You know the feeling when you are out for a walk with your kiddo and you run into a friend and you get that 5 minutes or 10 minutes to talk, the kids sheepishly watch one another or run off and play? It’s hard to make plans right now. It’s hard to know how folks are feeling about the pandemic on any given day. It’s hard to know what the right thing to do is in every situation from holidays with the family to going to the grocery store. We also know that pandemic fatigue is real and sometimes we need other people.
So I have a suggestion; Let’s throw out more “I’m heading to the park” messages. I’m not talking about a play date, I’m talking about those outdoor moments, that are short and so important to our livelihood right now. The sun comes out for a moment and we sometimes drop everything to take a walk and get our kids out side. What if in that 10-20 minutes before you walk out the door you send a text to our community, “Suns out, walking at Kenilworth Park” (or any park). It’s not a plan, no need for a reply, it’s a shout out. It’s reaching out for a happy accident.
Science around Covid is showing us that outdoors with masks and space is the safest way to see people. It is also showing us that duration maters. Short meet ups are better. Kids are learning to wear masks and the rules of giving space. These kinds of short interactions give a chance to teach and practice. If kids are getting too close, it’s time to go. It’s cold, the amount of time we want to spend out there is short. Maybe your family is in a place that seeing a friendly face for a few minutes, with masks, and ample space, would feel right. Some families are ready for this, others are not, I have put off this message again and again wondering when the time would be right. But right and wrong are moving targets in this. No one is wrong, we are all doing the best we can, making the best choices for our families. I also know that this pandemic and isolation has been hard on families.
So if you in that parenting place where you need a friendly face reach out! If you are ready in a week, a month, March or September, we all support you in that space too. It’s community folks. When you are ready, make a little space for a happy happy accident.
– Teacher Allisen