Lower Your Quarantine Expectations

You don’t have to accomplish all these quarantine goals. It’s okay to just make it through.

How to Celebrate Quarantine Birthdays

Some of our kiddos have the misfortune of having their birthdays land in the mess that is self-isolation and social distancing during this coronavirus pandemic. Now they can’t go out, can’t get dinner, can’t see friends or family, and probably feel like they’re going to have a lousy time. Here are some ways to make their cooped up special day feel like it’s actually special during these strange circumstances:

1. Make a scavenger/ treasure hunt! This can be done in the house or in the yard. You can hide little trinkets around and even try to make it themed like you would a typical birthday party. You can also create a spy-like challenge with streamers as the “lasers” to crawl through or hide clues in balloons for them to pop. You can make it a race or a team effort!
2. Everyone can log onto an app (like zoom) and have a virtual party. We just did that for my husband’s aunt as a surprise for her birthday, and she was over the moon to get to see everyone, even if it was just virtually.
3. Dance party! Have a party with your family inside and get silly. It’s hard to feel lousy while you’re dancing and having a good time.
4. Drive-by party. Drive through the neighborhood and have friends and neighbors wear hats and hold signs up so they can celebrate from a safe distance. That’s a pretty special birthday surprise!
5. Chalk letters are super sweet! Let friends come by (at staggered times, of course) to leave notes or draw pictures on your sidewalk so the birthday kid can see how much their friends care even if they can’t play together in person right now.
6. Funny pictures can show your friends and family are celebrating you from their own homes. You can even have a spirit week of sorts where you can send each other pictures with crazy hair or silly socks or other themed outfits.

This is hard on our kiddos, too, especially those who have birthdays or other special events they feel like they can’t celebrate through all this separation. Social distancing is important, but we don’t have to let the physical distance turn into emotional distance as well! COVID-19 isn’t a reason to fall apart. It’s a reason to get connected in more meaningful ways than ever before!

www.relatefamilytherapy.com | 303-954-9809

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Family Connections During Coronavirus Quarantine

How to Connect to Family Instead of Stress

There is no doubt that this is a scary time. Everyone is feeling overwhelmed, thrust out of their routine – their normal. Schools are closed, so kids are home. Work is closed or remote, so parents are home. The whole family system is completely in disarray during this frightening coronavirus pandemic. How do you keep the family connected when this coronavirus situation has everyone stressed, distracted, confused, and scared?

Take a breath. There is plenty of time to take the space to figure this out. No one is going anywhere for the time being, so you will have a lot of opportunity to trial and error your way into a system that works for your family. There’s a balance of schedule and freedom to be had. Schoolwork still needs to be done, but if the kids have the ability to take more breaks and need them, that’s not going to hurt anything. Worry less about keeping everything the same as before and more about making the most of what is, because things are absolutely not the same as before. They won’t be for a long time, if they ever truly are. So it’s time to get creative.

Technology. It will be the savior and the biggest stressor in a lot of homes. Technology will keep us connected to friends – which will be incredibly important to young people – and academic needs, but it will also keep us disconnected from those we are physically near and focused on the constant stream of information and updates. While this is obviously important, dedicating a few hours a day to each other with electronics turned off is also a good idea.

In our Spring Break series of blogs, we were talking about memories. We can still make memories now. Hopefully later this year our kids can look back and reflect on that time we were all quarantined inside and say, “Oh my. Remember that fort we made in the living room to do our homework in?” or, “How about when we let the littlest sibling help with dinner and they put sprinkles in the mac and cheese?” These small moments will make huge impacts on how our kids remember this wildly different, unprecedented time.

But, we can also take a moment to validate our fears. This situation will likely produce anxiety in the calmest of our family members, and depression often spikes in isolation. There is so much uncertainty, loneliness, and fear right now. Parenting and behavioral issues are more difficult right now. You might feel angry, resentful, and frustrated. And that is okay to admit, and it’s okay to seek help. You may not be able to get into a therapist’s office, and you may not have the quietest space at home, but our friend technology is back in the position to be of service. Telehealth options are available. You can get online mental health services for yourself or another member of your family through video and phone calls. In that way Relate Family Therapy can help you and your family in this time. COVID-19 may have us all physically separated, but we are still able to support your mental health needs from a distance with online therapy.

Give us a call and otherwise know we are thinking about you, hoping for your safety, and wishing you all the peace and hope you can find in this time.

www.relatefamilytherapy.com | 303-954-9809

Child & Adolescent Therapy | Play Therapy | Family Therapy | Couples Counseling | Individual Counseling | Online Therapy & Telehealth

Anxiety | Depression | Trauma | Grief | Behavior | Parenting | Connections