My most recent article has been published on Positively Balanced Women’s Health Platform and it would be an honor if you’d take a look.
Thank you all for continuing to read my work. I appreciate it greatly.
Utilizing Montessori at Home
Tag: virus
New Article on Positively Balanced!!
Hello all!! My newest article has been published on Positively Balanced, check it out!
Its a bit different, but I worked hard on it and I am proud of how it turned out.
Experiment Living like a Studio Ghibli Character
Tips
I want to give everyone a few tidbits that I have found to be very helpful to me during this time. Full disclosure, my anxiety has been worse lately, I am aware of it. This is not going to be a magic cure. These are tips that help me.
Get Dressed Everyday
I cannot tell you how many people are shocked that I’ve been putting actual clothes on. We have one day a week that is Pajama Day, where we don’t do anything, we lay around, watch TV, play video games, etc. But when I say its PJ day I hear, isn’t that every day? No. It’s not. Because changing your clothes every day keeps you more fresh, more in the mood to do something. Putting on that cute outfit, even if no one else sees it, boosts your mentality and spirits. Get dressed.
Make a Schedule
This might seem pointless with nowhere to go and nothing to do, but it isn’t. It can keep you from sitting in one spot for 18 hours. But what do you put on a schedule when there are no plans? Schedule in time for cleaning, time outside, time for learning, time for movement, time for baking, etc. Make yourself a schedule and keep to it.
Schedule In Your Showers or Baths
When you are home all the time everyday, the time all melts together and a day becomes a week. You don’t realize how long it’s been since you bathed. You think, “oh that was just yesterday”, but in reality, it was 5 days ago. Keeping clean helps lift your spirits and your mind rejuvenated, so don’t forget it.
Make an Allotted Time to be Away from Social Media
Before this happened already doctors were encouraging people to set down their phones and take a break. Now, with every form of information about the virus and everyone talking about it flooding our phones, it’s even easier to become overwhelmed. Social media in particular seems to amplify my anxiety when its flared up. So I need to take a break. Right now, that’s hard, even more so than normal. It’s become a habit to just sit down when I’m bored and scroll through my newsfeeds. Usually, I’d go do something to keep occupied, but now, there’s nothing to do. What do you do with the empty space? I’ll play a game, read a book, I’ve also started drawing. For myself, I’ve chosen to take one 24 hour period every week and stay off of all social media. I also suggest turning your phone off or on Do Not Disturb at night. Mine goes to DND from 8pm to 8am every day.
Go Outside For at Least 30 minutes Every Day, and Open Your Windows
Fresh air and sunlight is absolutely vital to human wellbeing. Physically and mentally. The vitamin D boosts our immune system, and the air boosts our minds. Being outside also forces you off the couch. Do whatever you want outside. Stare at the birds making a nest in that tree. Draw a picture. Do a craft. Drink your morning cup of coffee. Whatever. Go outside!
Schedule a Time For Movement
YouTube is loaded with workout videos, dancing tutorials, yoga routines. Whatever gets you up and about. Crank up your favorite tunes and dance your heart out. It doesn’t matter really, just get to moving. Get that blood flowing. Jump, twirl, twist until your cheeks are flushed. Move. Move. Move.
Get a Plant
Not only will this give you something to do and take care of while you are stuck at home, but plants are good to have in your home. Simply the visual of seeing a plant boosts your mental state. The scent of a flower boosts your spirit. Plants also release oxygen and clean the air in your home, giving you a healthier environment to inhabit.
These are just a few of the things I have been doing to help bolster my mental health. I understand it is a hard time right now for everyone, and we need to be reaching out a helping hand to lift up our friends.
Beading with Children
Beading seems overly simple. Just string a round piece of plastic/wood/clay with a hole in the middle onto a string. Easy right? It is, but it is also wildly educational. How is something so simple teaching anything? Well, most of what it teaches is developmental.
Beading aides in developing hand eye coordination, bilateral coordination (using both hands to do different tasks at the same time) and dexterity. They have to focus and carefully place the bead on the string. If they start having trouble, it can become a learning opportunity on patience and perseverance. Beading also gives them a sense of accomplishment at creating something themselves, which fuels imagination. In connection with that it can strengthen their planning and execution skills. Letting them lay out and design a pattern they like and then putting that plan to action to make something.
