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Staying Connected While Physical Distancing

We’re lucky enough to have the ability to connect face-to-face with friends and family oceans away. We can share our children’s first steps, ask for advice on what to wear on a date, and have grandma help us cook that dish we REALLY love. The ability to connect without being physically near each other is a gift, and during these times, it’s more important than ever to laugh, chat, and cry together for our mental and emotional well being.

Fun Ways to Virtually Connect with Friends and Family

As a young family living in downtown Toronto with family and friends across Canada and the world, we have come up with unique ways to keep in touch. Sure, we can pull up a quick video chat, but we’ve discovered ways to socialize beyond that, and I promise you, it’s fun to schedule some virtual dates!

  • Play Dates: Whether you’re 8 or 38, there’s no reason why you can’t spend time with your friends. While our kids enjoy afternoon playdates showing their friends toys and drawings, I can spend a Friday night on Facebook Messenger. My college friends and I have penned virtual drinks in our calendars and we come ready to gossip, catch up, and laugh while we sip our bevvies. That one-hour chat goes well into Hour Three  more often than not! From birthdays to new jobs, we’ve managed to celebrate despite the distance.
  • Game Nights: Just because you can’t meet in person doesn’t mean you can’t play your favourite boardgame with your buddies. My husband’s game group has moved to virtual “Dungeons and Dragons” nights via Zoom conference calls that sees 10 of them battling the forces (virtually) face-to-face.
  • Lessons and Learnings: The kids and I are loving virtual dance classes and boot camps because we can still chat with our instructors and they can ensure proper form in real time.
  • Performances: Kids love to put on shows and grandparents love to watch them. Here’s a fun idea to keep everyone smiling: gather the grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and other loved ones and have each household prepare an act to perform live for their virtual audience.
  • Celebrate together:  Connect and celebrate the special moments with family and friends. Gather together to celebrate Easter, Passover, Ramadan, and other religious holidays, and share old traditions…and make new ones too.  Send treats and spoil your mom on Mothers Day, or plan end-of-school video parties for your kids and their classmates. Finding ways to come together (virtually!) for special holidays and milestones matters more now than ever!

From dinner or tea parties, to show and tell, or even paint night sessions and book clubs; with a little prep work, you and your family and friends can still bond and make memories, even at a distance. So start planning – then post and share your festive ideas as we #CelebrateAtHome.

About the Author: Yashy Murphy is a Digital Marketer who has called downtown Toronto home for the last 15 years. A girl about town, she refuses to let go of her pre-baby lifestyle and continues to travel the globe and to explore everything there is to do in Toronto with kids. You can follow her family’s adventures, and misadventures, on Parenting To Go!