I’ve been fortunate to work for companies that are supportive of families. While I was working for Datastax, the company supported employees and their families in various ways including reimbursing up to $1000 for expenses related to physical and mental health. And as for my current employer, Circle’s mission is to make families’ lives better online and off.
When Covid-19 quarantining started and everyone was home, my wife and I quickly realized that it was too easy to fall into into a slothful pattern of lounging around in soft pants all day and never leaving the house. While there are merits to said lifestyle (particularly during inclement weather), it didn’t seem conducive to a health family life. So we instituted “Homeschool PE”.
Every weekday at 11:00am, the family would head outside and do something. Examples include:
- Biking
- Family walks
- Scootering
- Foursquare
- Riding free skates
- Riding Orbit Wheels
- Table tennis
- Two-quad (a game that evolved as we played foursquare)
- Chalk art
- Catch
- Wiffleball
- Green Machine races
- Frisbee
- A flingy ball net game
- Skateboarding
- Rollerskating
- Riding Ripstiks
- Pickleball
- Spud
The Datastax health expense reimbursement paid for a lot of Homeschool PE equipment and members of my team refrained from scheduling meetings during my family’s Homeschool PE block. When I started at Circle, the first time I met the [woman who would soon become] CEO was when she dropped off a computer at my house while I was playing table tennis in the driveway with my kids. She commented that at her house they played table tennis on the back patio. She responded favorably when I told her about Homeschool PE and I later learned even suggested it to other employees.
As online school started up in the fall and the weather became less amenable, regular Homeschool PE faded away, but during the spring and summer it was definitely a good thing for my family. Sometimes it was hard to get everyone to get up and outside, but once we started playing it was generally a good time all around. I’m grateful for the fun experiences and happy memories from Homeschool PE and appreciate my employers who support me and my family.
