Hello Music Family! Thanks for Joining me on my first blog. Check out the video below if you're not a reader!
I appreciate any questions, comments or feedback you have about this or other articles you'd like to see/hear.
We're all stuck at home with our loved ones. COVID is causing us to build completely new habits, the likes of which have not been seen for generations. Let's make sure we share time in love and healthy neutral independent time. When kiddos are at school, they have time with friends, have low-focus time, high-focus time, activity time, playtime, mess-around time, and fun time all built into their schedule.
As parents we may not be as familiar with scheduling such a variety of activities, let alone constructive activities.
In talking with teachers and many parents, one of the keys is keeping a schedule that includes all the regular interactions and structures from our regular schedule. Here's a short list to consider when designing a daily schedule with your kiddos.
Who:
- Family:
- Friends
Lets consider our digital and in-person conversations. Which conversations are we having and are they going how we'd like them to? With all the uncertainty, it can be challenging to keep things calm at home. Are we talking with our friends? Are we seeing our friends via digital conversations or driving by their house? We need love too. When our empathy runs low, so will our fuses with our kiddos and their struggles. After all, they have gone from being around **20-30** other kids *all* day long. Now they are only around family. This can be a challenge. They need to have their friends in their schedule too! Let's get some friend time and quality family time **IN OUR SCHEDULES** I know we're tired, but it will pay off after a few days. examples include skype/zoom dates, and online gaming, maybe you can start a fitness challenge that they send to their friends!
What (are we doing):
- Work/School/Chores:
- Chill time
- Exercising
- Fun Time
- Eating
We are likely not at our highest focus all day, we have mindless chores and "work" to do. They do as well. Let's be mindful and work together on chores so they don't pile up and kids get to see what it takes to run a house. Also give yourself and the kids a break when we need it. As for "chill-time," make sure we are getting time to do meditative activities like meditating, listening to music, playing music, drawing, coloring, playing sports, reading a book for fun, or listening to an audiobook. Exercising can be hard. Mainly we need to just move our bodies. Sitting in one place affects our circulation and thus our ability to focus. Talk a walk if you are having a hard time. Make everyone go. They need it. Check below for links to some digitally based exercise favorites of mine. Don't forget to include fun-time. Kiddos hang and joke with their friends all day. They miss it more than they know. Joke around with them and start some games at home. Start competitions amongst siblings, but think of reasonable handicaps to keep it even. Also let's keep consistency of eating in mind. You already know this, but when they're grouchy and tired, it's already too late. Think of how much and what kind of snacks are working well and keeping their (and your) energy sustained. (hint gummies and simple sugar snacks are not likely to be the best answer #sugarcrash) Making food is now a learning opportunity. Go on youtube or google and search recipes. Now is the best time to be sharing cooking practices with the next generation.
These are all practices we can put into our schedules. It may be hard at first, but so are all habits when we first start.
Where
- Inside (different locations)
- Outside: scheduling chores, exercise (walking) and play
Our kiddos are moving around constantly. They rarely sit still for anything more than 10 minutes. Teacher plan to move them around from their seats to the floor, or they are moving from one room (or outside) to another. Let's keep their need for movement in mind! Also take some time regularly for yourself to switch where you are working in the house. Limit your time on a single task. There's so much to do in the house, take an easy chore break once in a while. As for outside time, our kiddos are used to an hour of outside play by 1pm! They likely also get game time of some sort on a semi-regular basis. Getting them outside will help them (and us) immensely.
Thanks again for Joining me on my first blog.
Ozzy
