COVID-19 Family Isolation HOT TIPS: E-Learning
I ventured out into the wild today. I walked to the grocery store to grab a few fresh food essentials. We were starting to run low on fruits and veggies. I bought two beautiful flower bouquets. They spoke to me and brought a little color to what’s been a very very grey time.
When I walked in my front door, my nine-year-old son immediately said, “who buys something like that during a time like this!?” Can you tell who’s child he is? No idea where he gets that tone!
But, I do that. I buy the flowers. We deserve normalcy and brightness right now. Some glimmer of hope to focus on. And frankly, I woke up really fucking sad today. All the non-stop worry and panic and preparing. I can barely keep up with my news alerts. I don’t even feel very funny! I’m also getting my period soon, sure that has nothing to do with it though! Not a thing at all.
Yesterday Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker announced all restaurants and bars to close down dining-in services. And today? Hello at-home e-learning. It’s a lot, we’re all processing a lot. And it’s entirely fluid, you can’t fall behind on the news because it changes too quickly. And so I made an impulse buy during an essentials run because it felt good. Do the little things that make you feel good right now. Inside of course. I don’t mean bar crawling, people!
Back to that whole e-learning thing. After today, I refuse to call it homeschooling because these teachers are doing the amazing work, prepping, recording, writing, and communicating. I’m just like a useless potato over here. “Uhhh, check your e-learning app, you have a new message!” “Click here, I think, wait let me read.” Profound pedagogy, it is not.
Day Four of Precautionary Social Isolation With Two Rambunctious Kids Under Ten Hot Tips:
There is no day three cause I took a break, a Sunday Quarantined Funday! So here’s my bonus hot tip: take rest days too. Just do whatevs and lay around like a lazy glorious weekend.
Back to e-learning, for real this time. Have your kids eat breakfast, brush their teeth, and get dressed. That’s my suggestion. I tried that today and I explained that we need to make new routines. Suzie scheduler, I am not. You will not find a color-coded hour by hour to-do chart in my home. It’s just not how I roll. But, we need to have some kind of rhythm here.
Just be honest with your kids. They have a lot of worry over all of this too. I’ve mentioned that before. Just explain what you’re doing and why. Give them some little glimpse of a routine, a new routine. And it’s a new uniform free routine, in our case! But it will get them in the mindset of starting their day.
When it comes to you, the e-learning legend, do.not.cry. Not talking about overwhelmed tears. You can shed those if you want. Grab the chocolate or wine or edible on the way to your cozy cry corner and you do you. Parents near and far have suspended all judgement.
I mean don’t cry over being so incredibly moved by how wonderful educators really are. Don’t cry over the virtual schoolwork they were able to put together in little to no time. Or…second thought, ignore that futile suggestion, and be like me and do cry over that and then continually tell every adult you speak to that you did cry over the amazing educators. Yes, tell even your beloved readers or the mom from school you run into at the grocery store. Feel your feelings, dudes!
Basically here’s my hot tip: find a new routine for your lil crew. Cry and feel the feels as much as you need right now. And today, that is enough. We’re taking this day by day, and as one of my wise female friends said, sometimes hour by hour.
But in all seriousness. I have legit inquiry:
Did you take your meds today? If you take them, don’t forget to now that your routine has changed. That’s the most important self-care you can do. That, and your cozy cry corner.
