Navigating the Covid19 Pandemic with the Family

When this year began, none of us knew 2020 would be the year forever remembered for the Covid19 pandemic. But, at the time of publish, we’ve all been advised to practice social distancing, school districts have closed, bars and restaurants have been closed in some areas, and we’ve all been advised to avoid group gatherings of 10 or more. This is all pretty impactful news to us and our surrounding community.

It’s not news that we aren’t used to being trapped, feeling separated from society, and having our kids home from school for weeks on end. 

This is precisely why I hope to help you create a routine you love with your family, ditch mom-guilt, brainstorm plenty of ideas so that no one’s bored at home, and provide several resources for you to use and reference throughout this impromptu homeschooling session.

Episode 9 on Reaching Abundance: Navigating the Coronavirus Lockdown With The Family

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What Coronavirus Closures Mean for Us Moms

We’re home from work, our kids are home from school, we aren’t going out to eat, and basic entertainment like playground visits, going to the movies, and sporting events are off for the foreseeable future. We’re all in self-quarantine in hopes that it will slow or stop the spread of this insane virus. 

This also means we mamas are in need of ideas, activities, resources, and any other coping mechanisms we can get our hands-on, like NOW. 

I got you, girl! 

This article contains links to easy-to-make recipes, ideas for simple activities with the kids, ways to integrate learning into the daily routine, guidelines for a daily routine, and even built-in breaks. 

You ready? 

There’s Opportunity Staring You In The Face

First, think about how you felt a month ago. 

Work sucked, you hated dropping off your kiddo at daycare or school and missing them all day, the weekends were never long enough, and even if those things didn’t apply to you because maybe you’re a stay at home mom or a work from home mom like me, there’s still this sneaky, guilt-ridden feeling that you aren’t spending enough time with your kids. That’s mom-guilt. As much as I do to try to convince myself (and you!) that you are enough, it’s always there.

So, I want to present this Coronavirus lock-down as an opportunity for us. It’s going to be tough, yes, and as an integral part of human nature, we don’t do well with abrupt change. But if you can just take my virtual hand for a moment – and step back with me, you’ll see that this is the perfect opportunity to ditch some major mom-guilt. 

We have every opportunity right now, served to us on a silver platter presented by the CDC to build bonds with our kids, to play board games, and to teach them things they can’t (or won’t) learn in school, and THAT’s beautiful.

They Will Remember How This Feels

Your kiddos are listening to you and your spouse’s language. Kids learn even more from your tone, expressions, and body language (on every subject: finances, social, belief, news, challenges… everything!). 

They won’t remember years from now WHY they were home (unless you remind them) but they WILL remember how this time felt. And it’s completely up to us as the CEO’s of our household to ensure this time contains positive memories instead of panic, fear, frustration, and hysteria. 

If you’re struggling to find the right words to use or questioning how much or how little to explain about school closures, what a pandemic is, or the Coronavirus itself, check out this article called “What I’m telling my kids about Coronavirus” by Kate Bolduan.

This article contains how to be reassuring yet honest, not to avoid the subject, how and when to say “I don’t know”, to listen first and talk second, to calm yourself while empowering them, and how to find the fun in this whole shebang of a situation. I highly recommend you read it. 

Begin Building Your Wishlist

Circle back to that mom-guilt thing with me. Ask yourself the following questions to begin brainstorming about the things you’ve been wanting to do with your kids. When that awful mom-guilt feeling hits you, 

What is it that you feel bad about? 

For me, this includes baking, reading stories, and taking walks together. Oh, and my daughter is always asking me to paint her nails, which I always say we will and then we never have time, so I’m perpetually feeling guilty there. 

When you feel that a typical two-day weekend is too short, what is it that you wish you “had time” to do? 

Are there any projects around the house or with the kids that you were postponing or “saving’ for a 3 day weekend? 

The kids have a gingerbread house leftover from Christmas – we never even opened the box, and several science experiments and art projects they’ve received from birthdays and holidays that they periodically ask about – there again, I always reassure them we WILL do them, but “probably not today, honey” I say.

What routines or activities have you wished you could incorporate into your day or week, but struggle to during “normal” weeks? 

I’m thinking workouts, daily reading time, and writing.

Are you a list person? I totally am, I write lists for everything. So, write down those activities that come to mind that, if you didn’t do, you’d typically feel guilty about. 

