The morning alarm is still ringing, and the scramble to get to work on time is real for me. However, now the kids are in the living room on laptops. I have made an office in the bedroom. My new name is Ms. Mommy. I offer advice in trying to keep your daily routine as healthy as possible. In addition, some tips to make it through the day without an anxiety attack as you embrace the 2020 homeschool in a global pandemic.
I have invented entirely new courses, like “Honors Laundry,” “AP Vacuuming,” and “Cat Litter Box Cleaning and Fine Scooping Skills 101.” With love and support, I write to encourage (mostly myself) and others that this new way of life is possible if we stop to find humor, beauty, and the lessons in all of this.
Building a sales pipeline of business is no easy task. It takes time to build those relationships, to learn about their wants needs and budget constraints. One must prove their tenacity, steadfastness, and determination to win the sale and all while the economy is moving, this has its uphill battles. Now imagine trying to build that pipeline while businesses have closed, employees are laid off, and we have all been quarantined. This is all still easier than homeschooling two elementary kids!
Mean Ms. Mommy promises you that all children, even the middle-aged ones love routine. Keeping to a schedule that is close to one similar to the school day will help the littles, and yourself get through the next 60 days of the school year at home. Here is our daily schedule that guides us to the glorious hour known as HAPPY.
Now that we have the schedule in place let’s talk about TED. It is an excellent resource to engage the kids on all sorts of topics. Most schools have sent home curriculum to keep the kids learning on track, but who couldn’t benefit from a TED talk?
Parents aren’t all alone when it comes to thinking up educational content for their kids.
Here are a few resources:
Staying connected is essential for human social growth. We’ve slowly distanced ourselves over the years because of technology with the ability to text instead of call or IM instead of writing a letter. Now that same technology that kept us apart is bringing us back together. We have been chatting with grandma over Zoom and setting up play dates with friends in Google Hangout. My family’s most favorite way to spend time with friends has been Messenger Kids. Messenger Kids connects through Facebook. Once set up, they can open the app and try calling friends (at the appropriate scheduled time) by themselves. That’s the bonus for Ms. Mommy, who can keep working on building pipeline instead of explaining how to use the address bar.
Aside from work, school, virtual playdates, staying healthy is always a challenge. In these last few weeks, I watched my daughter become more engaged with exercise than ever before (because I’ve negotiated with the little terrorist for iPad time). Before I built a sales pipeline for a living, I was a fitness instructor. I was always working out in my home studio. I came up with new routines, and my daughter would watch. Now that we have been doing everything as a family, she is bicep curling with the rest of us. She even participates in some live Facebook workouts.
The lesson worth sharing here is that there are only 60 more days left of homeschooling, and you can survive anything for 60 days! During this time, we have had to find new ways to live, learn, and communicate.
Now that Grandma is on TikTok and has more likes than you, it’s time to reflect and take a breath. Find the value in the last slice of bread, reusing a Ziplock bag, and using less toilet paper from here on out (that shortage was no joke)!
As our consumer society quickly came to a halt and conservation of items set in, so has the normal of working and homeschooling from home. I offer some advice from a working mom educating two young kids at home: