Corona Diaries Day Five: What You Can Do This Weekend to Prepare for Next Week

Who is feeling the struggle?

It's ok.  It is a struggle.  For many, if not most of us, emotions were strong this past week.  Children pushed boundaries, were distracted by all the wonderful things they have at home, and you had the added stress of making sure you can feed everyone without extra grocery store runs only to face empty shelves.  

Give yourself and your kiddos grace.  Lots of it!  

Remember, this was thrust upon most of us last minute; for me, literally the day before.  We didn't have time to plan, prep, organize, or even ease into it.  This. Was. Hard.  Even if you thoroughly enjoyed it, it was still hard.

There are more weeks to come and it can get better.  Here are things you can do this weekend to prepare for next week's homeschooling:

1.  SLEEP!!  You, parent, need sleep!  Your children need sleep.  Take care of yourself.

2.  Clean.   Ugh, right?  But, having those little ones home and having to homeschool them (and, for many of you, having to work as well) has left the home more Jumanji Game than Joanna Gaines.  Either recruit the family to help, or ask your spouse to keep them occupied for you, or lower your screen time standards and let the screen babysit so you can put your house in order.

3.  Plan.  Get out that spreadsheet, make a list, make a chart...whatever you need.  Plan out your homeschool days (my state requires that 80% of the planned curriculum be completed.  It is realistic to plan 100% but only actually cover 80%, so don't stress if the days go a bit uncompleted.) and your menus.  Create a menu much like the school sends home so your kiddos don't turn you into a short-order cook and waste your time, energy, and potentially limited resources.

4.  Cuddle.  You've been thrust into a role of greater authority than your kids are used to from you.  You've been forced to put on another hat, and that can create a bit of a wrinkle in the home that upsets children.  They've likely acted out more out of their own little responses to the stress and sudden changes.  The weekend is a great time to reaffirm love and family.  

You're doing it.  It's not quite Rosie the Riveter, but dang close enough for our generation!  

You got this!