Tuesday, March 31, 2020

I love you for life but not for lunch

I will love you for life but not for lunch

Schools are closed.   You are sheltering in place.  Kids are home, spouse/significant other might be home too.   It was kind of fun for the first few days, challenging but fun.  Somehow that fun has morphed into, I need some space, the kids need some structure, I am losing my everlovin’ mind.
There are some things that can help.   First of all, kids are used to the structure of school.  Oh they may rile against it and want to stay home sometimes but they do like the structure.   
So step one is to provide that structure.   Make a schedule for the day.  All of the school systems that have closed are required to provide some alternative instruction.  Set up a time of day for your children to be online to receive that instruction.  If you do not have multiple devices e.g. desktop, laptop, tablet, smart phone, you will need to schedule who has dibs when and which device.  Don't forget to include yourself in that as well.   Your structure for the day should include something fun and something social.
Social is the next item on your agenda.  Kids love school for its social factor.   They can’t visit with each other but they can do some kind of online get together.  Google Hangout is being used by a number of school systems for instruction but it can also be used just for kids to get together virtually.  Check it out, you might like it for your friends too.
Too much togetherness is well too much togetherness.  Make sure everyone has a neutral corner in which to go to get some away time.  If everyone has his/her own bedroom, that is a great space.  If not, you can reserve other areas of your home.  It can be as mundane as a walk-in closet, a space in the garage, the basement or even a bathroom.  When too much is too much almost any quiet space away from others will do.
Factor into each day a bit of fun.   Play a game, put together a jigsaw puzzle or make a good recipe.   Have a food treat for every day.  Sort of something to sweeten the day.
I read that all of the previous events that required people to stay in place: snow, super storms, lost power, have resulted in a higher birthrate 9 months later.  Predictions are that this event is going to raise the divorce rate.  Don’t let that happen to you.  And you can’t divorce your kids; it’s been tried.  Courts are not very generous.

No comments:

Post a Comment