I am a work from home mother with three young children, and I’m pregnant. So I get it. I too am overwhelmed with now trying to homeschool – while juggling the house, my work load, and my health. I am fearful of what the news is reporting. And I am worried about our little family’s future. There is so much happening around us that we have zero control over. And yet, there are also wonderful free resources out there that can really help to ease our stress and frustrations as we try to navigate this crazy time. Below are free family resources for staying home during the COVID-19 quarantine as a way to help your family during this unprecedented time.
Family Resources During COVID-19
- Saving Money
- Simplify Your Family’s Routine
- Homeschooling During the Quarantine
- Keeping Your Kids Entertained at Home
- How to Prepare Meals, and Stretch Your Pantry & Food Budget
- How to Eventually Transition Back to Normal
- And most importantly, How to Take Care of You!
This article is written by Karissa Tunis
For more on this topic, check out the full Staying Home collection
Finding the Good
If we chose to focus on the bad, we will most definitely find that without needing to look to hard. However, if we look for the good, we can find that too. Neighbors are helping neighbors. Friends are supporting the community. And total strangers are going out of their way to help others in need. There is so much love going around, and it is absolutely amazing to watch!
[check out the Good News Network for a daily dose of positive, or watch this fun video made by a few favorite celebrities Some Good News]
COVID-19 Quarantine Resources for Families
Throughout this article, you’ll find links to helpful articles, free printables, and other resources that will surely help you and your family during this crazy time. Take a deep breath, dive into what seems relevant now, and save this link to come back to later on when you are ready to focus on another topic. No one is expected to make all of the right changes overnight. But if we focus on a few areas of our life at a time, we can make big changes over the next few weeks. And who knows, we might just find a new pleasure, or some new strategies, that we can continue to implement even when our lives do return to “normal”.
Use this time to make a new memory, find a new hobby, or make-over an aspect of your life. You can and will emerge from this even stronger if you try 🙂
Family Tips for Saving Money
Just by staying home your family is probably saving some money. No longer are we eating out, going to the movies, running between activities, attending sporting events, and so on. But, your life doesn’t have to stop. You can still order take-out (if available) from a local restaurant. Or create your own restaurant at home with your kids and these free pretend play printables. You can have your own movie and game night in the family room, in someone’s bedroom under a blanket fort, or outside on the patio. Get creative and plan your own Family Night In experiences. (Keep scrolling for more ideas below).
Chances are that even when the quarantines are lifted, it will take some time for your family to return to your old spending budgets. Maybe you have experienced layoffs, cut-backs, or loss of business. Just remember that you are not alone! And in time you will make it back. But be smart by using this time to develop a new plan and strategies for how to save some money and simplify your family’s life.
Free Resources to Save Money
Here are additional free resources that offer tips for saving money at home. While some of these options might not be applicable until we are out and about in society again, they can still prepare you now for what will be to come – like tips for selling items at a consignment sale. You can use this time at home to go through closets and organize your piles. Then once a sale is scheduled again, you are ready. Also, take advantage of tips for saving money while grocery shopping, how to waste less food, saving money on kid’s activities, and more!
How to Simplify Your Family’s Routine
If you are like me, then you have traded your extra curricular activities for enormous amounts of laundry, snacks every 30 minutes, and dishes piling up in the sink. But hopefully you are also enjoying the benefits of having more down-time and play-time at home. While I love having my family at home with me all of the time, it has definitely created new types of work, and I have had to adjust my schedule to make sure that I am still being as productive as possible.
I would encourage you to use this time to really take a long hard look at your your family’s lifestyle and priorities. We were given this opportunity to re-assess, to re-adjust, and we will (eventually) be able to move forward in a new way – if we’d like. Ask yourself what it is that you really miss? What are your relieved to not be doing? How has going back to basics impacted your life?
Checkout these amazing tips and free resources to help simply your family’s life now, and to help better prepare you for moving forward in a more balanced and satisfying way. Good luck!
How to Homeschool During COVID-19 Quarantine
I am sure majority of parents are thinking right now “I never wanted to homeschool!” Or, “I never wanted to be a teacher!” Well, I am right there with you. And I too am trying to now figure this out as I juggle working from home with now teaching my three kids at home, all while being pregnant and hormonal at home. While I would like to think I am doing an OK job, I have definitely had my fair share of struggles with it all.
