Surviving Quarantine

I saw a friend of mine post on Facebook looking for hacks to survive quarantine and the discussion was about how their kids put them to bed now.  How much was tongue in cheek I don't know but it got me thinking that overall I am doing better than I thought I would be.

To be honest I think it has largely been due to the fact that for the most part I have embraced my nature and what works best for my family.  I am going I am going to share what works for my family maybe it will work well for yours or at least inspire you to make some changes that allow you to embrace your nature and how your family works.

Schedules

Oh I have always loved my schedules, and for once I tried to just let go of control and fly by the seat of my pants and schedules be damned.  I really did, I thought everyone seems to say just let go and enjoy the ride so why not.  Well the thing is that there was so much out of my control that letting go left me even further adrift.  Once I got back to a schedule things were easier to deal and the unknown was easier to deal with.

I don't want to give the impression that I am all rigid schedules, because I am not there is still more flexibility than I have done in the past.  The key for us is bedtime, my Little Padawans do not sleep in, so it is very important for us that we do what we can to make sure we do what we can to avoid them being overtired.  We did move back their bedtime a bit but 95% of the time they are in bed the same as if are in school.

School Work

Yep I am that parent I make my kids do school work over the summer.  I require them to read for an hour a day and to reward them I give them a bit of swag every so often as rewards.  They get a lunch pizza once a month, occasionally they will get a pair of fun socks, or other simple toy.  I make them do
  • 30 minutes in a math workbook
  • 30 minutes in a cursive writing workbook
  • 30 minutes playing prodigy

Computer Games and Outdoor Time

Our kids do play computer games it is a necessary evil but we do limit their time, for our sanity and their health.  Seriously our youngest Padawan has eye issues and per his doctor no more than 2 hours of screen time at a time then a break is required.  Also he needs outside time per the doctor it potentially helps with his eye issues.

The Bored List

So I took a page out of my Mom's book from when I was a kid.  Whenver we said we were bored she gave us a 'chore cure' and we had to do something like washing the baseboards.  So Mr. Padawan and I came up with a list and taped it to the wall and when they tell us they are bored we tell the to pick something off the list some items are:
  • Cleaning
  • Riding a bike
  • Climbing a tree
  • Playing Lego
  • Write a book

Planning Ahead

I know what didn't work with distance/remote learning in the spring and what did work.  This is something I can plan for, it doesn't matter that I want my kids back in school I have to work with the reality and not what I want.  If I focus on what I want rather than what is the reality is handing me, that is a path to misery and frustration.

What that means in action is that  I made a better place for my kids to their distance learning.  This also means that I am doing a bunch of decluttering, to create more space.  Honestly creating outer order does create inner calm.  Add in the additional layer of being able to do something and being prepared also creates calm as well.

You can see a bit of what I have done in this previous post.  I am currently going through another de-clutter round and I want to use some command hooks for backpack placement.  I love the dollar tree for bins that has helped with organization too.  My new rule is that if the bin cannot fit in the shelf then there is too much stuff, either re-pack or toss.

Me Time

This is where my last year of work on focusing on me and putting on my own oxygen mask first has really paid off.  I will write a bit more on this in a separate post but in the mean time here are a few of my previous posts.

It Is Ok

If you are a struggling introvert, I understand.

If you are looking for rewards but don't want to have them calorie laden. 

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