Our long COVID-19 winter is upon us, but we’ve got to look for slivers of February light. Where I live, many families are holed up in lockdown, waiting to learn when in-person school is scheduled to resume.

Today, in The Conversation Canada, Tina Montreuil of McGill University explores the possibility of building stronger family relationships between parents and children during the pandemic. To me, this seems like an intriguing possibility precisely because many days it seems unlikely: the fragility of family relationships has come into focus so clearly now, as have moments characterized by frustration, fears of failure or the sense of longing for a mute button in close quarters.

Montreuil shares how important it is for parents to model that “mistakes and failures can be a renewed opportunity for growth.”

She writes that “when parents are aware of their own emotional self-regulation, and when they can find space to structure meaningful family activities that promote mutual bonding.” In this way, “both they and their children are in a better position to learn core coping skills that will benefit individuals and family relationships.”

Also today:

• Indigenous child welfare is grounded in community and children’s needs
• The Weeknd at the Super Bowl and shanties on TikTok reflect how masculinity is performed in 2021
• What is sustainability accounting? What does ESG mean? We have answers 

All the best.