The kids being home doesn’t affect me since we homeschool. I am used to them being home so our routines aren’t going to change much, and I guess we are lucky with that because it isn’t such a disturbance to our daily life.
I know a lot of people are scared they may go stir crazy and aren’t sure what they are going to do, let alone what their kids are going to do so I have compiled a list of things that may help to lessen the crazy for both young and old.
1. Invent a recipe to use up the older stock of food that you have in your fridge or pantry. And if you aren’t good at coming up with cooking ideas based on ingredients you can cheat and plug what you have into this website and they will give you some recipes to make.
Photo by Brooke Lark
2. Make an indoor garden for spring. It’s fun for adults as well as kids. We have used these kits before and they are great. And this works amazing. They grow so fast you need to keep coming up with recipes to use up the herbs.
3. Rearrange your bookshelves. Sometimes all it takes is a little bit of change to inspire you to pick up an old book you’ve read before and reread it.
4. Since you will probably be avoiding gyms, or they will close temporarily you will need options to keep moving. Come up with a new workout routine using apps, and online videos. I use Fitness Blender, Yoga with Adrienne, and Popsugar workouts. All are free.
5. And since you’ll be inspired to getting your body moving then how about making a new Spotify Playlist to go along with it? This is mine, and it has over 22 hours of music on it. The name is derived from my kids favourite Spongebob episode 🙂
6. Take courses or classes online with Masterclass, Coursera, and/or The Great Courses. And while The Black Death is my favourite lecture on The Great Courses, I will advise you to stay away from it for now. Come back to it in the future because it’s great 🙂 and while we are avoiding things you should also save The Doomsday book for another day. I recommend reading it though because it was fantastic.
7. Are you crafty? Mod Podge a piece of furniture with vintage magazines or even as a statement wall in your house. I love the look. You can find high-resolution vintage pictures online like here.
8. And while you are searching for vintage domain photos you can print some off and make an awesome gallery wall for your house using different fun and interesting ways to hang them.
You can use wooden clips with twine, washi tape, hanging displays, and even pant hangers to hang artwork on the wall. I love these pictures from The Biodiversity Heritage Library.
9. Make at home bowling, car track, toy villages, forts from recyclables. If your kids are anything like mine then they love to dig in the recycling for craft supplies. This is another good use.
10. Get an adult colouring book to bring some zen to your life. While you are at it get some quality pencil crayons because dude, they are a gamechanger. I bought these coloured pencils for my youngest because she wanted a nice set, and her colouring and drawing has improved significantly since then. This book and this book are funny if you don’t mind profanity.
11. Watch zoo cams to bring a little nature into the house, and to make you smile. The San Diego Zoo has a variety of animal cams, so while the zoo may be closed the animals are still there. And of course there is iPanda which is 24/7.
12. If you are scared your kid’s brains may atrophy over the next 3 weeks (or that they may just drive you batty) here is an alphabetical list of websites that are offering free subscriptions to kids while the schools are closed.
13. Take that to-do list that we all have sitting around and start to smash out the things you have been putting off. It will make you feel accomplished and save you some stress for when everything gets back to normal because it will get back to a sense of normalcy again.
14. Go through your clothes and mend anything that needs mending. If you can sew, then alter things that you don’t wear because they don’t fit exactly right. If you are artsy then upcycle some pieces with embroidery, patches, or pieces of lace and fabric that you make have kicking around.
15. Borrow ebooks from the library. Super easy. Grab your eReader, reading glasses, a cup of tea, and a blanket and read a book or 12. Here is how to download a bunch of classic books that recently moved into the public domain.
Photo by Aliis Sinisalu
16. Binge something that you think you would hate. You may be pleasantly surprised.
17. Clean. It will give you a sense of control in a situation. It will make you feel like you are accomplishing something (which you are). Get a head start on spring cleaning to feel invigorated. I found this book highly motivating and the app is great as well.
18. Learn a new makeup technique or hairstyle via youtube. They have the best hair and makeup tutorials. This one is perfect for summer….or Halloween 😉
19. Learn to meditate. It is good for both your physical and mental health. There are a lot of meditation apps, so try out a few to see which one works for you.
20. Give your home a mini-makeover to refresh the space. Change pillowcases, pull out some blankets, move around pictures, swap things in between rooms. Change the whole room around.
I plan on moving the living room around to allow for more light. Now that the days are getting longer and sunnier it would be nice to allow some of that brightness into the place.
I hope this gives you some ideas for a few weeks of staying in. If you have any other good ideas then leave me some in the comments.
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This is a great post, Sara, truly. For my part, and per the gentle nudging on my husband’s part, I got back to making art last fall. As of October, I’ve made a total of 33 paintings, collages, and mixed media pieces. I’m currently working on the 34th piece. When I run out of canvases I will go back to working in my art journals. Otherwise, cleaning and organizing/reorganizing are always cathartic for me.
Thank you for sharing your always original thoughts and insights. Cheers, Ardith
Good for you! I used to draw but I lost my passion for it many years ago. I do it every so often when the girls want me to draw something for them but I just don’t feel any inspiration. I’m glad you have a creative outlet. That must be like a form of meditation for you. Art really can be like therapy for the soul. I hope that you have a less stressful, brighter week.
Sara
Thank you for sharing some wonderful strategies for dealing with a difficult time. We are retired, and usually busy, but always on the lookout for ways to expand our lives. I’ve always loved to read, but find little time for it. Thanks for reminding me that I can go anywhere and never leave my home.
Angela
I’m glad you enjoyed it 😁 I love reading, and while I have a lot of books in my home I have way more loaded onto my iPad. It’s nice to have that many options at my fingertips any time I want to pick up a book. I’m on the wait list for about 10 eBooks at the library and I’m not sure what I’ll do if they all become available at once 😂 I was a little overzealous with the hold option.
Sara