• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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How to stay organised as a parent during the pandemic

How to stay organised as a parent during the pandemic

Families all over the world are working smartly already to make life beautiful for themselves, their love ones, and specially, their children.

Adding that with this global pandemic is overwhelming to say the least. Parents have to deal with the social distancing that is affecting some business, risk of loosing their source of livelihood as some companies are already bankrupt, the fear, panic attacks, economic issues, online working and to top it up to care for themselves, their mental health and their precious children.

This can be too much for some families.

I want to encourage everyone, we will overcome this. Stay positive, stay at home till you are sure its safe to go back to work.

Read also: Coronavirus: Buhari’s lockdown order tests Lagos’ dynamism

Below are a few tips to help you stay super organized.

As a mother and the author of Parent Organizer a book that helps families stay organized and live excellently, it took me a few years when we welcomed my precious daughter to create a detailed routine.

CREATE A SCHEDULE – I can’t emphasize the need for parent to create a schedule. You can use a cardboard paper or an  an online app, Now I know most children have after school classes before the pandemic and a lot of the time we parent often feel it’s stressful to add any other activity to their schedule. Once they get home the day is over. I will say a schedule for different activities that are life transforming don’t necessarily have to take hours, it can be their daily affirmations, if you are too busy to create a tailored made one for yourself and your  children, you can order from us or buy my book. Scheduling allows your children to build discipline, develop great habits, they grow up to understand the skill of time management.

 CREATE AN EASY FUN MENU- Menu planning is another tasking job for parents. The easiest way I do mine is to source for ideas from the cooking books in our home, social media food pages, a family food diary where I write down healthy meals I would love to try. In this season stock up on vegetables and fruits. I encourage that families make the effort to eat healthy meals.

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF-   As a parent going to bed early can be the game charger. I know we all want to stay up late to work on our businesses, keep the house clean or chat with other parents or even catch up on our  work online, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that but remember, you can’t pour from an empty cup. Start your day with your positive affirmations or prayers, then follow by 30 minutes to one-hour workout.

COMMUNICATE OFTEN & CLEARLY – Make sure everyone understands your schedule clearly even your children and your entire household. This sounds simple but it takes a lot of work at the beginning, remember these children have never had a holiday where they attended school classes online. Your domestic employee should also be well informed about what’s happening  in the world and in Lagos, Nigeria. Teach them about the safety measures, show them videos for clarity and guidance, have a  real talk with them and show them  how to use your daily routine for the entire family and the children.

USE ONE FAMILY Digital  CALENDER– As a work life integration strategist & Productivity expert for top leaders and organizations it’s advisable that we all integrate our work and personal/ family life in one calendar mostly at this time. Parents who are working from home or run their online business and also take care of  their family. You need one main  digital calendar to plan your day, week, month and year. You can set reminders so nothing get forgotten.

TAKE BREAKS- Make sure you are not trying to win the wife or mother of the year in this season, (smiling) parenting is a partnership, your spouse and you can take turns to watch over your children even when you have a nanny, supervision is important. Nannies are a great support system, make sure they also rest or have off -days, if you they don’t live in your home. Due to this pandemic, you must be certain of their living condition, hygiene. Educate your entire household about what is going on.

DELEGATE CHORES TO YOUR CHILDREN- Gone are the days when parents will raise only a well behaved girl and leave the boy child out when it comes to home chores, E.G cooking, laying of their bed, clearing their toys or books, vacuuming and the list is endless, make sure they are age appropriate chores too, we do not want slave parenting please, there should be moderation in everything. Also, it doesn’t matter how financially influential you are, don’t raise your children in a spoilt way. Draw up a daily chore’s routine, you can find the table in my book-PARENT ORGANIZER.

CREATE A DAILY READING PLAN– I advice that your children read a wide variety of books that expands their knowledge not only major subjects. Create a reading time table that covers all subjects, spread it through the week so it’s not like a punishment for the child. Make it a fun a time, laugh, learn, train everyone on how to handle reading time to make it fun and interactive. No matter the age of your children everyone responds to love and encouragement beautifully.

It feels like I should keep sharing as I have so much more. Lastly take care of your mind. Read books, take free online courses Dress up, shower early as that will improve your mood and every.