• More time outdoors recalibrates the mind and body.

In observing our daughters return to outdoor athletic activities, albeit in appropriately socially-distanced ways, I recognize that they are, not surprisingly, bouncing back to their normal behaviors and routines faster than an adult might. They are eager to play with friends and coaches and, frankly, act as if nothing has happened. Thank goodness for their resilience. 

• More time with other children (besides their siblings).

Our daughters love each other- and love to fight with each other, like most siblings who are less than three years apart do, I suppose. But seeing them with other kids, again, albeit in appropriately socially distanced contexts, brings a sigh of relief. They are upbeat, playful, and eager for reconnection. 

• More time without screens.

We weren’t slaves to a screen as it were- but instituting a screen break for all family members forces/inspires even more games, even more music, even more books. I have to believe this “antidote” to months of eLearning will be a “cleanse” for the brain before we return to the fall and what will likely be a hybrid of in-person and eLearning.

• More classic escapes into books or journals.

We marked the end of the eLearning calendar year in our home by buying a record player, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong LPs, and new books for summer reading. Our girls also have journals, although they have heretofore used them more for doodling than writing. My hope, however, is that this summer, the rising kindergartener and third grader can escape into physical books, dive into daydreams or doodles in their journals, and rediscover the joy of getting lost in – and building their own worlds with – words.