Everyone has these fun year-of lists for 2020, but I watched less, read less, played less, slept less because virtual kindergarten on top of a day job/writing is just exhausting and consuming. But here are some fun parenting hacks

Kiddo learned to ride her bike. The trick was teaching her balance on a scooter first, then getting a 14" bike off Nextdoor for cheap where she could put her feet down if needed. Picked it up in 2 sessions.

Kiddo got properly introduced to Star Wars via the Machete Order. I recommend this for all geek parents, it creates such a character journey. Beware of all the daily Star Wars questions you're gonna get. https://nerdist.com/article/how-to-introduce-star-wars-to-kids-machete-order/

Zoom playdate? It's possible! We print out coloring sheets for both kids to use beforehand so they have a mutual starting point. We also use Play-Doh or line up toys to share. The trick is the tablet is "a window, not a phone", so it's not forced communication (that didn't work).

Too many kids on the play structure for safe social distance? Challenge kiddo to climb the nearest tree in the park until the structure is free.

Learning apps: Teach Your Monster To Read and PBS Kids Science are really good and don't contain ads/microtransactions. The regular PBS Kids app is guilt-free screen time too, those games are wholesome and involve basic learning.

So during park time, I bring headphones and listen to a podcast or audiobook. Allows me to watch kiddo and still play tag/push swing/etc but be in my own world, which I desperately need.

We have "quiet time" where kiddo looks at comics or draws while she listens to stories. Stories From The Woods is a great podcast and here's our playlist of Disney Storybooks. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2kbkW2M5AD7ibvriMtphAM

That "quiet time" is enforced since she doesn't nap. We all decompress during that 60-90 minute break after lunch. It's just necessary for the sanity of the house.

To help virtual kinder (which is going shockingly well), we give her small bowl of snacks and a notepad for doodling. One of us sits by her to veer her back on task as needed, but those options help her focus. The snack trick is our old movie theater trick to prevent wiggles.

MOST IMPORTANT: Kiddo is amazing about wearing her masks. We frame it as helping our community, emphasizing that it's our part. When she asks why others don't wear them, we say there are some who choose themselves, but the more that choose community, the sooner this will be over.

Oh, and late addition: there's an app called Swimply that is like AirBNB for pools in your neighborhood. Kiddo misses swimming the most at our gym, so we try to do this once a month or so.

So, I hope next year I WON'T have a list of "ways to help your child cope during a pandemic" and it will be more fun things like "favorite games of 2021." But hope this helps someone out there, parenting suuuuuuuuuuuucks right now.

MOST IMPORTANT #2: Talk to parents with kids the same age. So many of our issues are mutual and it's really nice knowing that we're not just horrible individual parenting failures. Shoutout to @megfuzzle and our regular "are we terrible parents/I give up" chats.