NEW ROUTINE UNDER QUARANTINE

By: Wayne Sun

It’s certainly a different year for everyone this year. As for kids whose major source of happiness comes from outdoor activities like malling or going to playgrounds and amusement centers, it’s going to be a tough situation as no summer escapades can be done.

During this quarantine, what my daughter enjoys most is staying up late and playing. The usual routine she has is playing with her toys, her gadgets, cellphone and ipad. The most

creative thing she does is when she begins to hold the pen. At the age of 7, I find her drawings and caricatures cute and nice. There's something to her sketches that makes them unique and original. Added to that is her coloring and designing paper planes and dedication cards.

My daughter is a mall rat like me. I was afraid of how she would react with just staying home for months. Then one day, she approached me and said: "Dad, I'm bored." I know it will come to a point that she will get tired of the things she has been doing each day. So, to perk things up, she indulges in food preparation like how to make pizzas to popsicles, how to prepare juice and baking, to name a few. In other days, she is introduced to board games like Word Factory, Snakes and Ladders. I also taught her how to play badminton and bowling and she seems to enjoy both sports. She also finds time riding her scooter and playing hula-hoop.

There are days when I ask her to practice reading books to familiarize her with new words and enhance her reading skills and memorize the multiplication table. Since kids like going to the beach or resort to swim and this cannot happen during social distancing, I bought her a big, inflatable pool which made her really happy. Hopefully, this would inspire her to be an Olympic swimmer.

One of the common things we also enjoy doing at night is doing Tiktok videos. There is this element of creativity and fun whenever we do dubbing or lip-syncing. And the most touching part of them all is when we both pray together before bedtime. I taught her how to pray and verbalize her thoughts through praying and reflect and be thankful to God for the blessings.

More than anything else, the best thing that this quarantine period gave to parents is having more time to spend with kids at home. I am fortunate that I was able to work from home. As for my daughter, she is able to enhance more of her talents and explore new things.

Most kids may experience anxiety during lockdown because they cannot go outside and have fun. But having fun may not always mean doing outdoor activities. We can still bring fun at home to our kids. It’s up to us parents on how to turn around routinary activities and turn dull moments into exciting ones. We can make our kids smile even under this time of full restrictions and prohibited gatherings.