seeing families out together everywhere enjoying it.
As Manitoba begins to move slowly toward more normalcy with the increasing rates of vaccination, more activities are opening back up. Winter soccer registration. Gymnastics, swimming, clubs and lessons are all returning… even if they’re managed differently than they used to be, to keep everyone safe.
These are all wonderful activities – not just for keeping our kiddos developing new skills and being active, but also for getting them back in “social” mode.
But I encourage all families (mine too!) to consider holding back on returning to *full* out-of-home programming, the way it was for many families before the pandemic hit. Limit external activities to a couple of days a week. Protect your family time, and let regular family-only outings and activities be one positive legacy of this bizarre time in all our lives.
“Together time” and your focused attention are your children’s favourite part of every day, whether they’re able to articulate that to you or not. You’ll never be sorry you chose to spend an extra few hours just being together each week, even if it means you had to put off the third weekly set of lessons until next year.
Warmly,
