Editor’s Note: Making It Easier to Take It Easy

Tom Giffey, photos by Andrea Paulseth |

Ah, summertime and the living is … complicated. Granted, even before the coronavirus, summertime living wasn’t exactly easy. More than half of us don’t take all of the vacation time we’re entitled to, and in most families, both parents work outside the home. For the past few months, that might have meant two parents working inside the home, while still trying to keep their children educated, occupied, and safe (both from the virus and from each other’s tempers). Others have lost jobs, while some had found themselves working essential outside-the-home jobs with suddenly homeschooling their kids. Even in the best of circumstances, the spring of 2020 hasn’t been easy for anyone.

Now, it’s summer. The school year has officially ended, and while many coronavirus-related restrictions have been lifted, our summer sunshine is still clouded with uncertainty. What summer education and recreation options for kids are available in the community? Can we travel safely? Go on vacation safely? What about visiting the pool or the park or the family down the block? In other years, our biggest summer worries were avoiding sunburn and spoiled potato salad. Now, those concerns seem almost quaint.

While the full summer forecast remains uncertain, we hope this issue of Chippewa Valley Family – which we have dubbed the Family Summer Survival Guide – will ensure that plenty of rays of summertime sun and fun reach your family. In these pages, we’ve gathered resources, articles, and tips – some serious, some not-so-serious – on how to make the best of the season ahead. There’s no way to guarantee a perfect summer, but we hope you can make the most of it, and we hope that, when you do, we can be your guide.