Written by Nurul Aliyah
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.
It is undeniable that in current times, planning activities for the entire family to keep them energized and active might be difficult especially amidst the pandemic. Mother of three, Jay Leong, and her husband, Shaun Goh, give us an insight into what kind of activities they plan for the family to keep them active, healthy and bonded.
“Almost every week, we've been bringing them out to do sports. They have a weekly swimming class then an inline skating class and we bring them to the beaches quite often as well,” she shares. “They love intertidal walks, but tours are costly, so we bring them to beaches to do beach cleanup and also get to see some marine creatures if we are lucky.”
They also explained how planning activities as a family can benefit their kids aged five, seven and ten respectively by helping them manage and overcome their stress.
Father, Shaun Goh explains that, “As compared to my time, I think the stress is much higher (now) because the parents are more competitive, and the children are also being stressed by their parents. So, I think having a healthy lifestyle would also help the kids to de-stress.” He also shares how he makes it a point to plan an outdoor activity for the family at least once in two weeks despite their busy schedules.
Planning ahead, Jay and Shaun have set their sights on bringing the family out scuba diving abroad at popular diving destinations such as Bali. However, since the kids might still be too young and the Covid restrictions still in place, this plan cannot be put into action immediately. Planning for the nearer future, they aim to have a family kayak trip all the way to Pulau Ubin next year.