Last updated on August 20th, 2020 at 04:02 am
So, here we find ourselves, readers: all of a sudden, we’re elementary school, junior high, or high school teachers!
Who else here is needing this in their world like they need a hole in the head??? Are ya with me, Mom’s and Dad’s?
Ah, pandemic – you’re just the gift that keeps on givin’ and givin’….. 😑 😑 😑
I think this will help A LOT of you out there and motivate some of you to zero-in-on how to survive this wild and crazy time with grace, fortitude, and wit!
Well, the GOOD news is: at least you know you aren’t alone in this dilemma! The whole “we’re in this together” has actually never felt more accurate, amiright? 🤪
For years now, many of you know I have been extremely passionate about essential oils and how much they have helped me in many aspects of my life. In the essential oil world, one will discover that homeschooling is extremely common. Many, many of my oily virtual friends and fellow Wellness Advocates are experienced and accomplished homeschooling Mom’s. A lot of them have many more children than my one. Like, some have 6 + kids, y’all!!!! I swear these women somehow secretly have more hours in their day than I do. THEY MUST. 🤷🏼♀️
I mention this because I have found this online group of fantastic women are really making an effort to reach out to the rest of us with only 24 hours in our days ( 😂 ). Seriously, though: they are giving up all their homeschooling + sanity secrets and sharing with us traditional folks who’s kids attend school – and I for one am extremely grateful!
Not only that, I myself have learned some very valuable tips and tricks from last spring’s experience – along with my obsession with being hyper-organized, I think this post will really provide all you lovelies out there with a real action plan for this upcoming distance learning experience!
Let’s Do This! ⇓
Below is some sage advice regarding how to make your lives as sane as possible during this distance learning adventure! Make sure to remember, amongst all this advice, to be kind to yourself, forgive yourself, and remember you control your own thoughts and not the other way around. Here we go!
📝 Family Meeting Time:
Before school starts, sit down with your entire family, write out a list of everything that needs to be accomplished each day of the week, and make sure to work these items in with the schedule your school has provided for you. That way, you aren’t trying to grocery shop while you are supposed to be on Zoom with your kiddos teacher! 😋
Openly communicate with both your kid(s) and your partner(s) to give them a realistic idea of what each day will look like. Again, write it all down for each day. For example, Monday starts with 8 am Zoom with teacher, then Zoom again at 11:15 am until 12:30 pm, then the rest of that day is working on whatever is assigned. In between the Zoom sessions, give each person who will be home a task. Such as hubby does morning dishes, you meal plan and prep for the week, and your kiddo(s) gets outside time to play and have a break. Then, after Zoom sessions are complete that day, assign different tasks to each family member. This will help keep everyone on task, and there can be zero excuses as to why something wasn’t accomplished! I ordered this item for my family, so each person’s task on each day is always in the line-of-sight!
Side Note, Mom’s: this is your chance to truly delegate! Make sure you are assigning tasks to your partner AND all kids! No excuses! 💡
Doing this will also provide your kids with a routine and a rhythm – important in these scary times for our little ones and older ones alike!
👼 Practice Makes Perfect – Adopt The New Routine:
Take a week, or even a few days before, to adopt your new schedule and routine. This will make your kiddo(s) more angelic because they will have already practiced what each day will be like. You won’t be stressed with getting them to get out of bed, eat breakfast, and be ready to Zoom by 8 am! Trust me, all the whining will be worth it because once day one of school arrives, you’ll ALL feel way more organized, less stressed, and READY.
🍽 Meal Plan and Prep – TRUST ME, just DO IT:
I know, I know! You’re over it! You’re sick and tired of hearing about every blogger and vlogger telling you to meal plan! But have you ever thought about WHY we’re all screaming this to y’all?
It’s simple: IT WORKS. It MAKES YOUR LIFE WAYYYYY EASIER.
I think the hardest part of meal planning is, honestly, just actually starting it and committing to it! Once you experience a week or two of meal planning, you will be amazed at the extra hours in your day! And get yourself an Instant Pot or Slow Cooker if you don’t have one! Game changers!!!!
