What do you do when your plans get totally flipped?
When life throws you a curveball and you find yourself perhaps homebound with a house full of little people you brought into this world?
You make the best of it! Let your children make the plans.
I asked my 10-year-old daughter if she were going to plan a few days of indoor activities, what would our day look like?
Here is her list and I have to say, it looks like our time at home will be totally awesome, (her words).
*Crafts:
Make cards for people who are sick
Paint rocks. This is a great way to get outdoors a little while!
Make jewelry (pipe cleaners and beads are great for this)
Make a peanut butter birdfeeder
*Go outside:
Gather rocks to paint
Make a bug collection
Observe the changing of the trees and plants
If its warm, water balloon and shaving cream fights
Plant flowers and get the yard Spring-ready
*Quiet time:
Make a tent and have mom read
Read to my little sister
Read to self
Journal feelings, because she is aware history is in the making and one day her kids will learn about this event in history class. If she has her journal to share with them, it would be so impactful!
In the Kitchen:
Make cupcakes and decorate all by herself
Plan and prepare dinner
*Virtual Field Trips!
The Louvre, Smithsonian, Nasa are just a few places you can visit, along with many terrific museums right here in OKC
*Declutter:
Use this time to declutter rooms, clothes, toys, dishes, etc.
Spend time putting those photographs in boxes, into photo albums. Kids can learn about family members who have changed drastically in looks, or passed on. They can see how funny Mom’s hair was in high school, or how adorable they were as little babies. Share the memories of what was happening when the photo was taken.
*Academic:
Not necessarily her words, but let’s face it, they need to keep their brains going strong. There are many online resources to make academic work more fun while staying home.
*Family games
*And of course, at least one lazy day.
A day of staying in our pj’s, watching Disney movies, eating popcorn and lots of cuddles.
Times are hard, but life doesn’t have to be. Hopefully, some of your children’s best memories will come from the time we spent together as a family.
Instead of “have to” we can change our focus to “get to!”
Hang in there mamas! We are in this together and here for each other through it all.
