How to Make Summer in a Pandemic a Little Bit Easier for Families

For the past few months, schools across the country have been closed, and students have been doing their schoolwork at home. E-learning comes with its challenges, so as schools let out for the summer many parents are breathing a sigh of relief. But summer break in a pandemic poses its own challenges. For many families, at least part of summer break will take place with no play dates, no sports, no libraries, no playgrounds. What can parents do to make this time a little bit easier?

One suggestion is to find something that gives structure to your day. School, work, sports, and other activities provide that structure during the school year. Summer break is a great time to be more laid back in your schedule, but having something to structure your day around is helpful in keeping everyone on the same page.

One way to add some structure during summer break is to build your day around a framework of prayer. Decide what time you want to start your day, set an alarm, and begin your day with the Morning Offering. Set an alarm for noon and pray the Angelus. At 3:00 p.m. when the afternoon doldrums kick in, pour yourself a cup of coffee and pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet as a family.

A listener named Eileen recently called in to The Patrick Madrid Show to share how developing a new routine of prayer in the morning has helped her during quarantine. Eileen is a military wife whose husband is currently deployed, and her kids are 8, 4, and 1 with another on the way.

She told Patrick, “Now that we’re stuck at home one of the things that has changed for my family is every morning we start our day off with praying the rosary, which is something that we never could do because you’re trying to get kids ready for school and out the door on time.”

“We use the Relevant Radio® App with Father Rocky and follow along with him,” she explained. “Some mornings go well, and other mornings I just ask for more grace.”

Eileen also shared with Patrick that as a parent it can be difficult to stay up-to-date on news regarding the current crisis without it negatively affecting her children. With children home all day it can be difficult to find sources of information that don’t scare kids or affect them emotionally. Eileen expressed gratitude that she can turn to Relevant Radio to stay informed and inspired along with her children.

“Relevant Radio is the only thing I listen to,” she said. “I don’t put the news on very often on TV, because my eight-year-old and my almost five-year-old, they pick up a lot. And I feel that the media drives your emotions, and it’s a hard concept for kids to understand. So I find out all of the news related stuff through Relevant Radio.”

“I feel I just can’t have all the negative in our life, because it’s very corrosive. I can easily understand how people get worried, and I feel very blessed.”

Has Relevant Radio provided structure to your day, kept you connected with your prayer life, and kept you up-to-date on news of the COVID crisis? Then help us continue our work by making a pledge during our Give Hope Pledge Drive. Every dollar makes a difference, so make your pledge today!

Stephanie Foley serves as a Digital Media Producer at Relevant Radio®. She is a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville, where she studied journalism, and she has worked in Catholic radio for 12 years. Stephanie is a wife, a mother of three boys, and in her free time she enjoys reading, running, and really good coffee. You can find more of Stephanie’s writing at relevantradio.com and on the free Relevant Radio mobile app.