SIP Coffee, located in the Cricket West Plaza, celebrated three years of serving the Toledo area. The locally-owned coffee shop is kid-friendly and one of the few places to offer local goodies, such as fresh bread from All Crumbs, bagels from Barry Bagels, and sweets from 2 Sharp Cookies, Cakes by Stephanie, Deb’s House, and more. They are currently open for curbside delivery! Siptoledo.com
Montessori School of Bowling Green Celebrates 40th Anniversary
Montessori School of Bowling Green, founded in 1980, celebrates 40 years of educating children 18 months through middle school. With 14 acres of land, Montessori School of BG offers art, music, physical education, world language, cultural sciences and a tailored math and language curriculum where each child’s ability is met and challenged. Montessorischoolbg.org
Bittersweet Farms Participants Win at Special Olympics Ohio Indoor Winter Games
Bittersweet Farms made a splash at the Special Olympics Ohio Indoor Winter Games, which took place February 21-23 at BGSU. Two Bittersweet participants, Beth Meyer and Matt Pierson, competed and brought home medals in swimming and basketball. Beth, a state-level Special Olympian in both swimming and skiing, won gold and bronze. A Special Olympian on the Lucas County D4 basketball team, Matt competed in the state basketball tournament at the Indoor Winter Games, and his team brought home the bronze.
ProMedica Urgent Care for Kids
Toledo now has an urgent care facility dedicated solely to kids: ProMedica Urgent Care for Kids where pediatric-trained providers are available to see your child for common conditions such as cold and flu, sprains and ear infections, with lab and X-ray results typically reported in 30 minutes. 25950 Dixie Hwy., Perrysburg. yourhealth.promedica.org
Washington Local Students Learn Life Skills through Golf
Starting in the 2021 school year, WLS elementary school students will learn about core values through the game of golf as part of the First Tee National School Program. The curriculum will be incorporated into the school’s physical education classes, using safe, fun lesson plans provided by the First Tee National School Program curriculum. Funding for the implementation of the program was provided by The Andersons Foundation.
For more information, visit firstteelakeerie.org.
It Takes a Virtual Village
Relying on others during social distancing
Things feel scary right now. There’s a lot of uncertainty about so many things and that can make a lot of us feel uneasy. Each day there’s another closure, another announcement about what’s to come, another plea for all of us to do our part to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
We’re all worried about this virus and how it could affect our families, our loved ones and our friends. We’re juggling working remotely, homeschooling our kids, running a household and hanging onto our sanity. Even as we’re practicing social distancing to keep everyone safe, we need others now more than ever.
On any given day as a parent, we need our village to help us survive and thrive. Today we need our village to help us through these unchartered waters. Because we can’t be in the same room with each other, we need to rely on our virtual village. Thankfully technology today allows us to connect with family and friends across the country and across the street.
Use FaceTime or Skype to connect with others. It’s a great way for children to keep in touch with friends and family while keeping each other safe. You may not be able to get together in person, but you can share a cup of coffee or glass of wine with each other thanks to today’s technology.
In addition to family and friends, there are lots of online resources and virtual “villages” available to you right here locally. You can find many of these on social media.
Toledo Area Parent has a Toledo Parent Support Group, an online lifeline of sorts, providing members with helpful and updated information about COVID-19, educational guides and a virtual community.
Support Sylvania is an online group to support each other through child care, household supply exchange, and helpful info sharing.
Because of the escalating situation with this virus, you may find Mutual Aid Toledo a helpful online resource. This is a rapid response network to the COVID-19 crisis, especially in response to dwindling resources and income because of business closures.
If you have kids home from college, you may want to take a look at the Sylvania Community Action Team. This group’s Facebook page has some helpful hints for parents that have their college students back home with them.
These are challenging circumstances, but we are all in this together. And that’s how we’ll get through this.
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook: @toledoareaparent. Tag us in your best social distancing antics! Use the hashtag #toledoparents.