January blues are always tough — especially during a pandemic 

This story is part of Amy Bell's Parental Guidance column, which airs on CBC Radio One's The Early Edition.

The excitement of the holiday season often leads into the January blues, and when the dark days of winter fall during a pandemic, it can be particularly hard. So how are parents handling the post-Christmas crash this year?

Last year, when I tackled the seasonal blues, my column was filled with helpful tips like sitting at home while sipping a cup of hot cocoa, going for solitary walks in the woods with the family and just waiting a few more weeks until spring had sprung.

If only we had known what would really be sprung on us last spring. 

The lead-up to the festive season this year was a bright and sparkly break from COVID-19, and now that the tree has come down, it's really hitting hard that there are still weeks of cold, wet weather and potential restrictions to get through. 

Is there more parents can do to get themselves and their kids out of the funk? 

We all know the benefits of getting outside — there is no bad weather, just bad clothing, they say, though I disagree. But on the soggiest and coldest of days, sometimes parents need a little something more in their arsenal.

Plan ahead

Michelle Reid is a mom to three teens and an early childhood educator (ECE) for Seymour Heights Play Based Programs. While she knows a lot of parents don't have time during the day for hours of play while fielding zoom meetings, she says a little bit of extra effort ahead of the game can set parents up for something even better than a Christmas gift — more time. 

"Set something up before you go to bed," Reid said.

"You can say, 'Go set up an obstacle course,' but if you can do it and make it more inviting, it's going to extend their play. It might give you a half an hour to an hour to get some work done ... have a cup of coffee."

Michael Kwan is the father of a daughter in grade one and a newborn son. He works from home and runs the blog "Beyond The Rhetoric." He's tired in every possible sense, but he's especially tired of the pandemic, how long we've had to deal with it, and how much longer it might dictate our lives. 

"We've already gone through this kind of pandemic fatigue,"  Kwan said. 

"I don't think anybody really anticipated that it would go on for this long and it's something we're going to have to deal with for at least the next eight, nine months if not longer."

Not all parents have let the pandemic, or the season, slow them or their children down. It has a lot to do with pre-COVID lifestyles, and a sense of how important activity and connection is right now. 

Connect outside

East Vancouver mom Mandy Carnahan and her husband have always been very busy with their teenage son, Mace, and have hiked, skied, swam and skated their way through some of the worst days of the pandemic.

Carnahan and her husband have both sacrificed time with their friends for months so that Mace can occasionally connect with friends, safely outside and while wearing a mask. It helps his physical and mental health, she said.

"He comes home and I see a difference in him," Carnahan said.

"He will be more smiling and happy and telling me what he did, and it makes me feel really good about it.

There will be more dark days of winter ahead, and maybe some dark days in the spring and summer, too.

Although the last Kinder Egg has been cracked and the egg nog has long been drained, there are other ways to make it through the next few months.

Hopefully next winter we won't be so weary, so worried and so alone. That will make for some blue skies even on the greyest of days.