The Catholic Weekly 5 April 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 14 NEWS 5, April, 2020 H ow are you holding up? Are you okay? As for us, we’re doing surprisingly well as we head into the third of who-knows-how-many- weeks of being stuck at home together. I feel like our family has spent the past 20 years train- ing for an extended period of social distancing such as this. Working from home, buying in bulk, going long periods without seeing friends, and living our lives with a constant sense of impending doom? These are already our rou- tine, so the past several weeks have just been an intensifica- tion of our normal lives, plus the luxury of not having to drive kids into town and back eleven times a day. I told my therapist (via hy- gienic telemedicine video chat, of course) that we’re ac- tually kind of living my ide- al life, minus the obligatory medical panic. As you Australians head into your enforced ‘stayca- tions’, allow me to share some of the things our family is en- joying or planning to enjoy as we find ourselves alone to- gether: Encourage older kids to teach younger kids what they know, like knitting, baking, drawing, or playing an instru- ment, or even lifting weights or running. As an older mum, I some- times fret over how I’ve slacked off in sharing enrich- ing hobbies with my younger kids; but if you can count on the older kid to be reasona- bly kind and patient, this sys- tem is a wonderful twofer: It not only teaches the younger kid something you might not have the time and energy for, but it makes the older kid feel confident and accomplished. Sometimes an older kid who’s abandoned some pleasant hobby will take it up again af- ter teaching it to a sibling. We have, as I mentioned, started praying the Angelus, because everyone’s home in the middle of the day. This is a very short devotion – takes maybe three minutes – and it’s just nice. Pop in to visit your mum every day, and see if it doesn’t cheer everybody up! Our younger kids love taking turns dashing through the house ringing a handbell every day at noon. How often do you get to annoy your siblings and make noise in the name of piety? Every day, that’s how often! Ding ding ding! Nature journalling. You can download an entire spectac- ular curriculum for free; or you can just issue everyone a notebook and a decent pencil, kick them out the door for half an hour, and see what they come back with. Challenge them to show you something beautiful or unusual they’ve discovered on your very own proper- ty. Just be prepared for your snarkier kids to return with beautifully-rendered sketches of each other’s butts. Games, games, games. I wrote a whole post about games that need no equip- ment when we were on our February vacation. We lean toward word and improvisation games, but there’s been an explosion of inventive and hilarious board games and card games lately. I don’t recommend com- pelling anyone to play, but I do recommend playing in a pub- lic part of the house, so cranky family members can see you having fun, and maybe want to join in next time. This is also a great time to get past whatever linger- ing scrupulous paranoia you might have about role-playing fantasy games like Dungeons and Dragons. What’s the worst case scenario? Your child be- comes possessed by the spirit of J.K. Rowling? Snag yourself one of those Eastertide plena- ry indulgences and you’ll be fine. Rather than just snapping on the TV and letting it blather on, make up a schedule where each family member gets to choose a movie each night. I feel compelled to add that it will be a lot more fun and special if you make a big batch of popcorn, but as the reigning misophonia queen, I make my family watch movies while Let themdo something that’s normally off limits, likewriting on thewalls of their bedrooms, digging a giant hole in the yard, dyeing their hair stupid colours or whatever it is they’ve been begging you to do and you couldn’t bear the thought of ... Cooking and baking: on occasions such as the present one, these can be turned into fun activities - with a little patience extended for inexperienced sous chefs. Don’t let the family go Stir Crazy Even with the extraordinary social limits put in place by Australian authorities, there’s heaps you can do to keep the children – and yourself – from screaming on the inside while you’re stuck at home Simcha Fisher Columnist FEATURE