An insight into our Product Development Manager's life at home.... and keeping her 3.5 year old entertained.
Hi Everyone
Working from home is one thing during lock down, but throw kids into the mix and it becomes a lot more challenging! I have a 3 .5 year old daughter who is super active and needs a lot of attention and interaction to keep her well-behaved and happy. I am lucky enough to have a husband who works part-time and who is currently on furlough; this means I am able to focus on my work and not be torn too much between parenting and work.
Either way, it can sometimes get challenging, so here are my top tips for keeping kids happy at home!
1. Stick to a routine (as much as you can)
Continue as normal or make a new routine and stick to it. Food, activities, down time and bed time should all be scheduled into the day so kids know where they are in the day; it really can create a little security for them. Draw up a timetable to keep you all right, with having a younger child it’s sometimes hard to be really strict with the routine so we decided to write ‘the plan’ on our mini black board every morning and tick off what we have done throughout the day. A long as we do most of it (not necessarily in the right order) we feel we've achieved a lot! It's good to differentiate at the weekend too.
2. Make time for cuddles, chats and treats
It’s an uncertain time for little ones; soft play, play dates, nursery, play-park, shopping etc are all off. We constantly wonder what is going on in their little heads at this time with so much change to the routine. Talk to them; tell them what you can without frightening them. We have opted for this - there is a cough going around and everyone needs to keep their distance till it’s gone. It’s a funny old time but things will be back to normal soon.
Shower them with cuddles and allow those extra treats (ice cream and screen time) the things you normally try to keep to a minimum.
3. Get outside if it’s safe
We are so very lucky to have a garden; it is shared but we have a rota with all the neighbours. Here's some things we've been up to in the garden:
Playing tig, musical statues, meals outside, gardening, bug hunt, football, catch, chalk, hopscotch, water fights.
If you don’t have a garden, try and get out for a walk once a day following all Government guidelines. Get your kids to count rainbows in the windows, collect sticks, count all the red cars etc.
4. Stay Active
Joe Wicks does a PE class for kids and adults every morning at 9am; it has been a life saviour for us! An amazing, ½ hour HIT style work out that really makes you feel so much better. Check it out on YouTube. You can do it any time of day; we tend to do it around 4pm as a pick me up for the evening.
5. Be Silly
Do things you normally wouldn’t do or have time to do. Some ideas;
Set up the paddling pool indoors, make art scenes (and rainbows) for the windows, build dens, bake everything, video call family and friends, wave to passers-by, watch movies, read books and try and have fun.
My best bit of advice; pick your battles! It’s a long time at home together and you all need to try and get along for everyone’s sanity!
Stay in, stay safe and good luck parents!
All the best, Steph x