Make note of these would-be puzzle pieces to your “perfect” day or your “perfect” morning routine. Maybe you have a health situation and you always wished you could have smoothies 2x a day but with work, that was impractical. Well, now’s the time, mama!

For our family right now, we have a few painting projects around the house – if you follow me on social media you’ll get a glimpse of them. 🙂  

Listen to Episode 10 (this) from the Reaching Abundance podcast on YouTube

Get Their Opinion

I’m totally not kidding!  it’s time to turn to your family members. Ask the kids and your spouse, each, separately, what they want this extra time together to look like. Ask them what they’d like to do, what they’d like to learn right now, and how they’d like to remember this time together. 

Sure, depending on how old your kids are, and what mood your spouse is in, you might get some ridiculous answers, but you’ll probably get some great feedback too!

Your kids may very well be wishing to do the simplest and easiest things that would have never crossed your mind. It’s worth asking about! The whole point of compiling this list is to create a brainstorm of potential in-home activities you and your family could enjoy together. 

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Support, Not Guilt

Maybe you have a short list in front of you at this point or maybe it’s an insanely long to-do list. Either way, don’t get overwhelmed, hang in there with me – I want you to use this not as another thing that can make you feel guilty, but as something to lean on when you don’t know what to do. 

When the kids are either fighting or claiming they’re bored, you’ve got this list to fall back on. None of us know how long this lockdown-pandemic situation is going to last, so really, you might actually be able to do everything on that list and more – we have no idea. 

Now that you have your list, here’s how I’ve looked at things these past few days.

How To Use Time Blocking As A Family

I’m really big on schedule and having a basic grasp on what’s happening when. Plus, my kids thrive on routine and structure, so….

If you think of the day as broken into 30 minute or 1-hour time blocks, beginning at wake-up time and ending at the kids’ bedtime, and then you insert time for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, all you have to do is fill the time in-between those activities. You can make the time schedule as strict or as loose as you need.

I’ve linked a free google doc (make and save your own copy) in the show notes with each day divided into time blocks so you can begin to build your family’s schedule.

Each day, we’re focused on working in 4 categories: 

1. Things we have to do – work, laundry, or household chores 
2. Educational time – we might do some flashcards, read together or use our workbooks
3. Activity time – actually get up and dance, go for a walk, or be physically active in some way 
4. Veg time – watch a movie or play video games 

E-Learning / Homeschool Help

The second item on this list is hitting some of us mamas hard because we aren’t educators and, let’s just be honest, some of us have no idea how to teach our kids some of the basics. But now that school is closed for an undetermined period of time, we have to teach our kids something.

If you’re jumping into the e-learning and homeschooling situation and looking for free resources, I have a couple of links for you: 

20 Virtual Field Trips to take with your Kids

Free “relief packs” for grades K-5 containing worksheets and activities for all subjects

And there’s a pop-up Covid-19 Homeschool help Facebook group you can join as well, where people are posting tons of useful, free resources in the feed

Oh, You’re Not Betty Crocker?

Another realization taking Americans by storm is that they have no idea how to cook, what to buy, and how to feed a family breakfast, lunch, and dinner for weeks on end. 

If your family usually eats out and you’ve found yourself overwhelmed at the thought of having to make home-made meals each night or maybe you’re just at a loss for dinner ideas, here are  30 meals with 5 ingredients or less. 

I just love Pinterest, don’t you?

You Have Resources, Be Resourceful

Think about the fact that you can probably find anything, learn how to do anything, download anything, or watch anything online – for you or your kids. Google and YouTube, and Facebook, for that matter, are AMAZING RESOURCES!  Let’s make sure we’re being resourceful and using the things that are available to us. 

I encourage you to think “How can I _____?” instead of immediately defaulting to “We can’t ____.” simply because of closures, abnormal schedules, and other things that are likely to throw us off. This simple re-frame can pique curiosity and create a creative, open mind.

How We Are Coping With The Coronavirus Social Distancing

I’ve been posting online daily with the hashtag #makingthebestofit because that’s what I’m determined to do. I know without a doubt that I can enjoy this time with my family home, get some projects done around the house, remain flexible with work /leisure time, and appreciate each day.

Here are a few things I plan on incorporating or doing within the next couple of weeks. Some of them will be a new part of the daily routine, some are just projects I’ve been trying to get to, and others are just some fun activities we can do together. 

