When the sky turns hazy: how we handle smoky days

We’ve already had a few hazy days this summer, and we’ll almost certainly get more. Smoke drifts in from fires that are nowhere near us, the light goes strange and yellow, and by mid-morning you can smell it on the porch. If you grew up here, you know this wasn’t normal twenty years ago. It is now, and it’s become part of planning a Calgary summer with small children.

Parents ask me what we do on those days, so here it is.

Why little ones feel it first

Children aren’t just small adults. They breathe faster than we do, they take in more air for their size, and they’re the ones who want to be outside running flat out. Environment Canada lists young children among the groups most likely to be affected, right alongside seniors and people with existing lung conditions.

It usually shows up in small ways rather than dramatic ones. A cough that wasn’t there yesterday, watery eyes, a child who’s unusually cranky or tired by lunch. Nothing alarming on its own, but I keep an eye on it.

What I actually check each morning

Before the children arrive I look at the Air Quality Health Index for Calgary on the Environment Canada site. It’s a simple number, and it tells me more than looking out the window does, because some of the worst air doesn’t look all that bad.

Roughly, here’s how I use it:

• Low risk: a normal day, and we’re outside all morning like always.
• Moderate risk: we still go out, but for shorter stretches, and I keep things calmer. Chalk and digging rather than a running game.
• High risk, or the smell is strong: we stay in, windows shut, and I plan an indoor morning.

I’d rather keep a child in on a borderline day than push it. There’s no medal for going outside.

An indoor day isn’t a wasted day

This is the part parents worry about, and honestly they don’t need to. A three-year-old does not care that the plan changed.

We build obstacle courses down the hallway with cushions and a skipping rope, because they still need to move and burn something off. There’s playdough, painting, and a lot of baking, which the older ones love because they get to do the measuring. We do music and dancing when the energy needs somewhere to go. And there’s always a longer story time than usual, which is nobody’s idea of a hardship.

I keep the windows closed on those days and I don’t run anything that pulls the outside air in. The house stays comfortable, and the children barely register that anything is different.

A few things that help at home

If it’s a smoky stretch, keep your windows shut, especially overnight when it’s tempting to open them for the cool air. Avoid adding to the indoor smoke while it’s bad, so no candles and go easy on anything that sets off the kitchen fan.

And please tell me if your child has asthma or a history of chest trouble. I’ll watch them more closely on hazy days, and if you’ve got an inhaler or a plan from your doctor, I want to know about it before we need it, not during.

You’ll always hear from me

If we stayed in, I’ll tell you why at pick-up. If your little one had a cough or seemed off, you’ll hear that too. You shouldn’t have to guess whether your child spent the morning breathing smoke, and with me you won’t have to.

If you’re looking for care for a two-to-six-year-old in the northeast and you’d like to see the space for yourself, book a visit or call me at 403-918-8627.