But beading can also be used in a more traditional teaching sense. Having the child count their beads can teach them numbers and counting in order. It could be used to teach pattern recognition and sequences. You could use beads to teach colors.
There are so many possibilities with beading. Get creative with it. Let them get creative with it.
Use beading as a way to be a light in someone’s life. Make several bracelets to give to friends, grandparents, the kind old lady in the grocery store who always says hi to you.
Beads and string are fairly inexpensive, but the activities they can create and lessons they can teach are immeasurable.
Coming Up
Coming up, you may notice an increase in crafting or recipe posts, probably some humor in my flubs in both areas. I’m doing this because it is what we are doing more, but also because I’m sure people are going to need lots of ideas.
We are navigating uncharted territory. I doubt there are many 102 year olds around that have seen a pandemic this extreme and could tell us what to do. We do have records however of plagues and pandemics from history and one of the things they tell us, keep your distance.
But self isolating, staying home and quarantining sucks. And I don’t mean that simply in a, “aw man do I hate this”, kind of it sucks, I mean it is unnatural for us and we grate against it. Isolation makes depression easier to take hold, it brings us down, it puts our minds on edge. We aren’t meant to be removed from other humans for a long period of time.
Humans are also not meant to be inside for long periods of time. We need contact with nature or we go insane. I don’t have the scientific intelligence to properly explain why, but I do know that the human mind needs to be around plant life. Even fake ones are helpful. Plants are calming to our minds. Being outdoors is invigorating and refreshing to us, and is necessary for our health.
During this time when most of us are under some kind of stay at home order, we have to find different tools to keep us healthy. Most of the orders right now allow you to go out to walk your dog or excersize. Take a walk. Walk your dog. Walk to the grocery store next time.
But even if you do not wish to walk or jog, get yourself outside somehow. I went to get some gardening supplies and the worker there told me he had seen more than the usual customers lately. A lot of people had told him, if they were going to be stuck at home, they might as well do something productive in their yards. It made me smile. I am glad people are taking to the outdoors to beat their blues. The butterflies are going to love this spring with all the extra flowers bored people are planting.
But let’s say you don’t have a yard to plant in or take your kids to play in. You live in an apartment with nothing but a small balcony. That’s ok! Go sit on it! Get some pots and flowers and plant them. Buy a bird feeder and hang it from your balcony. Sketch pictures sitting outside. Drink your morning cup of coffee on the balcony.
Many people are taking to video calling to get their human interaction while in isolation. It’s a good idea. But add onto it, the outdoors. So call your grandma from the patio instead of the couch.
Open up your windows every day the weather will allow it. Let that sunshine and fresh air into your home!
For the length of these Stay At Home orders, I challenge you to find some way to get outside every single day. However that looks for you. I will be happy to provide many ideas of what you can do, especially with kids, but it’s up to you to step out the door.
Activities to do in the House
With many of the schools closing, businesses closing, many families are concerned how they will fill the time without going insane.
I went over the the Dollar Tree and found several great activities, and being the Dollar Tree, it was inexpensive. They have a surprisingly large variety of crafts and toys. I got a few craft kits, some sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and a little golf set. Just to have on hand as this virus escalates and its becoming more likely we will be quarantined at some point.
I did not get crayons or play dough there however. Both of these things can be purchased elsewhere for similar or even cheaper prices and better quality. You can get both at Walmart for a decent price.
We have activities I already had that will come in handy. Things like coloring books, puzzles, board games, dress up clothes, etc. These I think will also come in handy.
Many organizations are also putting free materials out for families to use. Scholastic for example is putting an educational program on their website with activities and books for you children to make use of and hopefully help keep their minds sharp. You can find this resource at
http://www.scholastic.com/learnathome
YouTube will of course have videos you can watch with your kids, educational and otherwise.
Keep your heads up. Doctors and scientists are already working overtime to develop a vaccine. By cancelling events, citizens are hoping to slow the spread of the virus, and maybe dissipate its severity. It kind of sucks, I’m going to be honest. I like going places, and can’t because everything had closed. But I understand why this is happening. To make the best of a bad situation, I’ve stocked up on activities and crafts I know the kids and I will enjoy doing together. We can make it through this!
Dose of Sunshine 