The pandemic is taking a toll on all of us. But if you manage a busy household, your life might be more hectic than ever now.
Here’s how to survive this period without going crazy:
Start the day right.
Deciding how the days will start and end is the foundation of organization and sanity at home.
A family morning ritual might be a great way to kickstart the day. You can have a fixed hour for waking up and making breakfast. Keep the atmosphere fun by talking, laughing or even dancing and watching the kids’ favorite shows.
You can also talk about everyone’s activities for the day and plan them out, decide which room to use for it and how to give everyone the space they need.
Make sure everyone’s busy.
Someone might not be in the mood for getting things done, so that’s where the daily schedule comes in handy.
Write down the daily tasks of each family member – work, meetings, school, homework, physical activity, self-care, play time, reading, etc.
Place the schedule in a visible place so everyone can take a look and know what’s next. You can also use a dry-erase board so everyone can write down their activities and cross things off the list.
Don’t be afraid to delegate. Let others do chores too. A good idea is to let everyone take care of one area of the house (and keep it clean and organized).
Help your kids build new healthy habits.
It’s easy for an adult to be aware of the pandemic at any moment of the day and even start washing their hands and using hand sanitizer more than necessary. With kids, however, it’s different.
Whether it’s a toddler or a teenager, they might not understand or care enough about the current events. They are already missing some of their favorite activities and have to stay indoors more than usual, so that’s stressful and depressing enough. Oftentimes, there’s no need for them to know the details about the pandemic either. But you can help them build better hygiene habits and make this the new norm at home.
A great idea is to use stickers reminding kids to wash their hands and place them in visible places (such as on the fridge).
Be a role model. Wash your hands in front of your kids using the right techniques. Scrub for at least 20 seconds and encourage children to join.
Have fun with it by singing the ‘Happy Birthday’ song 2 times while washing. It might even become a competition between family members to see who is best at washing their hands.
Hold family meetings.
Nothing helps a household like good communication. Have meetings to discuss how everyone’s doing, what bothers them, what they’d like to change around the house, if they’d like to add or remove something from the daily schedule, what they miss from normal life and how you can replace it, etc.
This brings a sense of control and deeper connection in a family where everyone’s involved and taken care of.
Get moving.
It’s hard enough to make yourself do sports during a crisis, so it’s even harder to encourage others to join. But not if you make it as easy as possible!
Start with daily walks. If no one has to leave the house for school or work yet, walking daily should be your new favorite hobby.
Bringing the kids to a park and letting them run around or play football is an ever better way to keep them active.
Take care of your mental health.
You can’t run a household successfully if you don’t take care of yourself first. To be positive, focused, productive and available to others at home, you’d want to try different self-care practices, work on your mindset, and have some time for yourself.
At the end of the day, everyone needs to feel accomplished but also safe and appreciated. So achieve that by talking to your kids and partner in the evening, dedicating the time before bed to pleasant activities, and getting excited for tomorrow.
You can get the children involved in the preparation of each meal. They will learn stuff, build skills, feel like grown-ups, and enjoy the food much more. This brings your family closer together and everyone’s keeping themselves busy.
So that’s how you take care of your loved ones and bring peace and joy at home even in times of uncertainty.
