I thought I would do a play on RUOK? And ask instead Are You At Home? With a lot of people being at home, either due to schools being closed or needing to work from home, you might think we have a lot of relaxation time…..
For me, it’s been a bit of a challenge. As Hubby is at home for work, I can’t turn on my “happy” music and power through chores because he needs to have phone and online conferences. With a child still at home As well, he wants to game or have me do stuff with him, but generally at times that are not convenient for my work plan for the day. There is also the endless news reports about not being able to purchase basic items from the supermarket and hourly counts of rising infection numbers. Whew, how to deal with this?
First, try to make a schedule or routine that your family can follow. It will need to be a bit flexible when there are kids involved because they need our attention too. As this is our first week at home, we’re still in the design process, as it were. On week days, we get up by 8am with breakfast finished by 9am (Hubby tends to get started a bit sooner). We also don’t stay up late as we don’t want to get into that habit and have to try to break it when normality comes back in – and it will.
Make sure to schedule in exercise time. This could be taking the dog out for a walk, doing some weeding or having a game of Lets Dance on the Xbox with the kids. Try to keep meal times to a regular time and eat healthy. It’s really easy to grab a bag of chips and sit on the couch and watch tv for a few hours. If you eat healthier your body will be able to cope with the stresses this situation is bringing about.
Add some fun! There is so much negativity in the world right now that its easy to forget how much there is to be thankful for and to celebrate. We can’t see elderly relatives in aged care. Rather than feeling miserable, we can write emails, call them and have even managed Face Time. It’s good for them too. Have an unused Badminton set in the garage? Dig it out and see if you can still remember how to hit the shuttlecock that has a mind of its own! Grab a deck of cards and play a game with your family. On your own? Learn how to play Solitaire old school – with actual cards rather than the computer or tablet.
If you have extra time on your hands, now might be a great time to look at some online learning or brush up on some skills. There are a lot of free learning sites you can access. Even though local libraries have shut down for now, they have a massive amount of electronic resources for you to access, including learning portals, all for free.
All things end in time and this too shall pass. Remember to keep in touch with others and ask for help if you need it. I’ll be posting ideas and recipes for things we can do at home to continue our sustainability journey and also to help us make do when we may not have access to some grocery items.
Stay safe and enjoy life.
