Being Active During The Pandemic

Written by Aung Nyi Htet

This article is part of Active Parents’ From Parents to Parents series, brought to you in collaboration with Republic Polytechnic, School of Management and Communication. 

Florence Chua has always believed in leading an active lifestyle. Before her son, Caleb Tan, 6, was born, the HR personnel often partook in a myriad of physical activities like trekking, hiking and badminton on the weekends.

Not surprisingly, this love for vigour in her life has translated over into how she raises Caleb as well as Jacob Tan, her two-year-old son. Florence believes that inactivity will cause lethargy in children, hence she makes sure to take them out weekly.

"We make it a point during weekends to bring them outdoors in the sun because kids are so energetic and they really need to run around," she explained.

However, this non-sedentary way of life can be challenging at times, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic which plunged the world into what is now known as "the new normal". For Florence and her family, the circuit breaker was the most difficult period.

"Circuit breaker was quite tough because we had to work and the kids couldn't go to school. We did not really have much time during working hours to engage them so it was really after working hours and over the weekends," she said.

Besides the rigidity of their schedules, the restrictions proved to be a challenge as well since they were not allowed to leave the house. The children became rowdy and restless, often running around the house. Being confined affected both the adults and the kids emotionally, with the kids being a little disorientated.

Eventually, she started coming up with creative ways to burn off excess energy as a family and stay fit together.

“We managed the situation by engaging in indoor activities such as rolling of balls to each other, trying to catch ocean balls with toy pots and using balance bikes at home,” she elaborated.

Fortunately, as the restrictions eased, they were able to settle back into their routine with the family often traveling to places like MacRitchie Reservoir Park and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve early in the morning to get some exercise.

Looking ahead, Florence now has her sights set on roller skating and she looks forward to the day that they will be able to do it together as a family.