My Penchant for Planning

I am a planner. Benjamin Franklin’s words are my motto. “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” I make my living in a field where planning ahead is everything. Here at the Mom & Caregiver, we start talking Halloween in August and Christmas in October.

But the COVID-19 pandemic has forced me to change. We have not been able to plan ahead because we don’t know what will be happening, what guidelines will be put in place, what closures will be forced in one month, in one week or tomorrow. And if that’s been hard on us adults, it’s surely been very difficult for our kids.

I sit writing this note in early August, and our premier has just released a statement about what school will look like in September. Like one of our favourite authors, Frank Emanuele (be sure to read his whole article on page 12), I am cautiously optimistic. It looks like children will be learning in class with their peers with some normal activities like music classes, assemblies, sports, clubs and field trips returning. It is time to get our kids ready, especially the youngest ones, for school – getting them into a routine, talking about what their day will look like, and getting excited about the school year ahead. But it’s hard because we have learned in the last year and a half that we can prepare our kids only to have the plan change at the last minute.

If all of this change seems just too much to handle, we have a solution for that too! Find tips to find your calm through breathing and meditation on page 14. But guess what? You can also find your calm through gardening, knitting, walking or cleaning the house!?! Thanks to Compass Rose Wellness for the wonderful information about Mindfulness Practice.

Whatever this school year brings, I know we can do this, parents! Even though we can’t plan ahead with complete confidence, we can be the calm, the clarity, the routine and the support that our children need as we make it through this historic time in our lives. Be healthy, be safe and happy learning kiddos!

Sabina Manji, a lifelong Londoner, is an irrepressible entrepreneur, mother of a wonderful son, and also a committed volunteer.