For many of us parents, we got used to the luxury of going to work after seeing the kids off to school. Little did we know, COVID-19 would change how we work and how kids learn for the immediate and indefinite future. So, how are we going to get through this shift in work-life balance? We create a new one with new ways of doing it all!
Tips for Making It Work at Home
- Create a schedule for yourself—You may not be at work, but you’re working, so create some order.
- The kids need a schedule, too—I’m going to focus on elementary kids because my children are in the first and fifth grades.
- Make a non-work-related phone call during the day—Call a friend to get your mind off being at home all the time.
- Add fun exercises to the mix—Kids get to expend some energy and move those limbs for good health.
- Scavenger Hunts—These are fun and can be education-related or just for kicks and giggles.
- Is Grammy, Grandma, Granddad, or Grandpa retired—I’m sure they miss the grandkids.
How do you make all these steps a reality? It’s going to take some planning, but once you do it, modifying it is easy.
Create a Schedule
As much as possible, re-create your typical workday as if you were in the office. Start with when you’ll begin working each day. Then determine when you will take your first break and lunch. After that, decide on your next break and when you will stop working each day. Now, this will be a guide, but essential to working with kids at home. Easy, right? No. Now insert kids walking in asking questions, giving hugs, asking what’s for lunch, etc. Don’t worry if your schedule gets thrown off. Just adjust and re-prioritize as needed.
Write out a schedule for the kids and walk them through it, so they know the flow. With most school systems having online learning, the schedule may even be provided by their teacher! Either way, it helps everyone gauge how they progress through each day.
Have Some Fun!
Call a friend if it can help you get through the rest of the day! The conversation will be a great stress reliever for both of you.
Kids can come up with all kinds of silly and fun dances. Turn on some music and have them mix jumping jacks, push-ups, sit-ups, and burpees in with their dances! They’ll be exercising while having fun. That should keep them occupied for 30 minutes or so.
When I plan for a scavenger hunt, I hide the items the night before, so I don’t have to think about it in the morning. You decide, but I’ve hidden crayons, books, toys, candy/snacks, and fun notes! Be creative and know that the next day, your kids will have some fun with this activity, too!
Enlist the Grandparents
Open video chats or have them call the grandparents to talk or ask some of their schoolwork questions. At the very least, they will maintain that important connection with their grandparents while we all must maintain our distance and hunker down in our own homes.
Tanisha Adams is a senior product manager; she is responsible for using customer and market knowledge to create actionable roadmaps and requirements for the best Database Performance Monitoring and DataOps tools in the market. Her experience includes product management at AvidXchange and Lowes. In her free time, she loves spending time with her family, travelling, baking, and reading.
