Nadine Riopel: online schooling

”I always remember that moment. That’s the moment that everyone went, ‘Oh well, I guess this is what we’re doing.’ Up until then, I really felt like we were all in it together and that most reasonable people were giving it their honest best, but at that point everyone took their cue from the government and went, ‘We’re not trying.’”

Karen Simonson: Opted To Send Her Children To School

Karen Simpson and family

She continued, “Elizabeth has the same teacher as in kindergarten, so I know her. I’ve had nothing but an email introduction from Sophia’s teacher. This is very different from in previous years.” Simonson explained, “Last year, I would pick the girls up and we talked to the teachers every day. Now there is a designated area outside for kindergarten and Sophia wanders over to the pickup point as she’s out first.”

Carol Powder: Shared Her Indigenous Heritage and Connected With Family

“I got to know my kids better. At least through this pandemic, we get to know our kids better, get the love back, and have a good time with our kids. Everyone had to feel that to get back to their kids. Work, daycare, supper is not good enough. It was something we all needed.”

Powder continued, “We are keeping them safe. We attached so much. We all had to reconnect with our kids.”

Cori Longo: Gave Birth During the Pandemic

In March and April, it was still unknown how Covid would affect pregnancy, birth, and babies. There was also concern about contagion between members of the birthing team. While the majority of women have babies in hospitals, Albertans have access to home birth with midwives.

Longo had a home birth with Eliot and wanted the same for her second birth.

Alicia Fowler: Moved With Her Family to Saskatchewan

An accountant, Fowler quit her job to stay home with the children during the pandemic. They took long walks in the wind, rain, and sun, picking sage and wildflowers. They learned about the healing properties of plants. They watched the complicated relationships and lives of the animals they shared their yard with, such as ground squirrels, raccoons, woodpeckers, hummingbirds, yellow finches, and robins.