Reading – At the beginning of the year I set a goal for myself to read a book each month & I’m already behind, so I’ll use this time to catch up or even get ahead. Both kids now know how to read, so we can pick a kids’ book each day and take turns reading aloud to each other. We can also do quiet reading time where everyone lounges in the same room together and reads at the same time. 

Board games – So we have plenty of card games and board games that we could play 1 a day for a month. It might be interesting once we get into them though, because I’m sure that some of the games are too advanced for the kids right now, so maybe the hubs and I could play those during our evening hours. That’s different than what we normally do and could be interesting or fun.

Movies – we’re definitely going to be watching a movie a day – maybe a Marvel or a classic Disney princess movie, but we’re definitely going to use this time to snuggle in fuzzy blankets and catch up on movies

Writing – much like the reading bullet, this is something we can do separately or together and choose to share what we write or not. This can consist of giving the kids a little writing prompt and asking them to write a story using their imagination. For me, this is journaling or writing up more blog posts. We can do this work during set 30-minute intervals of writing time or separately. 

Learn something new – maybe a new language, how to fix something around the house, a new game, coding, or something online you’ve been meaning to do. For me this might be new podcast editing tips, watching a review of a new financial app, or learning some new Instagram strategy.

Fitness – typically we like to blame our lack of a morning routine or fitness on the daily grind. The commute is too long, I’d have to wake up too early,  or some other version of I don’t have time. Well, now that our “normal” is shot, we have an amazing opportunity to implement the workout we always wanted to. We’ve pulled out the old T25 dvd’s and have been doing Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube as a family. 

Kitchen Recipes – we’re going to bake together & turn it into a math lesson, reading lesson, and science experiment all at once. We’ll make a mess, have fun, and wind up with some delicious food. I like to experiment with recipes and bake but rarely do, so here’s my chance to do it and spend time with the kids!

Art – my daughter loves to color and paint, my son is more resistant but once he get’s going he enjoys it. We can color together, do watercolors, or even bust out the playdoh or kinetic sand and enjoy our artsy side.

Teach cleanliness / hygiene – this is the perfect opportunity to teach the kids about personal hygiene. Washing hands, not touching our faces, and covering our sneezes and coughs is of utmost importance right now. But, with everyone home, cleaning up after themselves and learning some basic around-the-house chores could be really useful!

Organization – got a messy closet, laundry room, or garage? Now is the perfect time to get things cleaned out and organized. I’m in the middle of painting our kitchen – a project I’ve been meaning to do & wanting to do for months. And as soon as I get that done, I’ll paint the fireplace. I also plan on going through the kids’ closets and sorting out anything that’s a size too small so I can shop for things they actually need. This is the perfect time to do your spring cleaning and decluttering. 

Budgeting or Taxes – you know I can’t resist bringing it all home by relating things to money. If you haven’t done your taxes yet, do them. If you’ve been needing to re-vamp your budget or pull your credit or learn how to budget, take the time this week to tackle that. There’s no better time to look at your financial situation than when there’s a certain level of uncertainty in the world – reach out to me if you need help with this one – this kind of thing is my jam 🙂

Of course, there are so many more things I could list out, but I’m going to stop there. Between the brainstorming questions I asked above, my suggestions, and the resources I’ve provided, I’m hoping you have plenty of options for things to do with and without the kids. 

You Deserve A Break, Mama

Did you notice the hidden, yet built-in breaks in several of these activities?

If you get the kids busy watching a Disney movie, coloring, or playing a game together, you can totally zone out for a bit. It’s during these moments that I suggest you take a step outside for some fresh air, get a drink of water, stretch your legs, or whatever helps you feel a tiny bit recharged. 

Take advantage of split shifts with the spouse, time during which the kids are zoned into a movie, or even those precious moments when they are actually playing together. Work in breaks where ever you can and go shower, read a magazine, put in your earbuds to listen to a podcast 😉

Weather This Lockdown Like The Rockstar Mom You Are

I really, truly believe we CAN have it all through intention, consistency, and always trying to be present in the moment. This week, edge a little closer to Reaching Abundance by organizing the time you have with your family to include things you would usually be wishing you had time for. 

Use the activity list we just made together (you made one as you were reading, right?) to refer to if there’s ever a point when someone needs something to do. But mostly, just have fun! While on lockdown, the day might seem to go on forever, but stop and realize how precious these fleeting moments really are.

Appreciate them, embrace them, enjoy them.