Thankfully I have found some wonderful free resources that have helped me, and will hopefully help you during this time as well. But the important thing to remember is that no one expects your best. We are all just trying to survive. But eventually your child will return to school. Eventually they will learn to read, to do their algebra, to write an essay, and they will eventually graduate.
Keep in mind that you are not the only one in this situation – the entire country is in the same boat. I saw this quote floating around on Facebook that a few teachers were sharing, and I couldn’t agree more!
Homeschool Quote from a Teacher
Don’t worry about them regressing in school. Every single kid is in this boat and they all will be ok. When we are back in the classroom, we will all course correct and meet them where they are. Teachers are experts at this! Don’t pick fights with your kids because they don’t want to do math. Don’t scream at your kids for not following the schedule. And don’t mandate 2 hours of learning time if they are resisting it.
If I can leave you with one thing, it’s this: at the end of all of this, your kid’s mental health will be more important than their academic skills. And how they felt during this time will stay with them long after the memory of what they did during those 4 or more weeks is long gone. So keep that in mind, every signal day.”
How to Keep The Kids Entertained at Home
Whether you are stuck at home for days on end because of a snow storm, hurricane season, or because of the COVID 19; it can be challenging to keep your kids entertained. However, I have found some amazing benefits can come out of trading our extra activities for more play time at home. Here are just a few:
- It may take time for your kids to re-adjust to playing together again, but eventually they will. And you will love watching their sibling bond grow even stronger!
- Your children are likely to dig into the old toy bins that they haven’t touched in months. They may need a little prompting to get started, but then sit back and watch their imaginations run wild.
- You are saving money. By not going out, you are hopefully staying in and creating your own free memories at home.
CLICK HERE for an entire collection of free articles and ideas to inspire at home entertainment for your children no matter their ages, enjoy!
How to Prepare Meals During Quarantine
No matter what day it is, or the circumstances, there are always meals to prepare and mouths to feed. But what gets tricky is when you are trying to do so while your entire town is shutting down. Again, maybe it is weather related, or maybe it is because of illness. Either way, it is helpful to know what to stock up on, how to stretch your shopping budget, how to avoid food waste, and how to fill those precious little bellies with healthy lasting food.
Tips for Cooking During COVID-19
Thankfully we have worked with some amazing contributors who have helped us create helpful free guides for all of this. Take advantage of their helpful insight and learn some new tips that will help you and your family better prepare.
How to Eventually Transition Back To Normal
No matter what you have been dealing with, eventually your life will return to “normal”. Once the storm passes, once the sickness subsides, once the schools reopen and businesses begin to re-hire, it will get better. But in the rush to return to our daily life, it’s important to take a moment to pause and ask ourselves what is really worth returning back to? Are their things that you did not miss? Were you relieved to not have certain commitments in your calendar for a period of time? Pay attention to what this phase at home is trying to teach you.
Adore Them Parenting has put together a collection of wonderful resources to help you navigate a better work-life-balance. Every family and each situation is different. But hopefully these tips will inspire you to make some positive changes in your life that will benefit your family as a whole. Don’t think of it as a daunting task; but rather a fresh start to a new adventure! Best wishes as you continue to move forward in life and on your journey 🙂
How to Take Care of You!
You do everything for your family and those around you. But don’t forget to take care of yourself! By taking a few moments to meet your needs, you will have more energy to conquer that impressive to-do list each day. Check out our full Self-Care collection for inspiration on how to start pampering yourself throughout the day at little or no added cost – You deserve it!
For more on this topic, check out the full Staying Home collection
Co-Owner: Karissa Tunis
Karissa Tunis is the co-owner of both the parenting website Adore Them and the family event company Milestone Family Expos. Through these ventures she is able to share inspiring, heartfelt insight with large audiences within local communities and across the country! Her knack for all-things-organization allows her to balance content creation, brand partnerships, and event planning without losing sight of what she wants for her own family. Despite her busy schedule, Karissa also makes it a priority to spend quality time with her husband and three children. You will often find her volunteering at her children’s schools, cheering them on from the soccer sidelines, or enjoying the great sites of Charleston, SC with her family.
Contact: Karissa@AdoreThem.com
