Many of you are parents, home with the kids, trying to balance life responsibilities, with homeschooling and all under the pressure of social distancing and home quarantine, due to COVID-19. I never thought I would be typing those words, but here we are.
Today, I’m sharing some of the things we’re doing in our house to stay sane and productive during this unprecedented time. I hope you will find some ideas in there.
This is an expansion on the contribution I made to the Harper's Bazaar Arabia campaign, closing the gap on social distancing through social media, that you can find in their Instagram stories and will be featured in #TheTogethernessIssue coming out soon!
01// Start Your Day With Yoga Stretches
Every morning starts with 20 minutes of yoga stretching. It centers me and I need that. But it also wakes my body up, helps shake off those morning aches and pains and gets me energized for the day. My go-to is Sarah Beth’s 20 Minute Full Body Yoga Stretch.
I have young kids and they like to join me too. BUT they think my yoga is ‘boring yoga’ so I usually set them up with some super fun Cosmic Kids yoga. They love it and I love that they are experiencing the benefits of starting their day with yoga at such a young age. Win-win.
I like to end the yoga session with a plank. I ask the kids for a favorite song and we use that as the count down for our group plank! Raising them strong.
02// Give Your Day Structure With A Schedule
Having the kids at home and a company to run requires preparation. So I have put together a schedule that makes time for the kids to do both the things they want to do and the things they need to – all the while carving out the time I need to accomplish my personal and professional goals. Giving the day structure puts everyone at ease.
We even schedule in snacks, because you may notice, given the opportunity, kids will eat alllll day long. We schedule 2 snacks a day and we do it in a fun way like ‘snack wars’ (we share a snack and play the card game 'War' for 15 minutes) or ‘snack hops’ (we share a snack and jump rope for 15 minutes).
Doing fun things like sharing a snack and game together, makes it so the kids are okay with independent activity time, allowing me to accomplish the things I need to do. For every 15 minutes of undivided attention, I invest in them, I can get a good 60 to focus on what I need/want to do independently.
I have also been scheduling loads of creative activities in between the kid's e-learning. You may want to check out Sarah Jane, from Raising Wonder, who has put together daily art-based activity downloads for the kids during Corona. My kids have been loving them. This would also be the perfect time to dig into a DIY Doll Kit and Dumyé is offering 15% off all DIY Doll kits! Just use the code ‘DIY15’ at checkout now threw March 31, 2020.
03// Get Some Fresh Air
Get outside. Social distancing does not mean you need to stay indoors but it does mean you need to stay faraway from other people. Walk the dog, have a picnic in your back yard, go for a family bike ride, do some gardening/plant some tomatoes, read a book… We have done all these things and more! The fresh air does us all good.
04 // Help Others
Reach out to your friends and neighbors to see if you can be of any help. Many people are going through real hardships at this time and we need to band together and help each other through.
I particularly love this outreach letter penned by Nicola Eyre, Curator and owner of Cissy Wears in the UK. It reads:
‘Hello! My name is Nicola and I live at number **** with my husband Jim and our children Felix, Cissy, Cassius and Nico. You may have seen (or heard!) us around. I just wanted to let you know that if you need some neighborly assistance over the next few months, then we are more than willing to help out – be that to pick up groceries, prescriptions, do a weekly shop, run errands etc and drop things off to your doorstep. This might not be relevant to you, or you might have plenty of assistance already, and if so then feel free to pass my details to anyone else in the community that might need some help. Otherwise do keep hold of this in case you might need it at any time in the future. My number is**** and email is ****. Wishing you health and happiness – Nicola Eyre’
If you already know of neighbors that need support, take a page out of Raan Parton’s dad book, Creative Director & Co-Founder of Apolis. Inspired by Jacey Duprie, he and his toddler son Maas filled a tote of essentials and dropped it at the doorstep of an elderly neighbor. Now he is asking everyone to pay it forward.
‘If you have a (Apolis) market bag laying around and have any at-risk or elderly neighbors or friends... 1) fill the bag with dry goods, TP, disinfectant wipes, canned foods or other essentials, lastly include a note with your phone number and name if they need anything else from you , 2) drop it off contact-free (aka Ding-Dong Ditch!), 3) tag @apolis and #kindneighbor and we will replace your market bag for FREE! Stay safe out there — much love, the Partons’
You can support your local health care workers. We loved the recommendations made by Hoda Kotb & Vicky Nguyen, from the Today show, especially about making sure that our doctors and nurses are well fed while working long hours to take care of our communities. Call your local hospital and see if they would be open to you sending some food over to support them. I’m sure they would love it!
Small businesses are surely struggling in this challenging time. Seek out your favorites, make a conscious effort to buy from them and tell your friends ALL about them.
Personally, I have been supporting a couple of women struggling to care for themselves and their young children by offering them gift cards they can use to buy groceries or educational tools or clothing or whatever they may need to get through. Both women’s lives have been riddled with difficulty but they have both also recently lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 outbreak, making their bad situation worse.
No matter what you chose to do, helping others gives us purpose and when we’re doing something purposeful we feel alive and time just disappears.
05 // Combat Any Anxiety With Gratitude
Gratitude is the antidote to anxiety. Taking the time to recognize the things and the people we are grateful for his a wonderful way to relieve stress and can be done in many different ways.
Personally, I have committed to 53 weeks of gratitude in 2020. Which means I write and post a handwritten letter to someone from my past or present whom I am grateful for every week. It has been an incredibly healing process so far and I just can’t recommend it enough. Especially in a season when we are forced to spend time away from people we care about. This is the perfect moment to put pen to paper and tell them why they matter so much to you. Whenever I feel myself slipping into a negative space, I remind myself to sit down and write a letter. It changes everything. If you want to learn more about my #53WeeksOfGratitude project feel free to follow along my personal journey here.
You can adapt the practice for kids by asking them to make a list of friends and family they're grateful for, encouraging them to make and post a card letting those individuals know how they feel about them and why. It will make your child feel good, make you feel good as their parent and will definitely brighten the day of the person who gets the surprise letter in the mail!
That is all I have for you right now! If you have any tips on how to stay sane and productive during these crazy times, please share them in the comments below so everyone can benefit.
I’m sending loads of love and light your way. Stay healthy and stay home!
What a great advise to all the parents that are out there trying to manage in this situation! Covid-19 has crippled the whole world and then some! So Parents, hang in there because if there is a will, there is always a way.
This month we turned nine! Nine whole years of joy, learning, triumph and the challenges of running a small but global business with a greater purpose. As we head into our tenth year, I wanted to take a moment to reflect with you.
In honor of our ninth birthday this month, we have found some of the most fun birthday party inspo that pulls in some of the good, old-fashioned fun we so loved as kids ourselves.
As June is pride month, and with all of the other noise in the world today, it’s a good time for us to talk to our kids about the meaning of accepting ourselves and others, for exactly who we are.
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Personally, I have committed to 53 weeks of gratitude in 2020. Which means I write and post a handwritten letter to someone from my past or present whom I am grateful for every week. It has been an incredibly healing process so far and I just can’t recommend it enough. Especially in a season when we are forced to spend time away from people we care about. This is the perfect moment to put pen to paper and tell them why they matter so much to you. Whenever I feel myself slipping into a negative space, I remind myself to sit down and write a letter. It changes everything. If you want to learn more about my #53WeeksOfGratitude project feel free to 
Chahine El-Hage
June 03, 2022
What a great advise to all the parents that are out there trying to manage in this situation! Covid-19 has crippled the whole world and then some! So Parents, hang in there because if there is a will, there is always a way.