I think what a lot of people do is overthink it and plan too many different meals each week (guilty, here! 🙋🏼♀️ ) – just have everyone at the family meeting ⇑ write down their 2-3 favorite meals and rinse-and-repeat, friends! This way, you’ll get yourselves into a regular grocery shopping list and you won’t have a bunch of food go to waste or go bad! It also really helps in regard to when you need to have Alexa add things to your shopping list and you’ll always know what you’re running low on or in need of! I’m still getting the hang of this phase, but I’m already finding it to be such a huge sanity-saver!
I think you’ll find that meal planning is the biggest game-changer in your new routine! 🙌
BUT: if you really just cannot commit to Meal Planning, here’s a tip I do when time has gotten away from me: take 5 minutes to take stock of what’s in your fridge, write down what you have a lot of or foodstuffs that might go off soon, and keep that list on your fridge. Then, go to Pinterest to find recipes that you think the family would like (and will be easy!) that incorporate those items that need to be used up! Wallah!
🦸 Create A Rewards System:
Last spring our family learned A LOT about what TO do, and what NOT to do in regards to homeschooling our son, Lochlan. It was stressful, painful, and exhausting: I’m not gonna lie!
But remember, friends: sometimes we gotta go through the really tough things in order to come out a lot more enlightened and wise! And now we feel we know our son a whole lot better. We know that he desperately needs routine and a regular schedule, and one huge thing we learned about him is that he thrives off of a reward system! I had no idea! 🤷🏼♀️
Lochlan is the kind of kid who really blossomed in a classroom environment, and I think when kids see other kids making the right decisions, it influences them to do the same!
So, given that mindset, I decided that even though he doesn’t have those other kids to witness positive behavior from, I could try to create as positive an environment as possible here at home!
I’ve been absolutely thrilled with this rewards system and chores product, but there are so many out there! For us, this one has been a winner! Lochlan used to drag each assignment out, and voices would usually escalate and tempers flare! Honestly, friends: I wondered how I’d survive it each day and my entire quality of life was really being negatively affected – as it was for Lochlan, too!
So I cannot recommend enough incorporating some type of rewards system into your homeschooling regime!
🌿 Get Outside:
It’s going to become very easy to forget this one! Why? Because here’s the thing: there will never be enough hours in any of our days to get everything done, and we humans usually try our hardest to pack as much in as possible, often forgetting the healing power of nature!
So, make sure you and your at-home family members (especially the kids!) are getting at least 30 minutes each day outside. Make sure to schedule time for a recess, lunch time, and an afternoon break. Set your phone timer, set a reminder that Alexa can announce, or whatever system will make sure you don’t forget to take these outdoor breaks!
Most importantly, getting outside for everyone is going to be HUGE for your mental stability! I’d even take it a step further and say that when you have your family meeting ⇑ and you are assigning tasks to everyone, make an evening stroll with the family (OR perhaps just alone for yourself to have some much-needed “A-Time!!!”) one of the tasks each day! When it’s written into the schedule, you’re much more likely to see it through and do it.
Just make it happen, you guys. I totally know it isn’t going to be easy – but I also know that with the pandemic AND so many of us adjusting to homeschooling, working at a job or at home, or some variation of these three things – our new “normal” is absolutely going to require us to practice as much self-care discipline as possible!
I say this to myself, too, readers! I definitely don’t have this perfected – but I’m super convinced that there truly is nothing as mind-shifting as just getting yourself outside on a stroll, drive, or bike ride in nature. It makes everything seem less daunting, and in these times, we need as much of that help as possible.
✊ Demand Support And Gift Yourself A Community:
Sometimes we ladies aren’t really, ummmm (dare I say!) successful at this concept! We take on everything and I don’t know about you, but I’d be lying if I said I don’t harbor the ole’ “no one can do it as well as I can” mindset….
While the above mindset may be true (haha) – it’s still super important with our current situation to get out of that habit and start delegating more! At the same time, I’m really trying to remind myself that no other family member is going to make the bed as neatly as I am, or put the dishes away in the correct places – but that is OKAY. I repeat: IT’S OKAY. Yes, I kinda need to constantly remind myself of this, too! 🤪
I’ve made a point in reaching out to those in my new rural community and thus far it’s been absolutely 110% worth it! We’ve arranged outdoor play for our kiddos that are of similar age, and having one another to talk to as we walk outdoors following our kids on their bikes has been better than therapy!
