That time when nothing went to plan...
As you would expect I have a structure during these utterly bizarre times, it’s not highly rigid and it’s not a multi coloured monstrosity split into subject areas, it’s quite simple and looks like this:
Wake up until 9am - morning free time, breakfast, teeth and make beds, get dressed
9-10am Fresh Air & Exercise
10-11am Activity Hour
11am-11.30am Reading
11.30am-12pm Creative
12pm-1pm Lunch and break
1pm-2pm Board games
2pm-3pm Activity Hour
3pm-4pm Chores
4pm onwards Free Time!
Bedtime at usual time BUT you can ‘win’ an extra half an hour if there is no arguing, fighting, crying or saying ‘no’!
The structure is really key for the kids, they like knowing when things will happen and having definable times means they’re not constantly asking when stuff will end.
However, you’ll notice that the time that all self-led (leave mummy in peace to work) is limited to (in theory) activity hours, reading, creative and possibly chores if I want the windows cleaned with furniture polish).
The reality proved to be very very different. My youngest is 7 and most activities need to be led by me, he also can’t yet read alone. My eldest is 11 so I still need to mark her practice SATs papers or check her work. I’ve found some clever ways to squeeze work in:
I did a 30 minute ‘lesson’ on food groups with them then upended (the unnecessarily) massive box of plastic play food on the floor and told them to sort it into food groups (quite amusing when they got to conkers that my youngest used to insist were meatballs!);
I’ve used YouTube videos on things like the amazon rainforest and told them to learn facts they have to repeat back to me;
And I’ve set tasks that I can half keep an eye on whilst writing emails if they’re sat at the table next to me- like filling in a map of Anglo Saxon England after we read about their invasions.
My other half asked me how long I usually worked before all this, roughly calculated it’s about 9.5 hours a day if I only worked Monday-Friday (which I don’t) so you can see how only having these short bursts of time whilst in lockdown might be causing me some anxiety!
And they are. If I try to start something big, that needs focus I’ll invariably get interrupted and lose my thread; my list is out the window due to my sheer inability to tick everything off daily; my stress levels do go up and down like a yo-yo. But. I’m making it work, we’re all making it work.
Business isn’t at pre-lockdown levels but I still have a lot on. I use the time I do have, I use the evenings, I use the weekends because the children have someone else to look after them (plus there’s no structure and Xbox tends to be a lifesaver!), the lovely weather has helped (as I write this it’s actually raining today but it’s not forecast to last) because they can get out... my point is that this is a weird time for everyone.
You can be organised like me and still throw the plan out the window at times, the trick is to have structure without military precision I think- keep it loose, keep it fun, keep yourself open for your kids because they’re struggling too. I should possibly finish with something twee like ‘we’re all in this together’ but I can’t, it’s not me.
So I’ll just say:
This too shall pass, so suck it up and get on with it 😜