Another Pandemic Summer for Parents?

When school lets out for the summer, parents face a common conundrum. What are we supposed to do with our kids? The pandemic has certainly complicated matters further, to say the least. Depending on where you are, you may be experiencing varying levels of restrictions and lockdowns. Or maybe you’re seeing things open back up again. No matter your situation, we parents are facing some form of a pandemic summer again. So, what are we going to do?

Throwback to Summer 2020

You may or may not remember when I discussed this exact same topic last summer. At the time, we decided that we were going to take it easier on ourselves. It remained uncertain whether a lot of “normal” events and activities were going to happen at all, so we decided not to sweat it. We’ll just do our own thing. Arts and crafts at home. Visit the local playground. Play some Nintendo Switch. Forget about local attractions, never mind any sort of travel, and keep things simple.

We survived just fine, but we missed a lot of the stuff we’d usually do. Even mundane, everyday activities like wandering around the mall and grabbing some lunch at the food court. We didn’t do that. The situation was too uncertain and, little did we know at the time, but the “third wave” was right around the corner. As best as we can gather, though, things are looking better this year.

Does that mean parenting this pandemic summer is going to be different? Yes, I think so.

A Bit of Structure and Predictability

For summer 2020, we threw any semblance of a “schedule” out the window. I still had my work responsibilities and Zoom meetings, of course, but in terms of “pandemic parenting,” we were very much “go with the flow.” No plans, no appointments to keep. We didn’t have to be at any particular place at any specific time.

For the most part, we’re taking a similar approach to summer 2021, with one very notable difference. For these first three full weeks of July, our six-year-old is enrolled in summer school. It’s only for a few hours in the morning, but there is a schedule involved, and it is Monday through Friday. That keeps her engaged and entertained. It also gets her out of the house for a few hours (so I can hopefully get in a bit of work without interruption).

That being said, we’ve still got a baby on our hands to contend with. Not to mention that his big sister is home all afternoon too. For my part, I’m thankful that my wife is still on maternity leave. I wish I could still be on parental leave too, but that’s just not in the cards.

Planning for Summer Travel?

Last summer, there was no way that we were going anywhere. This summer? Maybe. Maybe not.

As of July 1, nonessential travel across Canada is back on the table. Realistically, if our family were to go anywhere, we’d likely stay within the province. That’s why I started thinking about a BC family vacation last month. For now, we don’t have any specific plans. Maybe we’ll have a little staycation closer to home. Perhaps we’ll hop on a ferry to Bowen Island.

But, if nothing else, it means that travel — at least within the province and possibly within the country — is a possibility. I’m itching to go somewhere, even if it’s not that far from here.

Playing Local Tourist Again

Then again, maybe we don’t need to go anywhere involving a ferry, a plane, or a long road trip. There’s so much in our backyard and within an hour’s drive of our house that we could definitely explore. Since things are much more “open” this year than they were at this time last year, we have options. Addie and I have already visited Maplewood Farm, for example.

Even though I’ve lived in Metro Vancouver my whole life, there are lots of places I haven’t been. And it would be great to experience them with the whole family. Maybe we’ll spend a day at historic Fort Langley. Or we can take the kids berry picking at Maan Farms in Abbotsford. I know the older kid would have a blast at the Terra Nova adventure playground in Richmond.

A Brighter Future Ahead?

I know. It’s hard to make plans when things can still feel uncertain. We’ve had to be incredibly adaptable and flexible for the past year and a half. We follow the rules, guidelines and recommendations, only to have them change on us again. All this being said, though, it looks like things are getting better. And hopefully they’ll continue on that trajectory.

No, we’re probably not hopping on a plane to Hawaii, Korea or the United Kingdom any time soon. But, we could hop on a ferry to the Sunshine Coast. Or kiddo can enroll in swim lessons and soccer camp. For this summer, though, I think we’re going to (try to) take it easy. My summers as a child were very unstructured and I think I turned out okay… right?