We’re truly in this together – and there is nothing as worthwhile and substantial as my fellow woman to remind me of this!
Check social media to see if there is a Facebook group of Mom’s in your area in regards to homeschooling, and if not – heck, start one! Taking that initiative will also provide you with a positive mental outlook, because there’s really nothing as satisfying as knowing you are helping others….
My point? Just make sure you aren’t doing this alone! And if there’s a Dad out there reading this – I mean that for you, too! We need each other to talk to, vent to, complain to, and to support. My sister said something really insightful to me the other day that I’d like to remind you dear readers of: we are in a time where we are LIVING IN HISTORY. Pretty deep, riiiiight? (thanks, Piper…..you are always my number ONE support person!)
This current season in our lives is truly living history in the making – that’s a big deal you guys! So don’t try to pretend we aren’t all super overwhelmed, mentally exhausted, and under duress! Because the fact is we ARE.
So, make the effort to get yourself support in some fashion. Whatever it is, I think you’ll find it to be a really useful and critical sanity-savior in this distance learning adventure….
🤸🏼♂️ Remember What’s Important:
Lastly, friends: give yourself grace, allow yourself to mess up or not complete everything you wanted done, and don’t be hard on yourself about it. The key for me is to prioritize: set up anchors in your day that HAVE to happen. For my son and I, that looks like this:
ANCHOR 1: eat breakfast and take vitamins
Zoom/check-in with teacher, home-school, do house chores, work on blog and study Food Blogger Pro courses, tend garden, etc
ANCHOR 2: eat lunch, make sure Lochlan and I get outside time/play-time
Back to home-schooling, meal prep, work on recipes for blog, more home-schooling, Lochlan to complete chore reward chart, and even more homes-schooling, work on completing whatever didn’t get done after Anchor 1! Because that will happen, friends! 😋
ANCHOR 3: eat dinner, cuddle, go for evening stroll (or anything that feels like a gift to myself!), couch time/Netflix & chill time
Notice anything significant about these “anchors?” They aren’t me freaking out over the math that didn’t get done, or losing my patience (okay – that still happens sometimes…), or frantically worrying about things that I.CAN’T.CONTROL.
The “anchors” are things I can control, which in my mind are the super important things to provide for my child: sustenance, mental wellness, my time, allowing him the art of play, time together, and then time for him in the evening to have some “Lochlan time.” Because he needs to have some A-Time, too! We all need it in this time; to be on our own and “gift” ourselves with something we enjoy each day.
Last spring, both my husband and I probably put too much pressure on the whole chaos of trying to get it all done – and I regret that. This time around, I’m going to remember to stick to my “anchors” and also remember what’s important.
I also plan on remembering the fact that I control my thoughts, they don’t control me!
This way, patience will be more achievable, and my son will gain confidence and learn that even though he isn’t at school with his friends – even this home-schooling thing can be fun. Errrr, fun-ISH.
Breaks are important, too. Last spring, we spent too many hours nagging him to “finish!” My approach will be entirely different this time – rewards systems, making it fun, and allowing more hours in his day to play.
Because here’s the thing: our kids are under ENOUGH STRESS as it is! Can you imagine how scary this pandemic must be to our littles, who must be loaded with questions, feeling a complete lack of control, and worried about people dying around them! So, Lochlan will get more play time than he had in a traditional school program. At home-school, he doesn’t get recess to play tag with his friends, or lunch time to giggle, talk about Mine-craft, or run on a playground until he’s out of breath!
So while yes, he will be expected to focus, work his hardest to complete all his assignments, and be taught how critically important an education is (and, how lucky he is to have the system he does have!) – he will also be allowed to be a kid, play, jump, pretend, imagine, and laugh.
And is there really anything more important than that?
So there it is, my dearest readers: my plan to stay sane with distance learning. It’s a lot, but I think when you put it all together, it’s critically important for each and every one of us to practice and commit to.
Because our kiddos need us to be as sane as possible in an insane world, and provide routine and regularity in a world that is constantly turning our very existences upside down.
I hope this helps someone out there feeling stressed, scared, intimidated, overwhelmed, or all of those things! Try out these important lessons and remember, I’m always learning them right beside you! I don’t have anything perfected, and it is always the practice, practice, practice that – while it may not in actuality make perfection – means you are at least doing good enough….
Always Here,
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