Lately, I have been thinking about how I let things slide during quarantine. The majority of people I spoke to about this said they have given up on keeping their homes clean and no longer restrict their children’s electronics. For me it wasn’t either of those things. It was something else.
I couldn’t let my house get messy because I became a complete germaphobe during this quarantine. Did this happen to any of you? Whenever I get a spare minute I’m scrubbing something. Everything must be clean! I am sure I will calm down about this… one day. For now it is what it is. The cleaner the house, the safer I feel.
I also didn’t give my children unlimited access to their electronics. This isn’t because my children are so well behaved that I don’t need to distract them with television and iPads. Not at all. It is because they have become obsesses with yodeling. Yes… YODELING.
Every time they turn on the television, the sound of someone yodeling ( and the sound of my daughters yodeling) fills the house. It’s cute, I will give them that, but how much yodeling can two little girls listen to? Too much, the answer is TOO MUCH! There is such a thing as too much yodeling, in my opinion, not theirs. It was going on ALL DAY LONG! Thanks but no thanks. Electronics will remain on lockdown.
What I did let slide was my appearance. Day one of quarantine I changed from my nighttime pajamas into my daytime pajamas (yes, there is such a thing as daytime pajamas) and kept that up for a good two weeks. It was wonderful. I was so comfortable and I was eating whatever I wanted because I couldn’t feel my pants getting tighter. My pajamas were very forgiving. I did continue to wear make up though, (which made absolutely no sense since I was in pajamas but there you have it). I figured, at least I was somewhat put together.
Then one day, I showed up in the background of my daughters ZOOM call in my pajamas (and ROBE) and I decided getting dressed in the morning would be a good idea. That said, I did stop wearing makeup. Something had to give. It’s not a quarantine if you’re fully dressed with face full of make up. Am I right?
I was enjoying this new phase of quarantine until my daughter’s teacher asked me to sit down and talk to her on ZOOM. It wasn’t scheduled, it was random. She was giving my daughter a lesson and asked for me to come on screen for a chat. So there I was, no make up (ok, no bra either) and a teacher waiting for me to sit down to speak with her. I couldn’t ask for her to wait for me to put on some make up and and a bra so I did the only thing I could do… I stood by the computer, never showed myself, and had a full on conversation. I didn’t give an explanation. Who knows what she thought. Couldn’t be as bad as what she would have thought if she saw me!
Now, I get dressed (bra and all) and I put on make up… Thanks ZOOM! What did you let slide? Comment down below.
Living during such uncertain times can be especially difficult for children. We can’t give them a definite answer on when they will be returning to school, or when they will be able to have a play date. The best we can do is try to create some sort of structure to help ease their anxiety. I certainly do not have all of the answers. There have been plenty of days where nothing has worked to keep the peace, but I would love to share what has worked for my family over these past few weeks of us being quarantined.
FAMILY MEETING
Once we learned that schools were closing, my husband and I held a family meeting. We explained to our daughters that while they would be attending school online, they would still be in communication with their teachers and friends, and would be expected to complete their assignments. We spoke about the changes to their daily routine, and allowed them to participate in creating their own schedule. This gave my daughters a sense of control, and ultimately helped ensure that they stayed on task. One thing that surprised me was how willing they were to accept this new reality. They didn’t question us. They just went along with this new norm.
DAILY SCHEDULE
To help ease our daughters’ anxiety during this time, we worked together with them to create a daily schedule. Once they adjusted to their new schedule, they were able to infer what was coming next which really helped them stay relaxed. Having this small bit of certainty during these confusing times helped immemsely.
We have two types of schedules in our home. We have a magnetic daily schedule, and a more detailed schedule that is type up. The magnetic schedule posted below shows what a typical weekend looks like in our home. When our daughters complete a task, they move the magnet over to the “done” side of the board. This helps keep them on track.
Our daily weekday schedule is very detailed. I write exactly which assignments need to be completed each day. This ensures that all assignments are turned in by the end of the day. Below is a sample without the added details.
- Get dressed & brush teeth and hair
- Breakfast
- Homeschool
- Indoor/outdoor play
- Homeschool
- Lunch
- Homeschool
- Indoor/ outdoor play
- FaceTime with friends
- Family time
- Dinner
- Family walk
- Shower & brush teeth
- Reading
- Bed time
MENU
I don’t know about your children, but my daughters want to eat all day long. Figuring out what to feed them for breakfast, lunch, and snack was becoming a full time job. This encouraged me to create a menu. Each morning my daughters select what they would like to eat off of our menu, and that is what is prepared for them that day. Not constantly having to figure out what to feed them throughout the day has reduced my stress and allows my daughters to feel in control of what they are eating. Planning ahead of time allows me to prepare their snacks in the morning so they can just grab and go throughout the day. For us, dinner has never been an issue. They eat whatever is prepared. I decided not to include that on the menu.
I’M BORED JAR
Do your children constantly approach you because they have no idea how to occupy themselves? Mine do! They are always telling me they are bored. I was running out of ideas on how to entertain them. Finally, we created a list of all the activities they enjoy participating in. We wrote their ideas down on slips of paper and put them in a mason jar. This jar was a lifesaver! There was no longer a need for them to approach me for ideas. Here is a list of what we have in our jar.
- Read a book
- Research a place you would like to visit
- Puzzle
- Painting
- Swingset
- Trampoline
- Call a friend
- Barbies
- Board game
- Practice ventriloquy
- Play with puppy
- Baking
- Pretend play
- Piano
- Clean your bedroom
- Basement
- Play dress up
- Make an obstacle course
- Crossword puzzle
There you have it! I hope you are able to use some of these ideas in your home. I would love to hear what you have been doing to get through this quarantine. I am always looking for ways to make our day run more smoothly.