Child Care Expert Offers Coronavirus Parental Survival Tips
As the numbers of people infected with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) approaches 10,000, parents of school-age children mandated to stay home for the next few weeks and possibly months, are anxiously wondering how to help their families manage the interruption of the regularly scheduled programming of their lives.
LaFarris Risby, an award-winning entrepreneur, speaker, author and founder of Loving Arms Childcare and Pre-School in Junction City, KS, the largest African American owned business in the city, which was recently named Kansas Minority-Owned Business of the Year Service Industry Firm, by the Department of Commerce, Office of Minority and Women Business Development, says parents can help their families to come out even stronger on the other side of this nationwide crisis, by implementing a few survival tips to help relieve some of the stress they are most certainly experiencing.
"I decided to share these 'survive and thrive' tips because I've worked closely with families of small children for over 20 years and if this is an uncertain time for us as adults, just think about how our children are feeling," says Risby, a certified family life educator. "They are just as scared and just as overwhelmed and parents need to try as much as possible to help them not only understand what is going on, but to feel more in control as we all work to process the drastic changes taking place in our homes and around the country," she said.
The founder of LaFarris, Inc., Risby, shares both her personal/professional expertise and experiences with others to help them overcome their challenges with finding direction, purpose and success in life and business. An alumnus of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program, a prestigious small business development program, Risby shares her expertise via coaching childcare owners and directors on successful operations and providing families with quality resources for education and empowerment. She also offers training to companies around the country on a variety of topics, including health, parenting, and family-related programs.
The author of the newly released book, "Dare to Dream," Risby was recently named among some of the world's top women entrepreneurs for Enterprising Women Magazine. She offered her tips as part of her Brown Bag Parenting series of articles. Her "survive and thrive" strategies include constant communication via daily family briefings to ensure children understand the significance of what is taking place around them and to allay any fears they may have.
In addition, Risby recommends turning the situation into teachable moments for both children and parents; training older children to assist with efficient household operations while both school work and parent's jobs are all happening within confines of the home; and parents helping to make the extended time together both therapeutic and fun whenever possible by encouraging journaling, creating videos and documenting family stories and comments about their experiences during this time, for posterity.
Finally, Risby strongly encourages parents to remember to be loving, flexible, communicative and compassionate towards themselves and their children, during this very challenging time for families around the country and around the world.
"This is a history-making moment in all our lives, which may become our new normal," shared Risby. "However, we have the unique opportunity to learn some significant lessons about our faith, ourselves and our communities, which could help our families to grow closer, be stronger and be better prepared for success in whatever lies ahead," she said.