Its been announced, and I hate that I saw it coming. Another lockdown is here until mid February and this one has rocked a lot of us hard!
My thoughts for all of us as we now face another anxious time, is keep simple, lower your expectations, one day at a time.
Breathe!
If you’re a parent, like me, timers will become your best friend in the coming days. Use them like fairy dust. Need a break? Set a timer for free play. Need some quiet? Set a timer for quiet reading time. Nothing massive, stick to 15 to 30 minutes at a time dependent on your child.
My best advice – don’t be their teacher, be their parent! You can teach them an awful lot by just being YOU.
You’ll need a lot of kindness towards yourself, and your kids. Chances are they are having feelings as big as yours right now. Show them its OK to feel it, how to process it and how to manage it (PHSE/Social/Life Skills).
Read funny stories with them, share pages, words, sentences or just make one up with the pictures (guided reading/imagination/creativity/language).
Play music loud and have a dance off! (PE/Music/social skills).
Count ingredients for cakes or potatoes for dinner (maths/food tech). If they are old enough, get them peeling veg, cutting apples, making sandwiches. Seeing a child master a new skill for themselves is pretty bloody amazing (confidence/self belief/self awareness/dexterity/motor skills/life skills).
Talk about why they think a cake rises or where the ingredients come from and then Google it with them (Science/inquisitiveness/curiosity/research).
Draw pictures in flour on the table (Art).
Make chalk paints with corn flour and food dye (Science and Art).
Collect leaves on a daily walk (Science, Forest School, PE)
Whatever you do, do it as their parent. If the school sends work home to do, set that timer and explain how long they’ve got to do what they can.
Set some play time where they get to just ‘be’ and use their imaginations, use that timer then too!
Make a heap of snacks and practice saying YES to your children. They need it and quite frankly you need it too!
If its a hard day, put the telly on and grab a cuppa. Its not a bad day, its a coping day and you are showing them how to read, respond and nurture their own mental health.
Breathe!
And if its really tough, delete your social media apps. Its likely you’re comparing and condemning yourself for not being the latest blogging, vlogging, sour dough starter, banana bread baking qween on Instagram! You don’t need that negativity in your life! Hit uninstall or set a restrictor on them. It helps!
Drink plenty of water.
Book a video chat with a friend. Theirs if you can but more importantly one of yours!
Breathe!
Do not try and do it all in a day, every day! One day at a time. Read the room. Assess everyone’s capabilities and go with it! If a run around outside is needed more than mathematics- go outside and bloody run! If telly time and blankets is needed more – wrap yourselves up and cuddle lots.
You can do this.
We all can! Together ❤ as best we can xx
