Perhaps I’m in the minority, but I’m actually not miserable sheltering in place with my family of four. I don’t have the Boredom Blues.
In fact, I may actually be (dare I say) – happier. While I consider myself an ‘outgoing introvert’, I’m surprised that I’m not freaking out about my weekly routines being abruptly tossed out. I’m a little anxious but I deal with generalized anxiety every day. So far my anxiety is manageable with a bit more sleep, regular exercise (preferably outside), more meditation sessions, less news, some glasses of red wine (on a weeknight!), and a lot more Netflix.
Creating Joy in the White Space of Life
My theme word for 2020 is ‘whitespace’. A testament that you get from the universe what you focus on.
To me ‘whitespace’ meant room to breathe in my routine – I could feel myself showing signs of burnout. This time the signs were not from caregiver burnout but from busy life burnout. My norm was getting up way before sunrise five days a week to exercise before commuting to a pretty intense job directing a transformation office for a Fortune 1000 company. I often ate lunch at my desk to either continue working, make personal calls or check my Happy Healthy Caregiver email. Then, I drove home and some nights I cooked dinner for us or if I was the only one home (Jason traveled for work, Jacob worked until close a few nights a week, and Natalie was at college), I worked on my business.
Weekends were for laundry, grocery shopping, date nights, weekend excursions, more Happy Healthy Caregiver business time, and whatever else didn’t fit into the week.
This new ‘shelter in place furloughed from work time’ is God’s strange way of answering my prayers. Not only was I asking him for permission to slow down, but I was also asking for my entrepreneurial path to be ‘illuminated’.
Empty Nest is Not So Far Away
My kids are 20 and 18. I recognize that I have limited years, if not months, of them living in our home. While I know that empty nesting is inevitable, I’ll take this extra time with them without complaining. We have always been a close family but I can see that this time together has brought us even closer. While we are spending time together they are also witnessing what is important to all of us and how we come together as an extended family when we hit rough patches.
A few weeks back, I never imagined my job would be at risk. My kids now have a front-row seat to watch the raw vulnerability poor out of me and to see how I am coping with this unexpected hurdle. What I hope they take away from this COVID-19 experience is that we are stronger together and that even though these are extraordinary and sometimes fearful times, we can still have fun and enjoy life.
Being furloughed as our youngest child heads off to college at the University of Georgia this fall was definitely not part of our master family financial plan. While I’m still technically employed, I am a realist. These are uncertain times for every employer. Their decision is out of my control. What is in my control is what I do with my 40 hours+ of time that has opened up in my weeks. I’m spreading it out fairly equally between self-care, more focused time for Happy Healthy Caregiver growth initiatives, and family time.
Family Fun While Staying Safe
Let’s talk about enjoying some fun memory-making moments. There are lots of activities you can do together as a family that will help you fight off the COVID-19 blues.
- Video clips – The free Marco Polo app is an easy non-disruptive way to share the happenings in your life with close friends and family. Set up your groups and start the fun dialogue or ask questions of the day to get to know each other in a fun way.
- Hair, nails, and makeup – I used to love to pin curl my grandma’s hair as a child for fun. The other day my daughter french braided mine. I also painted my own nails for the first time in years. Might be fun to try some nail art. We can all have some fun experimenting with different options. So many tutorials to watch and try! Have fun with it!
- Video conference calls – Set one up with your high school pals, college friends, workout group, or extended family. Host your regular meetup virtually. You can catch up on what’s happening or even play games like Trivial Pursuit or Name that Tune.
- Foster or get a pet – Nothing cures loneliness like a furry friend and now you are home to train and get your new pet broken in.
- Get the family involved in cooking – For the last few weeks, my kids have been helping to prepare and cook one family dinner. We’ve sampled their shrimp, potstickers, grilled cheese, fried rice, and homemade pizza. They are so proud of their creations and getting more confident in the kitchen. Maybe partner up if you have kids too young to be alone in the kitchen.
- DIY projects – We are printing photos and updating the kid’s birthday and school scrapbooks. We also picked up some acrylic paints and canvases at Michaels to try something like this ‘acrylic galaxy pouring‘ or maybe we’ll just paint on the canvases. Some of Jacob’s friends are sprucing up their athletic shoes with paints (Vans work great!). Or maybe get some white t-shirts and have fun with tie-dye. My college roomie and her family are painting almost every room in their new house.
- Coloring contest – Growing up we always had a coloring contest at Easter time with my extended family who would be visiting. A coloring contest is fun any time of year. You’ll definitely want to secure some non-partial judges and have some fun prizes. Hang the finished products in the windows for neighbors to enjoy or mail them to someone who is isolated during this time (any senior living center would be appreciative of your cheery art and sweet thinking of your note).
- Spread some sidewalk chalk cheer – Grab the chalks and head to a neighbor’s house who may be a healthcare worker, celebrated a birthday, or lives alone and decorate their sidewalk or driveway with rainbows, flowers, balloons, and words of inspiration.
- Food bracket challenges – We recently completed a Pop-Tart Sweet 16 challenge and a Jelly Belly one on Easter but the options are endless – cereals, candy bars, Oreos, soft drinks.
- Interview family members (and record it!) – Ask questions you have always wanted to know about your family members and record them for future generations. You could have hours of fun interviewing a family member and recording it with your smartphone or over a virtual conference call. Here are 100 questions to get you started.
- Read aloud – My mom’s eyesight is failing and she has enjoyed reading over the years. My sister is now reading the books mom wrote to mom. Here’s the first book in the series of five that are published:
- Indoor or outdoor campfire – No campfire is complete without s’mores, songs, stories, or campfire games.
- Board games and puzzles – Puzzles with 500-750 pieces and lots of variety of colors is what we enjoy. We also love to play classic games like Monopoly, Life, Risk, Scrabble, and Yahtzee. Check out the Family Fun Idea List in the Happy Healthy Caregiver Amazon store for some links to our favorites.
- Purge contest or scavenger hunt – Make it fun by setting a timer or having a contest on who can produce the most empty hangers. Perhaps turn it into a scavenger hunt (e.g. find 3 things that are broken, grab 5 books you’ve read and won’t reread, toss 4 pens that don’t work, etc).
- Family book club – Gather all the readers together, select a book, and set up a virtual call for 3-4 weeks out giving everyone time to read.
- Plant a vegetable garden or a few containers of spices – Getting outdoors together is energizing. Watching something we nurture and grow is rewarding especially if you can use what grows in your homemade meals.
- Workout together – Youtube.com has a variety of video workouts of varying lengths where no gym equipment is required. Peloton recently started cardio dance classes and is offering their app free for 90 days when you sign up by April 30. They also have yoga, stretch, meditation, and strength training.
- Watch a concert – Music is a mood changer! Here’s a great free concert you can rewatch on the Fox network: The iHeart Living Room Concert for America
- Play classic yard games – Remember how fun it was to get outside and be a kid. Bring back the old school games like TV Tag, Hopscotch, Simon Says, or Spud. If you have a basketball hoop play Horse. We have plans to try out a new sport – Pickle Ball! Our new paddles just arrived.
Create a 19 for Covid19 Family Activities List
Maybe you can take a few of these activities and add your own to create a fun united family list of ’19 for Covid-19′. It’s a variation of what I shared with you earlier this year on the Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast to give you ideas for your personal ‘20 for 2020‘ list. I’m finding this time at home is allowing me to make progress on my 20 for 2020 list including whiten teeth, reading from A to Z, meditation, and completing Jacob’s grad video.
Will all of this shelter in place get old and the activities become not as fun? I’m certain at some point it will. But for now, I’m enjoying being a more relaxed homebody with a bit more ‘whitespace’ and an ‘illuminated’ entrepreneurial path.
If you are struggling to find any joyful family activities in this pandemic, please reach out. I offer a free 30-minute consultation for all family caregivers.
