This coronavirus pandemic is so stressful and terrible.
Thanks to coronavirus, I have been on the verge of tears on an almost daily basis. The routines that we all took for granted suddenly disappeared overnight. I have had to change every single part of my family’s schedule. Everyone has questions that have no answers at this point. However, this whole situation has given me time to sit back and reevaluate my family’s daily life.
Changing my family’s schedule hasn’t been all bad. A slower pace of life is actually refreshing.
I like that I have spent way less time driving my kids around to numerous activities since the coronavirus appeared. We don’t have the stress of having to rush around to reach places on time. I certainly don’t want to stay in my house all the time, but I will be changing my family’s schedule and cutting down on my kids’ scheduled activities in the future. At ages eight and ten, they have plenty of time to add activities when they are older. Right now, they will benefit from the free time to read, play, and rest.
I also like choosing activities that have a shorter time commitment. It lets everyone try out different things without being overwhelmed by too many activities at once. Also, I am letting my kids quit some activities. They were too tired for some things, but I had pushed them to continue. Now I will listen to their wishes and let them stop. Life is too short to waste on activities that you don’t love.
We need to spend more time as a family.
When school and everything else was closed due to coronavirus, I noticed that I was able to spend a lot more quality time with my children. I particularly enjoyed having the time to play board games with my kids. Before the pandemic, we were all so busy with our separate activities that squeezing in the time for games felt like a chore. With a lighter schedule, I can relax and enjoy games with my family knowing that I still have plenty of time to get all my chores done.
The kids and I also have enough time to relax and rest during the week now. It allows us the energy to enjoy family activities on the weekends and even some weeknights. Before coronavirus when we were all so busy, we had to fit in all our chores on the weekend. Now we can go hiking, or berry picking, or exploring new places to get ice cream without having to rush home to take care of the laundry. I realize how important it is to spend time as a family now before the kids grow up and move out of my house.
I want my kids to learn that boredom won’t hurt them.
When my kids face boredom, it actually forces them to find new ways to amuse themselves. Without a full schedule of camps and activities, they have time to explore more open-ended activities, such as the Venture Vermont Outdoor Challenge and activities from our local library. They can spend more time on these creative activities without rushing through them just to get extra tablet time. When they have more free time, my kids end up less obsessed with their tablets because they’re not anything special anymore.
I also think that boredom helps people figure out who they really are. If kids are with their friends all the time, it’s easy for them to just go along with the group opinions. When kids are bored and away from outside eyes, they have the chance to figure out what activities make them truly happy. When I was a bored kid, I liked to play with Barbies, way beyond the age when most girls stop. I would have been way too embarrassed to play with dolls with my friends around to judge me, but I felt free to do whatever I wanted on my own.
As a result of what I have experienced during the coronavirus pandemic, I will make some changes to my family’s schedule.
I will cut down on the number of activities for everyone to allow us all more free time. None of us will participate in any activities that we don’t absolutely love. We will make family time a higher priority in our lives. Life is too short to take anything for granted!
