Healthy families in the new normal

What are we all doing?

When we first started shifting the subject of our weekly blog posts to adjusting to the shelter-in-place and quarantine during the coronavirus outbreak, it was hard to predict how long our lives would be upended. It appears this new normal is here to stay, to some degree, for quite a long time. We want to hear from you: how are you adjusting? What are you doing to stay healthy? How has your family tried to stay healthy? What tips do you have to share?

Email us here and include video or pictures if you’d like, and let us know if we have permission to share them with our blog and social media spheres. In times like this, it’s great to be able to share our “hacks” and fun ideas (or even things we’ve learned NOT to do) as we’re all making our way through this new territory. I will share that my daughter and I have set two goals during quarantine to help us get some physical activity and accomplish some things we’ve been wanting to find time to work on. The first is roller skating, which we are both bad at. The second is learning all the choreography to “We’re All in This Together” from High School Musical, which we are only slightly better at. We work on roller skating when the weather is good and the dance when it isn’t. While we don’t expect to be experts, we are making progress and having fun doing these activities together. What kinds of activities have you been working on? Have you taken on a new physical challenge? Is there something you’ve been wanting to do but haven’t been able to make time for it? Now may be the perfect time to master a yoga bridge, running a mile, or even touching your toes. And we’d like to hear about it.

Oh so much screen time…

During this new normal, screens are becoming our lifeline to loved ones, friends, coworkers, clients – everyone outside our home. With children e-learning, their screen time has increased, and it’s very easy to let the screen time spent on school work flow right into too much recreational screen time. That, compounded by the unrelenting amount of togetherness we’re enduring, sometimes makes using screens a way to emotionally distance from each other, which is not a healthy habit to fall into. We put together some tools here and here and here to help you put limits on screen time so your kids don’t get too carried away. Pro-tip: these tools work for adults too! Let’s face it, we are all taking Netflix and chill to the next level – giving ourselves some healthy boundaries is important too.

Parent tools:

Action for Healthy Kids has an upcoming webinar for parents:
“Power of Parents: Health at Home” webinar, May 13, 3pm CT (2:00 p.m. ET – Indiana): Get tips and resources on how to keep your kids active and healthy on a budget while they are out of school. Register now.
More COVID-19 specicific resources from Action for Healthy Kids and be found here.

New local resources:

FREE COVID-19 testing beginning Friday, May 1, 2020 at Eastern Star Church (Main Campus), 5750E. 30th Street, Indianapolis-46218. No doctor’s order is needed but an appointment must be scheduled.

Visit: https://mcphdredcap.hhcorp.org/surveys/?s=RD9LPFAHNN to set-up an appointment – click the link below to access the form. Call: 317-221-5515 (9am-4pm) for questions or additional information.
Testing criteria, additional testing dates and times can be found here. Please share with family/friends especially those that live in the 46218 zip code area.

Here are food distribution points for central Indiana school districts. Please share these widely so that anyone who needs it can take advantage.

Mini-workout time

Finally, here’s this week’s mini workout from the Blazer Fresh guys at GoNoodle. We sing and dance to this nearly every day at our house. It’s time for lunch! Don’t forget your fruits and vegetables.

Stay safe and take good care.