September 2020 – Digital Edition

Editor’s Note:

It is September at long last! As we enter month 9 of the pandemic, we’ve become accustomed to some new norms. Most schools and districts have announced their plans for back to school and families are figuring out what changes will need to be made for accommodating these plans. Distance learning in the spring taught us all a lot about ourselves. Some parents bought whiteboards and charts and created elaborate schedules to ensure academic success from home. Others (I’m looking at myself here) resigned themselves to making sure their kids completed their required work and more or less left it at that. Now that we know most of us will be beginning the school year with distance learning, we’ve been given the opportunity to prepare a bit more. For my household, this involves setting up comfortable and functional work spaces for a 3rd grader, a freshman and myself. While this is certainly a challenge in a condominium, the one thing I’ve learned for sure is that change is the only constant. 

The September issue of NW Kids traditionally includes our annual Birthday Party Guide. Despite the current circumstances, we’ve decided to include that again this year, in addition to a guide on Birthday Parties during the time of COVID. While some of the businesses in this year’s guide are not currently open and others are not holding birthday parties during this phase of the reopening, I hope that you will keep each and every one on your radar so that we can continue to support and enjoy them once they reopen their doors to us. During my 15 years of being a mom in Portland, I have hosted and attended countless birthday parties where kids are packed together to play, eat, celebrate and watch the birthday child open their gifts with anticipation and wonder. We’ll get back there again. For now, there are countless ways to include some of your kids’ favorites in their special day and they may just find a new favorite as we pivot our way through this storm. 

Cheers,

Mary