What is the new normal? Kids & Coronavirus

With Kansas schools closed for the remainder of the school year, what do you do now?  Family eGuide has a great list in their article “Boredom Busters: 110 Fun At-Home Activities for Families & Kids”.  If you’re at a loss for educational activities to get the kids moving while continuing learning, see this list for children up to preschool age or this one for the older kids with technology.  There is potential for this new normal to last longer than we may expect, but it’s OK!  We are all going to figure this out together, so keep these tips in mind if you’re working from home with kids during this COVID-19 outbreak. 

When talking to your kids about what is going on, this is a good time to discuss chronic illnesses people are impacted by.  Kids like Marissa have underlying conditions or lifelong diseases to manage. Marissa is a cystic fibrosis patient (a disease impacting her lungs) treated at Ascension Via Christi.  When she gets a cold it can easily turn into pneumonia, just like what we’re seeing in healthy people and COVID-19. When you explain that your children can’t go play with their friends, you can explain that kids like Marissa will be too sick if they were to get it so we’re helping keep them safe.  Instead of playing with friends, your kiddos could create artwork to hang up in honor of kids like Marissa who uses art as an outlet to fight her battle every day. Share their artwork and tag us at @CMNatAVC with the hashtag #ForTheKids!

Whatever your new normal looks like we are sending prayers and best wishes to you all, including our Miracle Families.  Our community is strong, our cities, states and counties are working fiercely and collaboratively to have the best outcome so we can emerge from this fight against Coronavirus happy and healthy.