Enriched Family Founder, Esha Clearfield, featured in VoyageAustin Magazine

I’m honored and thrilled to be featured in VoyageAustin Magazine ✨ Thank you! Head over to VoyageAustin to read about how my experience attempting to balance my professional life and early parenthood inspired me to make a career pivot from public policy consulting to founding my small business, Enriched Family. I talk about my background, my challenging road to parenthood (including endometriosis and miscarriage), what inspired me to start Enriched Family, and why I love supporting busy, professional parents.

Enriched Family Back-to-School and Work Special Feature

Back-to-school is upon us. Many of you parents may also be returning to the office for the first time since the pandemic. Given all of these new beginnings in the very specific time period of an ongoing pandemic, I wanted to create a special "Back-to-School & Office" blog post as I understand this transition may be a bit bumpy for us all. A key way that our family eases transition anxiety is through preparation and organization. I hope the Enriched Family Back-to-School and Back-to-Office Checklists are helpful to your family. Not all the steps will apply, particularly if your kiddos are starting out remote, but hopefully the checklists are good templates that you can adjust to your family’s needs. I have also highlighted a few Enriched Family blog posts from years past that will be helpful during this time of transition. Pick and choose what is relevant to you today …. Finally, check out the Enriched Family Quick Picks and the special discount on services we are running in August and September.

Enriched Family February 2021 Austin Activities List

Hey Austin Families! We made it to February. Whew, January was a l-o-n-g month. With nicer weather, I am sure we are all wanting to get out of the house and enjoy some sunshine with our kiddos. At the same time, we are still at Stage 5 in Austin-Travis County and Travis County residents are currently considered to be at “extremely high risk” of contracting COVID. Given this, for the time being, I will continue to emphasize family activities that can be done virtually or socially-distanced/outdoors in Austin for these monthly posts. As usual, I have focused on educational, cultural, and fun activities that are both free and fee-based so that you can choose the best fit for your family. Enjoy a geocaching challenge; engage in a wide variety of STEM events and activities (check out a virtual Girlstart Starry Night or participate in UT Girl Day or the UT-Austin Texas Science Festival virtually); participate in a virtual workshop or book club addressing racial equity; celebrate Black History Month online with the George Washington Carver Museum, Cultural and Genealogy Center’s Black History Month Kid’s Day; enjoy a virtual concert, storytime, or play; or explore outdoor fun at Dreamland, Sweet Eats Fruit Farm, or the Wildflower Center. In the highlighted resource section, I have included additional ideas for celebrating Black History Month with your children.

Enriched Family January 2021 Austin Activities List

Hi friends! Never have I been so happy to say Happy New Year! As I write this, Austin-Travis County is currently at Stage 5 (the highest level) for Covid-19 community risk. The more that we can stay home, the better for our loved ones and community. Given this, I have rounded up a list of family activities that can be done virtually or socially-distanced/outdoors in Austin this month. I have focused on educational, cultural, and fun activities that are both free and fee-based so that you can choose the best fit for your family. Resources are listed by date order in each section, as applicable. While the list is relatively short given everything that is happening in our community, I hope it helps you and your kiddos find some connection and inspiration in these crazy times. In the highlighted resource section, I have also included some creative, virtual bonding ideas that you could facilitate for your kids.

Enriched Family December 2020 Austin Activities List

Hi friends! I’ve missed curating the Enriched Family monthly activities lists for you. COVID realities put a stop to my blogging for the past few months, but I am happy to be back at it. Obviously the holidays are different this year, but there are still many Austin holiday traditions and December events to enjoy. I have rounded up a post on at-home, online, or socially-distanced/outdoor activities for you and your kiddos (please refer to the event websites for complete COVID-19 safety information).

As always, I have focused on a variety of educational, cultural, and fun activities that are both free (though there are not as many as in years past) and fee-based so that you can choose the best fit for your family. Resources are listed by date order in each section, as applicable. As always, this list is not exhaustive, but includes a sampling of events and activities that caught my eye that I wanted to highlight. Additional good sources for activity lists are included at the end of the post.

I have also included a section with some winter camp ideas (both virtual and in-person), organized by area of Austin. Finally, if you are looking for ways to give back to our community this holiday season, check out the highlighted resource below: local charitable giving guides.

Happy Entrepreneurship Day and Enriched Family Turns 3!

Happy National Entrepreneur’s Day! Shout out to all the small business owners out there. I see you. 2020 has been hard. Pivot seems to be the word of the year in the entrepreneurial world and I’ve been doing a lot of pivoting at Enriched Family. My baby business also turns three this month. Thanks to all of you for believing in and supporting this labor of love…

Back-to-School Amidst COVID-19: Family Organization Tips

It’s hard to believe we are headed back to school in the midst of a pandemic. If your children attend Austin ISD, they will not be starting back to school until September 8th. Students at other schools in the City of Austin or Travis County will be doing remote learning until at least September 7th. It is unclear what will happen beyond September 7th/8th. To help support your family in this “new normal”, I have created an updated and expanded post with back-to-school family organization tips specifically focused on prepping for back-to-school amidst COVID. This is not your typical school supplies, back-to-school clothes, lunch ideas type of post. I focus on a variety of information and resources specific to back-to-school in a pandemic, such as: setting up an ergonomic work or school station for all members of the family; supply recommendations for working and learning from home; how to ensure that you have sufficient internet bandwidth to handle all the Zoom calls; setting up the kids’ annual appointments and vaccine booster appointments (and options for this if you do not have insurance); tutoring and learning pod options; setting up the back-to-school schedule; household organization tips; strategies to support the dual career balancing act; and support groups for parents and teachers. As always, all information provided is based on Enriched Family’s independent research. Enriched Family does not receive any kick-backs or payments from any of the resources included below, nor do we accept advertising on our site.

If you are looking for information on alternative schooling options, check out our previous blog post, Enriched Family Roundup: Alternative Schooling Options for the Fall. As always, use the ideas that seem like they would be helpful to you and your family, and disregard those that do not. And bear in mind, you do not have to finish all of your organizing before the first day of school. Prioritize the most important things for your family and then ease into the rest as time allows.

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