Most of us are struggling with working from home, schooling our quarantined kids and keeping the littles occupied all at the same time. I am sharing some of our weekly activities to help other parents with simple ideas to make quarantine more manageable and maybe even have some fun! I try to plan at least one activity each day in the midst of it all. See the round-up at the end of this post for the quick cheat sheet.
Quarantine Week 2
This week we were stuck inside a lot because of cold weather. We made due the best we could. Our neighborhood started a practice every Friday night called "Friendly Friday" when we flash our porch lights on and off at the same time to say hello to each other. You can imagine how excited A (my 3 year old) was to watch for the flashing porch lights. We actually built it up all day so that he had something to look forward to. Having anything to look forward to - and making it sound exciting - helps him get through the day.
A New Tradition
One new tradition we have started during quarantine is dinner picnics in the living room. It was more out of necessity than for the enjoyment of it but it turns out to be fun! We were in the midst of transitioning to a new home when the pandemic hit. I had sold most of our household items, including our dining room set with the expectation of getting a new one when we were resettled. Well, as the saying goes, "Necessity is the mother of invention", and picnic dinners were born. The boys set up the picnic while Dan and I cook dinner. We put on our favorite music and do our best to relax and enjoy.
Busting Moves & Hiding Out
Dance parties in the kitchen and tent building in the living room made up a lot of this week. I had to prep D, my 15 year old that spontaneous dance parties would happen in hopes of heading off the inevitable teenager attitude. He does great once he gets the chance to voice his "concerns" =) Of course once it all gets going no one can resist.
We also created a giant road for cars to drive around the WHOLE living room with a helicopter pad, parking lot and lego city. I used masking tape to mark it all out.
Quarantine Activity Round-up:
- If your neighborhood is doing anything collectively - take part! If not, start your own community activity (keeping distance of course) My neighborhood communicates via Facebook and good old fashioned phone calls. Here are some community ideas:
- Like us, plan to flash your porch lights hello to each other at the same time every Friday evening
- Put teddy bears in your windows for the kids to walk the neighborhood and have a bear hunt
- Put construction paper hearts in your windows to share the love with each other
- Make signs to put in your yard with messages to your neighbors
- Choose a night each week to have your own living room picnic. You can be super simple and just throw out a blanket or you can make it fancy by dressing up (think formal wear even!), candles and music.
- Plan to have a "spontaneous" dance party. Decide when is a good time in your day for everyone to just crank up one good dance song and bust out the moves. Even the teenager can't resist after a while.
- Build tents - everywhere and anywhere with everything and anything. I usually let my little guy have lunch or a snack inside and give him a flashlight to play with.
Until next week.. stay safe!