Staying motivated…

Who am I kidding?  I was only motivated by fear and adrenaline in the first place!  But now my allergies have hit, and I forgot my antidepressant yesterday and I’m even *more* scared, so now all I really want to do is SLEEP.  I want to curl up under my covers, do nothing but eat all the food I have set aside for the upcoming month, and hide.  From the world.  From obligations.  From news.  From people.  Including my family!

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So I somehow managed to drag myself up and out of bed and into a shower, and that helped.  I put real clothes on.  Didn’t do my hair beyond a ponytail, or makeup, but did brew myself a BIG cup of coffee.  And nuked some oatmeal for breakfast, and set the kids to start their school day with 20 minutes silent reading (which frequently stretches to 30 and has been a WONDERFUL way to ease into our day).

So…I don’t know.  I guess the moral to my story is–take your meds, drink your coffee, start your day with a shower–and if you have kids, assign some silent reading to start the day. ;). The first step is the hardest.  Hopefully the rest of the day will be easier. <3

Staying centered…

(First, just a little reminder to ***breathe***)

Ahh.  Ok, good.  Now…

I really love centers.  Do you remember those?  You may have done them in kindergarten, or your children do them at daycare now.  I love them because they allow for open-ended play, but with as much or as little guidance as you’d like, and help ensure children get to explore all the fun gadgets, gizmos, and goodies you’ve accumulated along your parenting journey.  It provides them with variety, makes old things seem new again, and can buy you a good hour or so to get stuff done yourself.

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Essentially, I set out 3 activity/toy sets that the kids can play with independently.  These will change with your children’s ages.  It can be on a theme, or not; you can give specific instructions for each or not…  I decide if it’s just a free for all with all their items, or if they should rotate through (e.g., like 15 minutes at each, with a 15 minute free for all at the end).  Then I turn them loose!

Some centers I have used:

• Playdough (if you don’t have any, you can make your own! And if you don’t have playdough tools, try using small, safe kitchen utensils, letter magnets, buttons, and pipecleaners)
• Sensory bins
• Themed bins
• Dollhouse
• Dress-Up (if you don’t have children’s dress-up costumes, just set out some of your fancy or interesting shoes, scarves, hats, and costume jewelry)
• Blocks/legos/duplo, etc.
• Musical instruments (if you don’t have any, try making some)
• Art station (painting with watercolors is pretty mess free, coloring with coloring books, copy paper and stencils, etc.)
• Stuffed animal zoo
• Karaoke station

For more ideas, google your children’s age range and terms like DIY, homemade, homeschooling, or centers.  Also check out some of my Pinterest boards to see if they spark anything for you:

 

 

Staying scheduled…

As I mentioned in my last post, a structured routine of some sort will help everyone cope with our current social isolation.  I have developed our own schedule, taking some inspiration from the schedule I shared earlier.  It’s nice and general, but gives us hourly activities to keep us moving in a productive way.  It includes time for schoolwork, life skills, socializing, and outside.  I will be working from home during this time, too, and I hope this gives us all the structure we need with a nice dose of flexibility on the side.  This schedule is for weekdays only, FYI.

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8 a.m. Up, breakfast as a family, morning routine

9 a.m. Schoolwork–no screens for kids

10 a.m. Snack, outside or basement playtime (we have a large unfinished basement they like to ride their bikes, scooters, skateboards, etc. around), GoNoodle or workouts

11 a.m. Home project (Lots of possibilities here! Cleaning, yardwork, organizing, decluttering, cooking, laundry, other life skills or chores, etc.)

12 p.m. Lunch as a family

12:30 p.m. Quiet time (where we each go do our own, solo, thing)

1:30 p.m. Snack, schoolwork–educational screens ok at this time

2:30 p.m. Arts & crafts/music/science experiments

3 p.m. Outside or basement playtime, GoNoodle or workouts

4 p.m. Social time—video call someone (or more) from our list (we made a list of friends and family to keep in touch with, including people we know to be more vulnerable to this isolation); then free time

5 p.m. Make dinner (kids take turns helping, parents take turns leading), eat dinner as a family

6 p.m. Clean up dinner (kids take turns helping), kids take baths

7 p.m. Free time

8 p.m. Bedtime snack, book, yoga

8:30 Bed

9:00 p.m. Bed–if no arguing/fighting/disrespectfulness that day

Stay well, friends. <3

Staying sane…

Structure, routine, predictability–children thrive on it! (…and adults, really–why do you think change is so hard?)  A lot of parents are facing unending days of family togetherness in the near future, and may need some tips on how to cope–especially those parents who do not work with children full time.

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Just remind yourself that they will need structure.  2-3 days of unlimited screens may work at first, but then everything has the potential to descend into a Lord of the Flies-esque scenario, and no one wants that.  Also–remind yourself that structure doesn’t have to be complicated (e.g., my crazy summer schedule that I still love but that was never followed to a tee).

There is a graphic floating around with a suggested daytime schedule for children, and I really like it.  It is general and open-ended, with screen time and no-screen time built in.  You can find it here.  And you know what, some people say it is too regimented!  So, take it for what it’s worth–come up with your own thing–something sustainable and yet still predictable.  Write it down, post it, the kids will love checking the schedule for what’s next and keeping everyone on track.  I’ll share some more ideas for coping with kids at home in future posts. <3

Staying positive…

Count your blessings today to remind yourself that there are still good things in the world.  My blessings today:

*my cat, Jack, cuddling me

*the Down Dog yoga app that’s been helping me clear my head

*hot tea with honey to sip on

photo by James Coleman

So, I don’t know if you knew this…

but life seriously sucks sometimes!  Did you know?

I’m so freaking exhausted…

but I can’t sleep.  Isn’t that always the way?

I overcommit.  I overextend myself. I always have. I think I can do these grandiose things… then I crash and burn, spectacularly.  Like the time I got a III on my oboe solo.  At DISTRICT.  Because I was trying to take an oboe solo, a clarinet solo, a vocal solo, play in 4-5 ensembles, and accompany 4-5 other people.  I think the only I at state I got that year was my vocal solo, out of all that! Ridiculousness to ever expect that much of myself, and that was 20+ years ago.  Why do I keep doing this to myself???