It’s understandable that both children and adults are having a difficult time adjusting to the pandemic. Like all of us, our children are dealing with unfamiliar circumstances and losses. Distance learning, homeschooling, masks at school, loss of extra-curricular, and lack of social activities are just a few of the adjustments being forced upon our children.

In a sense, they are grieving. With grief comes many stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. During this time, we need to provide them with avenues to safely express their feelings. An activity that I encourage for families is circle time.

Choose a time once a week, when the family comes together to discuss what’s going on in their lives. Try your best to keep it consistent using the same time and place each week. Have each family member sit in a circle and begin with 2-3 minutes of breathing. Put on some relaxing music, close your eyes, and simply breathe in and out gently. This is a great tool to bring everyone to the present moment.

Once you have completed your breathing, give each individual the opportunity to talk about their week. This is a safe zone – it’s not a time to complain about what’s not getting done, behaviours etc. We must listen to the speaker without judgement or interruptions. You may want to find an object that the speaker holds. The family member holding the object is the only one allowed to speak. The rest of the group will practice being conscious listeners.

Sometimes we’re so busy, and children feel that there isn’t a “right” time to talk about what’s on their minds. I feel that circle time is an easy, simple way to start. Next time, I will expand on different activities you may want to incorporate in the future.

Until then… all my love and support!