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Our Favorite Ways to Use Technology Along With 10 Care Tips to Keep You Healthy and Connecting With Grandkids
We can all agree it’s been an interesting few weeks. Our country is learning the importance of social distancing, and many are sheltering in place as we all do our part to flatten the curve of Covid-19. Many are working from home, and many are not able to work at all. Kids are now doing school at home, and Amazon Prime is a thing of the past for most orders.
Many grandparents who actually live quite close to their grandkids have become, out of an abundance of caution, long distance grandparents. Thank goodness for technology! We wanted to take a moment and share with you some of the ways we use technology to connect with each other, and also some tips for caring for people (including yourself) during this time. We’ve been long distance grandparenting for a couple of years now and although we are always still learning new things, there’s some helpful tips we’ve discovered along the way.
Types of Technology and What To Use Them For
Our Alexa Devices – Perfect for virtual family dinners and just good old conversation time. We’ve also played a few games using Alexa.
Our Phones – We’re using our phones as much as ever. We video-chat, have quick conversations and yes – sometimes we even just call their number and have an old fashioned audio only conversation. Some fun apps we use a lot are Caribu for bedtime stories (see our review) and Marco Polo, which is great for sending fun little video moments back and forth. It’s like a video walkie-talkie.
Zoom – We’re loving Zoom right now! While we have used it in our work setting for some time, we have started to incorporate it more often for family time. It’s a fun way to get all the grandkids on a screen at once! We’ve even watched a couple of videos together using the screen sharing option. There are some safety precautions you will want to take, and you can read about them in this New York Times article. Zoom accounts are free for groups of up to 100 people for up to 40 minutes.
Apple TV – This is the best way we’ve found to feel like we are in the same room with the grandkids. We set up tables and play games like Farkle or Yahtzee (really any game you both have that doesn’t involve a lot of shared pieces). We also enjoy doing a craft or coloring together. (We’ll keep you updated on what we are learning – Apple TV is new to the grandparent side of this family!)
Caring for Yourself and Others While Distancing
I had the opportunity to be on a Zoom meeting for my work yesterday where tips were shared regarding caring for others and ourselves during this time of social distancing. I thought I’d share some of the ones that made an impact on me.
1.Remember you are not alone in this. People all over the world are experiencing what you are.
2. Don’t stress about bad days or moments. We will have them, just like always. When those times happen, take a bit of time to recognize them, and have some ideas in place for what you will do when they hit. Maybe it’s reading a book, calling a friend, or taking a bath.
3. Limit your news screentime. While it is understandable to check for news updates or CDC stats, checking just once a day is sufficient.
4. Another note about screentime. Remember that your grown kids’, and grandkids’ live’s have moved to screens. Be understanding if they aren’t always up for connecting digitally. You might want to consider other forms of connection like sending some snail mail!
5. A healthy diet, exercise and a good night’s sleep is always a great idea, combined with drinking plenty of water.
6. Sheltering in place does not mean isolating in place. Continue to find ways to connect with your friends and loved ones.
7. Find a new routine. It may help you be more productive and feel less anxiety.
8. Take a virtual tour online – many museums and parks are offering virtual tours. This could be a great idea for a zoom call with the grandkids!
9. Consider little ears are listening if you are on speaker phone with your grown children. Acknowledge their concerns and explain that people are staying healthy by remaining at home and washing their hands. Do your best not to communicate fear or how much you dislike the current situation.
10. Remember this is temporary. Being long distance grandparents has always meant that we didn’t really visit face to face that often. However the fact that we can’t has somehow made it that much harder. But take heart, because the day will come again when we can hop in our cars, or catch that flight to spend some time with the grandkids in our lives.
Until then, we’ll keep bridging the distance like always!
