Prepping like a pro and parenting through the coronavirus.
This week we're looking at preparing for or getting through WFH or school closure realities over the next couple of months due to the coronavirus.
This week we’re postponing our regularly scheduled programming and sharing tips and tricks around a topic on many of our minds - how do we as parents of young kids prepare for and potentially navigate vastly different day-to-day routines due to the coronavirus.
For some of us, this is still theoretical as the virus has not (yet?) come to our communities with a vengeance and for others, it’s already a reality marked by work-from-home policies and school closures.
We’re not going to dive into any of the safety and precautions, which is well covered elsewhere. Instead, we’re sharing the best practices we’ve seen so far on how to prepare with kids (emotionally, tactically and as a community ) and how to get through the long days and weeks if you do all find yourself at home together for a prolonged time.
Because this is all new and the “best practices” are hot off the presses, this week we’re sharing more outside resources than usual - bringing together work that others are doing in answering some of these questions.
Parenting is all about having the right information so we can make the right decisions for our families and communities. Parenting in these times of coronavirus are going to need to good ol’ fashioned resourcefulness and banding together.
And we want to hear from you - how are you preparing? What ideas have you been noodling as we all practice patience over panic and fight fear with facts? Tell us here: https://themodernvillage.typeform.com/to/unZmAR
How to prepare:
1) Emotionally:
This is a wonderfully matter of fact but approachable comic for kids that takes them through the facts and helps them understand what’s going on. (Need a fun at-home activity during these times? Print the comic out and make it into a book.
2) Tactically:
🥫Get household and food supplies for at least 2-4 weeks - especially if you have any prescriptions, or need items like diapers etc.
🎲Stock up on new games, books and arts and crafts supplies - here’s a list we’ve put together: Prep Like a Pro list
- plant and tend a garden
- make and eat pizza
- regular arts and crafts
- create a daily yoga time
- puzzles
- indoor obstacle course
- boardgames
What else would you do? Tell us here.👋🏽Practice social distancing - try to avoid big areas with lots of people and keep at least 6 feet of distance from anyone that is sneezing/coughing - measures that are designed to slow the progress of the virus.
💦Wash, wash, wash your hands. If you’ve already exhausted singing HBD twice, here are some alternative songs - halseyschools.com/5-hand-washing-songs-your-preschooler-will-love/
For the adults - here are some fun ones for us:
Practical tips for being at home:
If you do find yourself with schools closed and working from home, here’s what we’re seeing as best practices so far.
🗓Keeping routines and creating new schedules - this is one of the most important points and probably one of the hardest. It can be natural to feel like this is an extended vacation but we’ve heard that quickly grows old.
If you’re juggling work and childcare this can be really tough. If you have a partner, divide and conquer - divide the day into 2-hour shifts from early morning to bedtime. Use the 2 hours to plan activities and routines but also to swap childcare duties. While this means a new schedule for each of you, try to maintain the kids’ routines - eg. when they’d be playing outside at recess or “after-school” snack time.🏃🏽♂️Everyone exercises - find ways to make sure both you and the kids are getting enough exercise. Make it a fun family affair by creating a mini-skills course in your family room or play area. Include things that don’t take a lot of space but combine creativity and activity. For the adults try to do this 6 -min workout every day.
Maintain kids’ classes and activities - schedule online classes during times the kids might have been doing classes outside.
Here are some of our favs:
🎒Outschool: A huge range of classes taught on every topic that is an easy substitution for your live classes.
🧘🏾♀️Cosmic Kids Yoga: Jaime is incredible as she takes kids through stories and yoga poses. Perfect for kids to get activity while you get some work done.
🎨Art Hub for Kids: Quick drawing lessons for all ages in a way that is easy and engaging for preschoolers to teens.📓Find the memorable - Have kids journal about their experience - either in words or pictures. Make picture journals more fun with little instant cameras.
📹Be social in new ways. Set up video playdates with friends, or offer to tag-team with other parents to occupy the kids for 30 minutes at a time. For example, I can do some kids yoga with my kids and some other kids via our iPad, Alexa Show or FB Portal… get creative and get collaborative!
All of this is so new for all of us so we’ll be updating resources and sharing the ones that everyone sends in from here. The key is that if we lead with measured and smart precautions, we’ll be able to get through this together.
Any feedback? Email me at avni@modernvillage.com with the 😍, the 😕 and the 😫.
Until next week.
Let’s parent forward.
-avni
Coming up:
💰Family finances - What are the biggies that we should all be thinking about and what are the tools and services making it easier?
🥰Relationships - It can be hard to figure out how to find the time and energy to invest back into our relationship with our partner. How do others do it?
Do you have tips, tricks or tools that you think could help everyone? Share them here: https://themodernvillage.typeform.com/to/CpIfhT