How to keep your sanity during these times

Slovakia is on lockdown. Schools are closed, offices are closed, most of the shops, bars and restaurants are closed, airports and borders are closed. Personally I think it is a wise decision. I think we are all doing what we can to avoid the health care is getting overwhelmed with serious ill people.

And now, what to do, when everyone is at home and out of their normal routine? We are a family of five with children aged 12,9 and 4 ans school and offices have been closed for a week now and will be for at least the next two weeks. However, I suspect it will end up to be longer than that.

So how to keep sane during this time? A very important one for me is to avoid spending too much time on Social Media. The newsfeed can overwhelm me and make me worry way more than is good for me. Apart from that I have made a list of tips that worked for us, so far.

Make sure you have a set routine for the day

Keeping a routine every day is very important, especially if you are also working from home. If you have small children this can be even more challenging so make sure you make clear agreements with your partner about this. We save time commuting to school now, so we don’t have to get as early as we normally do, but it is still important to have an alarm clock and wake up at the same time every day. It helps to keep a routine during the day and not be overwhelmed by the day before it begins. Luckily we are still allowed to go outside, so I start my day with a walk/run outside, as long as I am allowed to do that. The rest of the day is very structured too, with set times for learning, working, break, lunch, activities and screen time. For an idea for a routine that might work for you too, click here.

Make a list of things to do

Our school will make sure there are plenty of activities for my 9 and 12 year old. My 12-year old is on his normal timetable every day and they are using all the useful applications for that, such as Microsoft Teams, One note and Office. He has to log on at 08:00 AM and even for P.E. they are exercising in front of their laptop. This also goes for my 9-year old. She has to be online at 09:00 AM and gets tasks though One Note for the morning that need to be completed before lunch. In the afternoon there are various activities she can chose from, which keep her busy as well. If you don’t have that luxury, search for online applications on the internet and agree on tasks to do during set times. Click here for various applications that offer online learning for free now.

My 4-year old gets activities to do from her teacher every day, however that obviously doesn’t keep her busy all day so I have started spring cleaning and decluttering the house with her help. I will probably never spent so much time inside my house as now so I decided to make the most of it. My 4-year old has been helping me by checking if puzzles and games are complete. I had her count puzzle pieces and decks of cards. We have gone through all her books, deciding whether she still likes them or it is time to pass them on, rediscovering a lot of books in the process. Also www.twinkl.co.uk gives tons of ideas for other activities and Pinterest is your friend here too.

Go outside every day

In Slovakia we are still allowed to go outside so we aim to be outside at least an hour a day. Today we started a walk from our house and decided to take an odd little road we never took just to see where we would end up. The kids loved it and we discovered such nice places so close to our house we have been living for two years already. I won’t be surprised if Slovakia moves on to a total lockdown soon, luckily then we can still go out in the garden and do our exercise there even though it might still be a little bit cold.

Exercise every day

I have downloaded some fitness apps on my phone and I have been doing the daily seven with my girls every day, 7 minutes of easy exercises that you can do yourself every day. I use Workout for Women, but there are tons of similar once out there. Also the girls do Yoga every day, they use Cosmic Yoga, which you can find on YouTube.

Realise what a unique time this is

This time is scary, extraordinary and nothing any of us have ever experienced. There will be a time we will look back on this.. remember the 2020 Corona virus lock down… Don’t forget to realise that and try to make it as enjoyable for everyone. Play board games, do a movie night, read books together you had forgotten about, sort out works or art your kids made over the years and make a “memory box’ for special things you want to keep, reorganise closets and cupboards, take long bubble baths together. If your kids have their own rooms try to let them have some alone time there every day, just reading a book, looking through old photo’s playing alone with their own stuff. Don’t forget your own needs in this. Eat healthy, exercise, make sure you get some alone time every day, read books you wanted to read for a long time, make recipes you wanted to make for a long time, declutter that closet you wanted to do for months. If you have a hard time seeing a silver lining, write down every night what made you happy and grateful that day. It will help you focus on the positive things every day.

Stay healthy everyone!