Tips for Coping with online school, work and parenting

 Day 5 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge-Tips and Tricks. 

I am no expert but here we are again, online school, working at home and parenting while in another lockdown as well and I have gotten better at it. 

This is really not easy at all, at least not for me. I am someone who thrives on working hard and I get stressed out when I can't done what I want to do in the run of a work day. 

But since the pandemic, I have learned to let go. That I need to be flexible and that I also need to lean into my team more and delegate. So we all have done that at my workplace and it seems to be working well for now. 

It's hard to manage it all and at times, the parenting takes a back burner (rest assured when I'm in a meeting, the kids are arguing with each other). 

I am really fortunate. I have 2 independent kids who thrive on structure and online learning is good for them Their big complaint (and mine too) is that it's not long enough. So, we did a schedule. Morning is their online school which they dont need help with. During this time, I power though as much work as I possibly can. We all take recess together, fruit and water for them, fruit and coffee for me. 

then they go back online to do independent work that was assigned to them from their real teacher. 1/2 hour later, they do "Art". I give  them a project, craft, something to build out of lego or playdoh. 

Then we all break for lunch. After lunch, the read for 30 minutes. We have a ton of books because we all love to read, then 30 minutes of writing. I give them a journal prompt. 30 minutes of learning with either me or the husband (with me, it will be music, with him, tech stuff). Then they have to walk the dog (aka gym), and then they have a snack are done for the day. 

The afternoons will be worse for me on work productivity but as I said, I will try to get at much done as possible. 

Now, like I said, this seems to be working well for us and it may not work well for you. Just try your best to manage. There are days that I feel like i am not managing well at all, but on days like today, it seems to be going well. 

Hang in there. We will get through this and come out the other side different and hopefully stronger and better. 

Peace and Love, 
NavyHawk 

Good Things Come in Fours

 Day 4 of the Ultimate Blogging Challenge prompt it Good Things Come in Fours. 

Yesterday was rough for me (as you probably gathered from my blog post), but I allowed myself to feel all the feelings and now I have a better mindset to tackle the hybrid work from home, online learning, etc. 

So things that come in 4, tires - super important to get you where you need to go! But my fav thing that comes in fours is my family. 

I grew up in a family of four. and we were well-matched with each other, me with my dad's eyes and wit and my brother with my mom's quiet calmness. 

Now, my family is a family of four. My husband who is my calm to my crazy. K1 who is high-strung and my mini-me and K2 who is just like the husband. 

My four is truly a team and we work together to keep the house running. Yes K1 & K2 have chores that need to be done. 

Yesterday after the news of online, the 4 of us had a good talk about how each of us was feeling (me, stressed, him, resolved, K1 -bored, K2 -excited) and how we  can make the best of a bad situation. 

We ended the day with storm popcorn (because we forgot the chips), a game of Clue and then us taking individual time with the kids and tucking them in.  

We have spent  a lot of time together just the four of us during the past 2 years and, while I joke that I want 2 days to myself, I wouldnt change it. We have seen our girls grow and mature more than we thought they would. We have seen them enjoy parts of our province that we never would have seen. We have grown so much as a family and have grown closer. 

So while this pandemic sucks, I am glad for the time is has given my team of 4 more time to spend together, and that is something I would not change. 

Peace and Love, 

NavyHawk