"Sheltering in place" has it's highs and lows. There are times when it can be wonderful...waking up without an alarm, catching up on Netflix, talking long walks in the sun and having coveted one-on-one time with family members. Then there are moments when you may doubt if you can maintain your sanitity balancing working from home (or worrying about finding work), with being a parent, a teacher, a janitor, a cook and a therapist.
Here are some tips for surviving and even thriving during this challenging time:
1. Look at this as an opportunity. In this day and age we don't often get time to slow down, re-prioritize, breathe and re-set. Your children are watching and learning from how you respond to this crisis. Be a positive role model for your child...breathe, relax and live in the moment.
2. Keep a schedule/routine in place. Children, especially those that struggle with mental health needs, feel less stressed when there is structure in place. Ask them to contribute and come up with a routine that they can buy into. Be sure that the schedule includes lots of breaks and downtime for you and your kids.
3. Designate a reasonable time to wake up and go to sleep. You can loosen up a bit but remember that your child needs quality sleep so that they can maintain their physical and emotional health. If you let them they will stay up until 2am and sleep until noon. Be sure to take away their phones at bedtime so this doesn't happen to you!
4. Create rewards and incentives for work completion, positive attitude, extra help with chores, etc. My favorite reward system is the marble jar. Each time your child displays a behavior that you want to encourage, reward them with a marble or two. Once the jar is full you can order them that $5 toy they have been asking for on Amazon or something else within reason. This works especially well when you have more than one child because they start competing with each other to fill the jar. *Please note...once a marble is earned it should not be taken away for bad behavior.
5. Limit exposure to the news and social media. This may sound obvious but it is difficult to do since it is all around us. As a parent it is important to be informed but I recommend only reading updates from the CDC, CDPH, etc. once a day. Remember whatever goes in your mind will affect your feelings and behavior as well as your child's.
6. Take breaks if you are able to and be sure to take care of yourself. This is a difficult time for all of us and we are making many adjustments daily. Please go easy on yourself and know that you will make mistakes. The good news is kids are resilient and they will adjust as you do.
