In the immortal words of the Alice Cooper song, “School’s out for summer. School’s out forever.” It isn’t true, but if you’ve been sheltering in place for a while now, surrounded day and night by cooped-up children, pets and significant others, it may feel like there is no tomorrow.
Hang on! Methodist Family Health has a few suggestions to help keep everyone at your house safe and, as importantly, sane.
1. Structure, structure, structure.
There is a strong pull to devolve to teenage ways, staying up late, sleeping in, eating 24-7. It’s a trap. All of us, especially those with children, will profit from structuring the week much like we would have before COVID-19 — that means regular bedtimes, breaktimes, mealtimes and so on.
2. Simplify.
With so many distractions and demands, forget the idea that you will accomplish as much in a day as you might have pre-corona. Don’t expect too much of yourself or those home with you or you’ll just end up more stressed out and frustrated.
Couples trying to work from home with children might want to work in shifts, taking turns to supervise the children, and set aside time to chat and listen to each other’s concerns each day, in a room away from the kids.
3. Stay active.
It’s important for your physical and mental fitness to get up periodically for exercise. Children and pets (and you) need a way to burn off excess energy and stress.
Schedule a walk into your day, a bike ride or some gardening. Let the children plan and run an exercise class for the family. There are hundreds of free exercise, yoga, Pilates and other shape-up classes on TV and the internet. Just get moving!