What to do when school closes…

The Corona virus Pandemic is certainly causing lots of uncertainty in many households, including mine. My business is virtually dried up, and today my daughter’s school announced it’s closure with large staff shortages. So my immediate response is panic!

However, I always like to see the positive in any situation and come up with some solutions or alternatives. The past ten years of running my own business has certainly challenged me with many obstacles, so it’s how we approach these testing times that will help us all through.

I know that if my children are off for the next few weeks, I will be winging it and thinking on my feet to help keep us all sane. As parents, we all survive the six week summer holidays, so we need to think of it as bonus to the easter holiday and eat more chocolate eggs (and drink more wine!) The difference being is that if we’re self isolating then we can’t do day trips, holidays etc. So I thought I’d write a little blog of ideas that are maybe useful to you as parents if you find that you have at least two weeks in your home with your children.

Have a plan or routine.

Most children love a routine, so if you can make some simple plans for each day, it will help the days ahead to not feel as long.

I know that my daughter’s school and son’s school have both got on-line work planned for when (and if) they shut, therefore my children will be spending a block of their day doing school work. There are also lots of on-line learning platforms that you can access, that make learning fun and less onerous. With a teenager and pre-teen they function better mid-morning, so I will get them up and maybe allow them to have a leisurely breakfast, then get on with school work. I will ‘block’ activities to break up the day e.g

1. Breakfast
2. School Work
3. Snack & TV
4. Exercise (indoor or outdoors)
5. Lunch
6. Reading
7. Movie
8. Baking

Have a list of activities.

Get your children together and have a chat about some of the things that they think they could do whilst off, as I know my children will not be allowed to just stare at their phone/tablet etc for weeks on end! Get them to think of fun ideas you can do together, such as:-

• baking
• cleaning the car
• painting the fence/wall with water
• craft/painting
• read a book
• play a board game
• nature spotting
• photography of wildlife/plants/each other
• chalk paint the patio
• pamper day with face masks/baths/make over
• decorate a t-shirt/cap
• learn to juggle
• learn to play chess
• have a cook-off
• Learn to plait hair
• practise any musical instruments/have a jamming session
• and then use the list to plan blocks into your day.

Get some exercise.

My children are very active and usually do swimming, yoga, hockey and rugby, however nearly all of those activities are cancelled so I will try and factor in some exercise per day, such as on-line yoga, doing rugby skills in the garden, going for a walk by the canal, going for a bike ride etc. Getting outdoors will be extremely important to all of our mental health during this time, so think of fun ideas, have a rummage in your garage and dig out the bats and balls, skipping ropes etc.

Limit Screen Time

There’s no escaping that technology and screens are a huge part of all our lives, especially teens and pre-teens, so I know that screen time is going to be a saving grace for parents when having to self-isolate, but it’s healthy to set boundaries for time limits, as I know my son goes into a time-warp when on his Switch. I will be allowing them on their screens each day (which I don’t usually do) but it will be for limited times. I will tell them the rules and then hopefully we can all reach a happy medium. If they participate in planning other activities, then hopefully they will look forward to doing the other things as a balanced day.

Have Fun

I know that children can often worry, especially with all of the media coverage around the Corona Virus, however if we try to be informed, stay healthy, follow guidelines, and take it day as it comes, then hopefully we can try to have fun and stay physically and mentally healthy.

I think if we all have a giggle and see the lighter side of the whole situation, then hopefully our children will learn resilience, kindness, resourcefulness and humanity.

Please comment with any ideas or links that I can add to the blog that might be of use to other parents.

Stay healthy, calm and kind,

Amanda x